Read Online Without a Net by Lyn Gala - Free Book Online

back. I need you to go home and get your head on right. We can talk about whether we’re pulling the plug tomorrow. Jackson, go home. Cooper and I can close down the site for tonight.”
    Jackson muttered under his breath, but he headed for the exit. That meant Ollie had to either follow orders or try to get Kemboi to shut the program down tonight. Kemboi was a good cop and a good team lead. If he said he wouldn’t considering retooling the op until tomorrow, he meant it. Ollie had to go home without having this settled.
    “Cooper, shadow Ollie to the hotel. Delany will pick up shadow from there. I’ll call him and let him know.”
    “I don’t need shadowing once I get to the hotel,” Ollie said. He knew he wouldn’t win the fight, though, so he left before Kemboi could say anything else. Ollie didn’t worry that someone from the club would try to snatch him. Younger subs would be easier to mentally rewire. Get them to associate pain with praise and aftercare and pleasure, and you could alter their dynamic forever. Ollie was too old for that sort of brainwashing.
    * * * *
    An hour later, Ollie pulled into his space, and he noticed no one was using his solar charger. Maybe Mrs. Dennison had finally learned her lesson. Good. Ollie didn’t have any patience left for other human beings. His nerves were so raw he itched to fight, and that was never good.
    Maybe he should go to a real control club, one where he could get his itch scratched without a side of manipulation and mind fucking. He considered it for a half second before he got out of his car and walked toward his apartment. He couldn’t afford to let down his barriers—not now.
    When he turned the corner, he noted the bright glow of a cigarette or blunt up on the third floor. His neighbor was smoking something. Funny, Travis hadn’t struck Ollie as the sort to indulge. If Ollie had to guess, he would have put Travis down as more of a health nut. He had the trim figure. Besides, people who smoked often had a certain look once they hit their forties. Their lower face was a little more wrinkled, a little more aged, than the rest of their face. Travis hadn’t seemed the sort.
    But then again, plenty of people indulged in marijuana from time to time without being regular smokers. Ollie’s horrible night had him on edge, and he disliked that Travis could watch as Ollie headed to his door.
    “Evening,” Ollie called up, hoping to try to make the evening seem normal.
    “Nice night, isn’t it?” Travis called back down. He sounded happy, so it was probably a blunt. Yeah, Ollie’s paranoia was turned up too high.
    For a second, Ollie considered going up to their apartment. The offer to play had sounded genuine enough, and while women didn’t turn Ollie’s crank, Travis did. Subbing for both of the Canturburys might be a lot of fun.
    He hadn’t yet decided what to do when Travis started down the stairs.
    “Yeah, great one,” Ollie answered. He looked toward his door and considered making a fast retreat, but that seemed rude.
    “Okay, that sounded less than sincere.” Travis ground his cigarette out on a step before reaching the bottom floor. “Rough night?”
    Ollie hesitated.
    “You don’t need to give me details. I’m a retired cop. I can usually fill in the blanks if you tell me what variety of bad you had. Was this trying to get liquefied dead guy out of your uniform boots or stupid kid ruining his life?”
    “More like people-who-don’t-understand-consent sort of bad.”
    “Rape case? I always hated those.” Travis grimaced.
    “No, nothing like that. It’s more like shade assholes.”
    “Oh.” Travis’s voice was flat. All the sympathy Ollie now realized he wanted failed to appear. The feeling of betrayal wasn’t logical given that Travis didn’t owe him anything.
    “I should get some sleep.” Ollie suddenly wanted to be away from Travis.
    “Hey, no. I’m sure it was bad, but don’t paint all shade Doms with the same