Page 21 of Peripheral Vision

FLETCHER

Shortly after we got the kids to our safe house and secured the ringleader, I circled back to Dylan's house. It was late and I needed to sleep, but I needed to see that she didn’t go home with, or bring home that tool from the bar earlier. When I pulled up to her house, I made a phone call to Jeffries asking him to hack into Dylan’s security system to ensure that she wouldn’t have any evidence to use against me if she did decide to go to the cops again. My little viper might be cunning, but as I told her, I will always be one step ahead.

I enter the house through the sliding glass door of the kitchen, careful not to make any noise. Alaska starts growling softly from the living room, but I quickly staunch that with a treat that I had been carrying in the car just for occasions like this. It was fortunate that when Jack rescued her she was already a year old and not a puppy, because she became accustomed to me relatively quickly.

I stealthily make my way down the hall to Dylan’s bedroom, the door wide open, her clothes from the night strewn across the floor. My eyes roam over her room before landing on her sleeping form and my breathing becomes ragged. Her blonde hair is feathered out on her pillow, her face hidden beneath the long locks that make mewant to wrap my fist around them while she’s on her knees in front of me. She’s out from underneath the covers, laying on her stomach, one of her legs straight while the other is hooked at a ninety-degree angle. She isn’t wearing any bottoms, the black lace of her panties like an invitation for me to touch, feel,claim.The thin material of her tank top riding up to expose more of her backside.

I carefully make my way to her bedside and lean against the wall, just watching her sleep. I’m listening to the steady rhythm of her breaths as she sleeps soundly, and it makes me wonder how deep she is. I can’t stay here for too long, not when the sun will be rising soon, but I can allow myself this temporary reprieve. My hands clench and unclench the longer I resist reaching out to touch her. She shifts slightly, rolling to her back and I freeze, remaining as still as possible. When she settles back down, I notice that her tank top has risen up to just below her breasts. Her pert nipples peeking through the thin material like a whisper of temptation, stirring something deep within me that I desperately try, and fail, to suppress.

I approach her soundlessly and reach out ever so gently to touch the tan skin of her shin. Looking back at her face, I search for any indication that she’s going to wake up, but she doesn’t. She remains in that deep sleep. Ever so slowly, I trail my hands up the silky-smooth skin of her legs to her thighs. Higher. Until my hands hover near the crease where her thigh meets her pelvis. Flexing my fingers, I resist the building ache in my cock as I continue my exploration to her stomach and then over the material of her tank top, my hand hovering over her breast. I think about squeezing her, knowing my hand would engulf her small, but perfect breasts. She breathes in deeply then, moving slightly, but I don’t move. I settle for slowly swiping my thumb back and forth around the hardened peak of her nipple, eliciting a small moan out of her.

All I want to do is tear her clothes to shreds, baring her to me completely. I want to wake her with my mouth claiming every inch of her soul, but not yet. I’m not done playing our game. My other hand gently makes its way to her covered pussy, and it takes everyounce of my self-control not to touch her there. I negotiate tracing the outline of her panties and I have to suppress the growl that reverberates in my throat at the sound she makes, the way she releases a breathy sigh. I set a kiss over her navel before moving my face lower, stopping over where her underwear covers her. I take a deep inhale, relishing in her sweet scent before stepping back, before I let this get too far. The sun starts to rise over the horizon and as much as I want to be here when she wakes up, I instead root through her dirty clothes and take a pair of those pretty little panties.

Before I leave, I take care of Alaska, leaving Dylan no doubt in her mind that I had been here. She says she doesn’t want me, but her body elicited a different response, and I can’t help the smile that falls across my face. She can live in denial all she wants, but when I make her realize that her body speaks what her vitriol tongue denies, she’s never escaping my grasp. I have to adjust myself at the thought of all the ways I’m going to punish her for her lies. Maybe starting with making her swallow me whole to choke out those lies. I scratch Alaska on her head, leaving the way I came, leaving it cracked so she can start her day with the thought of me.

As I step outside, the crisp morning air greets me, sharpening the edges of my resolve. I can’t wait for the day Dylan realizes who I am, who her shadow has been. I know she’ll continue to fight, to try and get rid of me even then, but she doesn’t realize it’s only going to pull me closer. The sun peeks over the horizon and I can’t help but imagine all the ways she’s going to fight it, fightme,but it’s only going to make her eventual surrender that much sweeter. She can run, but she won’t ever be able to hide. I’m under her skin, I know it and she knows it, and soon she’ll understand that I’m not just a part of her world, Iamher world.

I toy with the softness of the lace in my pocket, wondering if she will realize it’s even gone. I’m hoping she does. She thinks I’m crazy, but I’m only crazy about her. For her. And I’m going to stop everyone who seeks to prevent that—herself included.

Nathan metme at the location we were holding the ringleader, which happened to be yet another abandoned building. But this time it’s located in the middle of the woods, the thick foliage and trees concealing it well. It took some muscle getting him back there, considering the trail to the old house was overgrown, but we wanted to ensure nobody would stumble upon him and give him the chance to come after us. It’s secure enough that we can be here during the day. After I left Dylan’s, I came straight here. When I open the door, Nathan is leaning against the wall on the right side of the shed, opposite to the only window allowing any sort of light through. It doesn’t do much with how shaded the area is.

Ezra, the ringleader whose name we couldn’t use while we were roleplaying due to it being a no name business, is gagged and bound in the center of the floor. His arms are wrenched above his head to the ceiling, his shirt torn and clothes bloodstained from his injuries. One of his eyes is swollen shut and his abdomen is contused from the damage we’ve already inflicted.

Nathan raises an eyebrow at me. “Busy morning? You look like shit.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. Couldn’t sleep.” I wasn’t going to admit where I was, although I know he’s right. I don’t know the last time I slept well, and I should probably make a more conscious effort, but life is what it is. And it is so much more saccharine now that Dylan’s in it. “How is he?” I nod at Ezra, hanging unconscious. “Why’s he out?”

He shrugs. “Had to do something to pass the time while I waited for you. Seemed like as good an option as any.” Hard to argue with that logic considering the type of person we’re dealing with.

“How long has he been out for?” I ask.

“Enough time we should be able to wake him up fairly easily.” Hestalks over to a bucket of cold water and dumps it over the hanging man.

Ezra jumps, his cries quickly turning into muffled coughs behind his gag as he tries to dislodge the dryness in his throat, coated with blood no doubt. He looks up at me, his eyes flashing with anger. I stalk over to him, ripping the torn cloth from his mouth. “Start talking.” We tried getting information out of him when we initially brought him here, but he wouldn’t budge—hence the injuries.

He tries to speak, his voice getting caught before trying to clear his throat. I nod at Nathan to bring over the bottle of water that’s on the floor, just out of reach of Ezra. He brings it over, grabbing the man by the jaw and tilting his head back before dumping a generous amount into his mouth. This causes Ezra to cough even further but seems to do the trick. “Fuck… you,” he rasps out.

I flick an eyebrow up before rearing back my fist and knocking it square into his jaw. I proceed to follow that up with a punch to his stomach. “Start. Talking. Now. Who do you work for?”

He chuckles but it gets cut off by a hiss of pain. “You have no idea who you’re fucking with.”

“So why don’t you tell us? It isn’t like you’re going to be alive long enough to report back to them anyway.” I tilt my head, a predator assessing his prey.

“So it doesn’t matter anyway. I’d rather die.” He spits out blood at his feet.

If this is how he wants to play it, so be it. He doesn’t know who we work for, so he doesn’t know how far our reach is. He doesn’t know that because we were able to easily find his name, we were able to find his wife and his children as well. It’s unfortunate they don’t know what his line of work entails, but that works in our favor. “Would your wife and kids feel the same way?”

His eyes instantly widen, fear and resignation entering them, before he tries to school his face into something clueless. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” But he does, I can see it in the wayhe won’t look directly into my eyes, the way he swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the movement.

I kneel down and grab the back of his head to get him to look at me. “But I think you do, Ezra. What are their names again? Mia, I believe, is your wife. Then there is little Amelia and Noah. What’s the address again? I think it’s 4326 Oakridge Dr... maybe you can help jog my memory?” The tension in his jaw is so tight I can hear his teeth grind together. But still he doesn’t answer me. “Hmm. Maybe I should show you this, maybe it’ll motivate you to give us what we want to know.” I hold my hand out, waiting for Nathan to hand me his phone with the surveillance we had a team set up on his house. You can see his family through the front window, sitting in the living room engaged in a board game. We would never actually do anything to harm the family, especially the children, but we aren’t above using tactics to strike fear in the hearts of our enemies.

When I show him, I say, “We have a group of people outside of your house right now ready to swoop in there and do to them what you’ve done to countless others. How old are Amelia and Noah? Six and four? I’m sure there are plenty of sick fucks like you out there who would love to use them in whatever way they please. Now, are you going to cooperate, or am I going to make you watch while we kidnapyourfamily?”

Whatever was left of his will, snaps as he screams out, “Please, I’ll tell you what you want to know. Just leave them alone, please. They—they don’t know about what I do. They’re innocent.”

I let the smile that spreads across my face do so slowly, a subtle curve tugging at the corner of my mouth. “Good. But just know if you’re lying and we find out after we’re done with you… we won’t hesitate to go after your family. I want you to know how serious I am. Their fate is tied to your cooperation. Everything you say can either save them or seal their doom.”

His voice shakes, desperate. “I don’t know their names, I’ve never met them face-to-face. But I know enough. The whole thing, the network, it’s not just one group. It’s not just one section. It’s biggerthan organs, okay? That deal I was gonna offer you? It’s rooted in drugs and sex and arms dealing. There are layers. And for the people at the top? They don’t get their hands dirty. That’s why they have people like me. They look clean enough on the outside so that no one suspects them individually, even if the rest of their operations get busted. They make sure that they’re far away from it and operate under shell companies.” He lets out a long breath, his voice cracking as he tries to clear his throat again.

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