Saddled, chapter 18 (Patreon)

Clive’s eye was twitching, but legally he could tie Brandon Robinson into knots that would strangle his bank account, and if all else failed, he could out the man’s sexual improprieties. While that would make Clive feel like a hypocrite, there was a big difference between adults having a mutually beneficial relationship and young women getting used and then financially stranded when they ended up pregnant. If Clive and his wife had managed to procreate, Clive would have supported his children forever, even when the marriage had ended.

Even if their marriage had turned into a toxic wasteland of mutual destruction, and it would have. Neither of them knew how to bend. However, Clive now had evidence of at least two women who had made charges before largely vanishing. Clive’s private eye had taken days to find them, so that was about as off the grid a human could get in these days of modern forms and social media.

After composing a quick email to the investigator, Clive went to his bar and poured a drink. Normally he only drank when entertaining, but he had earned it. This Uninvited project was going to be the death of him. Worse, Clive was not at his best. Instead of focusing on the problem at hand, Clive’s mind kept wandering back to John. It was damned annoying. When the phone rang, he abandoned his glass and headed back to the desk. “Davidson,” he answered, his mind already rearranging his schedule to try and free his weekend.

Almost as if thinking about Briarwood had summoned her, a woman said, “Clive, it’s Elena.”

Clive sank into his office chair. “Don’t tell me. He has another job.” Clive was starting to think Elena was taking advantage of Clive’s obsession with John. In fact, her whole job was to take advantage of the sexual needs of others, but there was a limit to what Clive would do and how much he would pay to keep other men’s fingers off John. Finding John had been like discovering an oasis in the desert, but if Clive had to return to celibacy interrupted only by marginally acceptable assistants, that would be preferable to getting manipulated.

“Check your email.” 

Clive sighed. While he appreciated Elena’s discretion, he would rather have a straight answer. Strangely, Elena then said, “You’re looking for an email from someone with a user name of ‘One Chance.’”

“A name that ridiculous would have gone to spam,” Clive said, but his curiosity piqued. He started typing. “Give me a second.”

“Just stay calm,” Elena said. 

Nothing could have driven his blood pressure up faster. Clive’s mind spun with possibilities, most of which centered around Elena and blackmail. However, as unconventional as Clive’s kinks were, he was a grown man who could fuck whomever he liked. If Elena decided to threaten him, Clive would not only out himself but invite the entire Broadway cast to his house in Maine to view the stables. One or two of the actors would probably volunteer for a stall. Clive found the email quickly even though the subject line was blank. He opened it, and found an entry set up like an actor’s bio.

John Michaud

Age: 46

Hair: Brown

Weight: 226 pounds

Height: 6’ 2”

Experience: commercial fishing boat captain, professional whore

“What is this?” Clive demanded. Elena had never given him biographical information on any assistant. Up until this point, she had always insisted that any client who pursued an assistant’s full name would be banned from the agency. 

“Don’t you have the attachment?” Elena’s voice was hesitant, and that was one trait Clive had never associated with the woman.

“Do you expect me to open an unknown attachment from an unknown source?”

“My security didn’t find anything in the attachment. Open it from another computer if you like, but I need you to look at the attachment.”

Clive frowned. He didn’t have anything on the computer that wasn’t backed up and printed out, so he clicked on the small video icon. When John’s image appeared on the monitor, cold washed over him. John’s pupils were blown wide, so his eyes looked almost black, and as the interrogator asked questions, John’s muscles tensed as he fought the bindings. Clive knew what John looked like when he was playing a scene, but this was panic. John was utterly terrified and he would have safe worded out if that had been an option. “Elena.” Clive stopped because getting even that word out required a monumental effort.

“The job tonight was a trap, and the client who recommended this new man has vanished. We need to talk.”

Clive found his voice. “You need to call the police. I don’t give a shit about your business. Either you call the police or I will.”

“Clive, listen to me,” she said sharply. “We don’t know which of us is being targeted. The man who took John referred to you as John’s boyfriend and said that if John didn’t cooperate, they would kill him and leave you to grieve.” Elena’s words made Clive physically ill. He pressed his fist against his side as he fought down the nausea. “However, they told the John’s partner for the night to tell me what happened. I have enemies, and you might be the distraction.”

“Elena, you need to call the police,” Clive said as calmly as he could. It wasn’t easy when his heart was pounding.

“And if we do that, we’re risking John’s life. Whoever is behind this is targeting us. We need to move slowly and quietly until we figure out what they want. They haven’t asked for a ransom, so this is not a typical kidnapping. If the police come in, they’re going to treat this like a garden-variety kidnapping and as soon as they learn what John does for a living, they’re going to dismiss this as a sex game gone wrong.”

Clive gripped the edge of his desk and fought down the useless fury that rolled through him. As much as he didn’t want to admit it, Elena was right. Considering that Clive had only spent one long weekend with John, he couldn’t explain the soul-deep panic at the thought of the police mishandling this. “If they want a ransom, I’ll provide money.”

Elena sighed. “As will I. But so far they haven’t asked for any. I suspect they want something more valuable than money.”

“From you or from me?” Clive asked. His thoughts went immediately to Robinson and this cursed project. The man was an upper class loser, but if someone faked a reality long enough, it sometimes became real. Clive knew that better than most. So if someone was targeting him, Robinson topped his list. Right now, Clive didn’t care if the whole project went belly up as long as John was safe and he got to destroy Robinson.

“I wish I knew. The kidnappers made reference to both of us,” she said. “But I didn’t call you for money.”

“Then why did you call?” The second Clive snapped at her, he regretted his own lack of emotional control. Clearly Elena had called because the kidnappers had tied them together with this plot. “I apologize,” he quickly added.

“Don’t apologize. We both want him back safe,” Elena said. “I need to know if you told anyone about your time with John.”

“No. Of course not.” Clive couldn’t imagine anything more horrific than having any of the sycophants in his life knowing about John.

“It would be perfectly normal to tell a friend about your wonderful weekend or confide in someone that you had found someone who enjoyed being on the business end of your whip.” 

Clive ignored the flare of pleasure at the idea that John had liked their time together. His reaction made him an asshole when John was in danger. More importantly, he hadn’t even considered telling anyone. Clive preferred to keep his private life separate from his professional. He wouldn’t tell the people at work if he had a hangnail, much less that he had met someone who made his heart race. “I haven’t told anyone.”

“Then I have a problem,” Elena said with a sigh. “Because those questions were too targeted.”

Clive stared at the monitor where John’s face was frozen in the video box at the end of the video clip. “Someone knows about us, and the leak is not on my end.”

“I know. Clearly I need to clean house, but that means I have a lead I can work, and I have just as many resources as the police. I actually have several police and three FBI agents as resources, so believe me when I say I will figure this plot out.”

“Brandon Robinson,” Clive said. “He’s a producer in Hollywood, and my partnership with him is dragging my latest show into a swamp of incompetence. I’m in the middle of cutting him out, and he is less than pleased with me.”

“Would he do something like this?”

“He’s a rich kid who went to private schools and has a habit of walking on other people.”

“So, yes,” Elena summarized.

Clive closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose where a headache raged. “He plays at being a bad boy and hanging with criminals. He’s my best suspect, and if he did this, he’s an idiot because he had to know I’m going to come for him.”

“No, you aren’t,” Elena barked so forcefully that Clive sat up. “Our best advantage is that these idiots believe they have us trapped. They think we are so ashamed of our kinks that they’re safe doing this to John—to us—because we won't talk. If you confront this Robinson and he’s behind the kidnapping, then John’s in real danger. The same is true if they get any whiff of police involvement. We need them to keep their illusions.”

“What do you expect me to do?” Clive practically yelled. Two seconds later, Kelly opened the door and stuck her head in. No doubt his shouting had surprised her, but he waved her away. She retreated, and Clive took several deep breaths while Elena spoke.

“I would like to tell you to retreat to your vacation house and play the part of a scared victim. It would bolster our kidnapper’s fears.”

For the first time, Clive realized that Elena was speaking on an open line. She never did that, so either this kidnapping had put her off her game or she didn’t trust her own secure chat. Since the leak had most likely happened in her organization, Clive suspected the second. He hoped for it anyway. When Elena was on the top of her game, she could play like no one Clive had ever met.

“But you need me to do something else,” Clive said.

“Yes. John took your job because he needs money. His mother is in a hospital in Boston undergoing expensive and experimental cancer treatment. If he vanishes, we run the risk of one of them calling the police.”

“Which would complicate issues.”

“Which would put John’s life in danger,” Elena said. “Understand this, his partner last night saw all their faces. John has seen all their faces. We need to play this smart. If the police are involved, John becomes a potential witness instead of a helpless whore. Only one of those would inspire these assholes to shoot him in the head.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“I need you to play interference with his family, to convince them that John is fine and just distracted by work.”

Clive frowned. “Can’t you do that? You’re his boss.”

Elena paused. “I can,” she said slowly. “If you don’t want to get more involved, I would suggest you go to your Maine house and wait this out.”

“Fuck not getting involved,” Clive snapped when he realized she was assuming he didn’t care about an assistant. John had given Clive his trust, and Clive would never violate that. Never. “What the hell am I supposed to tell his family? If one of them watches Hollywood news, they’re going to recognize me, and I can’t exactly claim to be involved in fishing.” At least Clive assumed that was John’s first career and his cover. The other information listed by the kidnappers was accurate.

“I assume at least one of them will recognize you,” Elena said. “John’s younger brother works in Hollywood.”

Fuck. Clive ran a hand over his face. “Then how can I help without making things a million times more complicated.”

“Simple,” Elena said, “complicated is distracting. Logan is gay, but he believes his brother is straight. If you come in and ask him, as a devoted but closeted lover, to help distract the family, that will blindside Logan enough to stop him from doing anything. And since he is a small-budget producer of mostly documentaries, your presence at his hotel room will put stars in his eyes.”

Clive let out a long breath. “He’ll be star struck and too afraid to cross me because of the professional ramifications.” Clive didn’t work in documentaries and he was rarely in California anymore, but his production company worked with all the technical companies that did the behind the scenes work. Film developing, food services, props, make-up—all of it. And if this Logan was a little fish, he would not want to run afoul of Clive’s company and risk getting shut out. “That’s cold.”

“I don’t care what I have to do. I’m getting John back. Are you willing to deal with his family?”

“Yes.” Clive just hoped John would forgive him later. As a private man himself, Clive knew the emotional toll when someone bulled into your life, and that’s exactly what Clive was about to do. “But if I’m going to play the part of the boyfriend, I need intel. I need to know all his family members, who John likes, who he doesn’t. I need favorite food and bad habits and everything else you can think of. If Logan is a producer, he’s used to focusing on details, and I need to get them right.”

“You got it,” Elena quickly agreed. “I’ll be at your office in thirty minutes.”

“Elena, if John ends up dead, I’m coming for you,” Clive warned. He was letting Elena take lead in this because he honestly didn’t know what to do. However, he wouldn’t accept failure. “I’ll burn your fucking business down around your ears.”

There was a longer pause before she answered. “We’ll get him back.”

Clive would have felt better if her voice hadn’t trembled.

Chapter 19: https://www.patreon.com/posts/saddled-chapter-19779762 

Chapter 20: https://www.patreon.com/posts/saddled-chapter-19820249 

Chapter 21: https://www.patreon.com/posts/saddled-chapter-19951417 

Chapter 22: https://www.patreon.com/posts/saddled-chapter-20049839 

Chapter 23: https://www.patreon.com/posts/saddled-chapter-20094108 

Chapter 24: https://www.patreon.com/posts/saddled-chapter-20174290 

Chapter 25: https://www.patreon.com/posts/saddled-chapter-20210420