Jinxx's Big BDSM Adventure [The Black Dahlia Hotel 6] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) Read online

“Sure, kiddo. Let’s go check it out.” Shit. Saved by the Pokemon bell. Trish could be a tad overprotective where her friends and family were concerned. If she had his full name, Jinxx wouldn’t put it past Trish to run a name search on Troy. If she only knew…Jinxx had done just that herself shortly after they had started talking online, and nothing had come up on Lexus Nexus—no criminal records, bankruptcies, pedophile registrations. Troy Osborne Barnett was as clean as a whistle. She wasn’t stupid, after all, regardless of whether Trish thought she was naïve or not. She was a woman in a high-profile job, who made a good living, and with substantial personal assets. She wasn’t about to risk all that for a little midnight fun with a stranger without checking him out.

  Jim called out, “Soup’s on—or make that steaks.”

  “Let’s go, buddy. Daddy has the food ready.”

  “Okay, Auntie Jinxx. What’s a Los Angeles Lothario?” His bright eyes were curious.

  Oh, jeez. Kids hear everything. What to say now?

  “Your mommy was just teasing me, Peter. She thinks it’s funny that I have a pen pal who lives in Los Angeles. That’s all.” They joined the family in the kitchen where Jim was plating the steaks while Trish was serving up the loaded baked potatoes and salad. She smiled sheepishly at Jinxx and blew her a kiss, then mouthed, “Are you mad at me?”

  “Of course not, goofball.”

  “I wouldn’t hound you if I didn’t care.”

  “I know that. Just relax. I’m not crazy, you know.” They all took their plates into the family room to eat and watch a Star Wars movie on Jim’s pride and joy, a huge, new, curved HD big-screen TV. Jinxx swore it was almost as big as at a movie theater. Men and their toys.

  * * * *

  When Jinxx got home, she changed into her sleep shirt and a soft terrycloth robe. She settled into her favorite oversized chair and turned on her much-smaller flat-screen TV. She poked around the selection guide until she decided on a re-run episode of Hawaii 5-0. At least there would be some yummy eye candy. That Alex O’Laughlin…

  It was eleven o’clock here, so that made it eight in L.A. It was tiring to always have to think what time it was on the other coast. Her cell binged and she picked it up. Not Troy.

  It was Trish. Just wanted to know you made it home okay. Everything all right?

  She tapped in, I’m fine. Got home a few minutes ago. Watching some TV. Goodnight.

  Trish responded with three bright red kisses. That made Jinxx laugh. She checked her instant message tab and found a new message from Troy.

  Whatcha doing, sexy? Wish I was there to cuddle you. I wish I could kiss you.

  Watching TV. Wish you were here, too. Just got home from dinner at my boss’s house.

  Sleep well and dream of me. Xoxo

  I will. You, too. Xoxo

  He never let her go to bed without a message, even if it was a short one. That was so nice. It made her feel…cared for. It was a nice feeling after being alone all this time. She was going to enjoy it for whatever it was, for however long it lasted, regardless of what Trish or Ellie thought. They both had a special someone in their lives. They both just saw her as an independent, self-sufficient, professional woman who didn’t need anyone. She thought that sometimes Trish envied her carefree, unencumbered existence. She really didn’t understand that Jinxx might need someone or something as well. Well, everyone needed someone.

  When she woke up, there was the usual overnight message from Troy.

  Hello, sweetheart. Reading your e-mail each night is something that I have become so used to now. If I don’t read something from you, I stay up all night. It’s only when I finish replying to you that I feel much more relaxed. Getting to know you this way is not really old-fashioned. It’s a sweet way of expressing one’s heart through writing. I like it a lot. LOL. I am glad you replied to my third hello. I must say it was your smile that got me. One thing I know is that it is much easier expressing your feelings when writing to someone you care about and are attracted to. It takes the tension away. Thank you for making it easy for me to say everything I want to say. I promise you I am going to read your new book. You should be prepared for lots of kisses and hugs.

  I know you still feel hurt each time you talk about your marriage. It is never easy remembering the past. It’s not a book. You cannot change what has happened or control the way things turned out. Thanks for sharing all of this with me. I admire your honesty. The best things will always find you. It might just take some time, but it will surely happen. That's the truth. Heartbreak can come in so many ways. His loss, my gain. That’s how life is. Some people have to leave for better ones to come along. This is a perfect match. It’s good that we can talk about things that will put a smile on our face, too. Like, apart from your lips, where else would you love me to kiss your body? LOL. I see you smiling now. Your thoughts, not mine. I can’t wait to get you into a dungeon. Troy.

  Jinxx had to smile. He always had to slip a little something sexy in there. She glanced at the collection of photos of Troy on her phone. Some were from his Facebook page and others were ones he had e-mailed her. He really was handsome, and those abs…One picture was in a bathing suit on a beach in Brazil. She could see Sugarloaf Mountain behind him in the distance.

  She had fallen asleep many times pretending she was held in his muscular arms and cradled against those abs. It was kind of sad, really, if she thought about it. Despite her friends and busy, active life, she lived an isolated existence in New York. Troy really was a ray of sunshine in her life.

  Chapter Two

  At the Law Offices of Brampton Hamilton, LLP on Wall Street, Downtown New York, New York, Monday morning, December 14, 2015 – Three weeks later

  Jinxx’s office door opened and she looked up. “Good morning, Jinxx. Have a nice weekend?” Jim was standing in the doorway.

  “It was good. I went to see a show and out to dinner. How was your weekend?”

  “Ha. Not as good as yours. Cub Scouts and soccer. I did scouts. Trish did soccer.”

  “That’s what you get for having boys. You could have had Brownies and ballet.”

  “Oh, now that would have been an improvement. By the way, I am going to need you to help cover the Gulf Oil depo in Chicago on Thursday. It could run to Friday. I’m sending that new guy, Joe Gomez. I have a legislative hearing for Gulf in Washington that I can’t delegate.” He frowned. “I think Gomez will be fine, but I want you there. I’ll go over the file with him tomorrow, but you can gently steer him in the right direction, if you know what I mean.”

  “You know, Jim. I’m getting a little tired of having to break in the new associates and junior partners. I’m not the den mother around here, you know.”

  “I know, I know. It’s just a necessary evil part of the job. We all have to help them get their feet wet. Sandy will contact the firm’s travel agent for flights and a hotel in case you have to stay over until Friday.”

  “Okay. I guess.” Jinxx grinned. She was lucky she and Jim had such a long and close relationship. There were partners in the firm who would not put up with any lip from a paralegal, even the senior one.

  After Jim wandered back to his own office, Jinxx got up for a cup of coffee, and on her way back from the break room she poked her head into Joe Gomez’s office. He had been a recent hire from a downtown firm that was breaking up. He was apparently still trying to get his bearings at the new office, although he had been practicing for several years. “Hi. Ready for a road trip on Thursday?”

  “I just heard. I’ll have to get up to speed on the case.”

  “Well, if you need any help, let me know. I was answering interrogatories on the file a couple of weeks ago.”

  “I’ve got it handled.”

  “Okay.” She turned to leave. Some associates and junior partners just didn’t get it. She had more litigation experience than many of them. It wasn’t a show of weakness to ask for her help or to let her do her thing. Depending on the personalities involved, some of them were not above
taking credit for her ideas or work. That really got to her. She didn’t mind helping them, but when they took credit for her work it pissed her off.

  The bigger men—or women—would step right up and say, “Jinxx suggested,” or “Jinxx had a great idea.” That was guaranteed to get her on their team and encourage her to do more than she was required to do. Trying to take credit for her brain farts was guaranteed to have her keeping her ideas to herself until she could give them directly to Jim or another senior partner. They only ended up shooting themselves in the foot with behavior like that.

  She didn’t get that vibe from Gomez, but there was something about him that had her spidey senses tingling. She couldn’t put her finger on it, though. He was good-looking in the typical Latin format with a dark complexion, hair and eyes. He was maybe a little shorter than her, but well built. She didn’t know. He just seemed to have an entitled attitude or something.

  * * * *

  The Gate at John F. Kennedy International Airport, Borough of Queens, New York, New York, Thursday early morning, December 17, 2015

  Jinxx was sitting at the gate, waiting for the early morning flight to Chicago to be called. Joe Gomez had wandered away in search of a cup of coffee. She had her rolling briefcase, in which she had tucked a change of underwear, a sleep shirt and a clean blouse. Her laptop and shoulder bag were leaned neatly up against her legs. She had learned to travel light with Jim years ago. She had no intention of checking any luggage for this short trip. It would be a disaster if anything was lost in transit, particularly her notes and exhibits for the deposition and all of the discovery materials for the Gulf Oil case, some of which were stored in the cloud and which she accessed with her laptop.

  They should be in Chicago by nine-thirty, and the first deposition was scheduled for ten-thirty. Hopefully, they could wrap this up in one day, but she never counted on the depo fairies being in her favor. The plaintiffs’ counsel was deposing the marine engineer, Edward Bailey, who oversaw operations on the rig, as well as several others who were present at the time of the accident. Bailey was an employee of the lessee of the rig that had been seriously damaged when a mechanical failure led to a small explosion, throwing several roughnecks into the water for a drop of at least fifty feet and creating a small oil spill.

  It could have been worse. It was nothing close to the ecological disaster resulting from the BP oil spill in the Gulf several years ago. The spill had been quickly cleaned up, and no one had been killed.

  Gulf Oil Rigging and Offshore, LLP was a medium-sized company that provided shallow water drilling and marine services to the oil and natural gas exploration and production industries globally. They owned a fleet of mobile, self-elevating jackup rigs, or drilling platforms, equipped with legs that could be lowered to the ocean floor until a foundation could be established to support the drilling platform.

  It was the usual case of sue everyone, especially anyone with deep pockets, and let them try to get dismissed from the action. Jim felt they had a good chance of getting Gulf dismissed since the lease put all liability for the operation of the rig squarely on the shoulders of the lessee.

  Jinxx knew their stockholders had to be getting antsy. She bet there would have been a lot more stock dumping if the company didn’t pay such outstanding dividends to stockholders. She knew she wasn’t going to be dumping her shares. Those quarterly dividends were something she looked forward to receiving. Jim had turned her on to the investment opportunity when they had first started representing the company years ago, and she had bought stock then and had continued to add more to her portfolio whenever the price was down.

  Joe returned with a cup of coffee and handed her one as well. That was thoughtful, and she was surprised. “So, Jinxx. I don’t know if I want to get on a plane with someone named Jinxx. How did you get that name?”

  “Well, you could start walking to Chicago now if you like.”

  “Just kidding. Don’t get your nose out of joint.” He smiled a very wide and white smile. “So how did you get that name, anyway?”

  “My name is Jacinta Maria after one of my Italian grandmothers. My dad started calling me Jinxx when I was a baby. I have no idea why, and neither does he, but it stuck. He says I’m the best luck he ever had except for my mother.”

  “That’s nice. I hope you bring me good luck on this trip. I would have preferred to be a little more in touch with the file before having to attend this depo.”

  “Well, that’s what I’m here for. I know as much about the facts of this case as Jim. I’ve been on board since we first started representing Gulf over ten years ago.”

  “So you know where the bodies are buried.”

  “No. There are no bodies. This is a good, solid company. Accidents happen. I don’t believe there is any smoking gun to be discovered here.”

  “Good to know.” He pulled a yellow pad out of his briefcase and began to study his notes.

  * * * *

  At the Law Offices of Hunter Calhoun Beasley, LLP, Downtown Chicago, Illinois, Thursday, mid-morning, December 17, 2015

  Jinxx put her legal pad and a supply of mechanical pencils, as well as her trial notebook, on the table next to her laptop. She put her iPhone on the table and surreptitiously set it to record the proceedings. She wanted to have her own record and not have to wait for the transcript and video to be sent to them by the court reporter in a few weeks.

  Jinxx sat in the chair to the right of Joe Gomez, who also had an array of notes and materials spread out on the conference room table around him. They were sitting on the long side of the table under the windows. The deponent would be at the head of the table when he arrived, and the attorney for the plaintiffs, Robert Beasley, would be at the foot of the table with the videographer behind him so that he caught the deponent face-on while he was testifying.

  Coastal Oil, the lessee of the rig and the main Defendant, would be represented by their in-house counsel, Martin Samuels, who would be seated across from Joe and Jinxx. While this was not their deposition, Jim had felt that Gulf should be represented at the proceedings. Even though they would be entitled to written transcripts of the depo as well as a copy of the video, sometimes nuances could be lost if not witnessed firsthand. There could be reactions of other people in the room that were not caught on the tape that could be telling as well.

  Bailey entered the room and was seated. The court reporter read the style of the case and the parties present into the record before she administered an oath to the deponent. Beasley started the questioning with the standard inquiries as to Bailey’s experience and qualifications, and then proceeded to the events of the day of the accident.

  “Mr. Bailey, please tell us everything that you did and everything that you witnessed from the time you arrived on the rig on the morning of the accident. It is my understanding that you are not on site twenty-four-seven, but fly out to the rig three times a week. Is that correct?”

  “Yes, I spend three twelve-hour shifts aboard the rig every week. On other days, I am on site on other rigs operated by Coastal Oil.”

  “Are three twelve-hour shifts sufficient supervision for an operation of this type?”

  “They always have been. There are other qualified on-site managers aboard twenty-four-seven.”

  “And who are those individuals?”

  “Mario Tomaselli is the manager and Gregory Halloran is the assistant manager.”

  “Can you take us through your day, please?”

  Beasley guided the marine engineer through the events of the morning up until the accident, which occurred at two-thirty in the afternoon. He meticulously questioned each and every incident.

  Jinxx leaned over to Joe Gomez and whispered, “It would be nice to know what Bailey had for lunch in the rig’s commissary. I’d also like to know if there are any alcoholic beverages available on the rig, and if any of the equipment operators or managers consumed any at lunch that day. I’d like to depose the commissary crew as well.”

  Joe smile
d. “Good point.” He hurried to make a note on his yellow legal pad.

  After over two hours of grilling, peppered by objections from the Co-Defendant’s counsel, Beasley turned to Joe Gomez. “Mr. Gomez, do you have any questions for Mr. Bailey?”

  “Yes, thank you. Mr. Bailey, what did you have for lunch?”

  “I had a cheeseburger, fries, and apple pie for dessert.”

  “Did you eat your lunch with anyone?”

  “I ate with Tomaselli and Halloran, and we went over the production and maintenance logs while we ate.”

  “What beverage did you have with lunch?”

  “I had iced tea as usual. Unsweetened.”

  “What did the other two drink?”

  Bailey hesitated and glanced over at Samuels. “I don’t remember.” Jinxx put her hand down and squeezed Gomez’s arm. This is something. She was sure Bailey was hesitating because he didn’t want to admit something important.

  Gomez nodded his head just slightly as he looked down at his notes and then back up at Bailey. “Mr. Bailey, may I remind you that you are under oath. Let me rephrase the question in case you did not understand it the first time.” He raised one of his dark eyebrows at Bailey. “What beverages did Tomaselli and Halloran have with their lunches?”

  Martin Samuels said, “Objection. Mr. Bailey cannot testify to what others may or may not have had to drink.”

  “Not true, Samuels. Bailey was at the table having a lunch meeting with Tomaselli and Halloran. He has personal knowledge of what they had to drink.” He looked back to the head of the table. “Mr. Bailey? Please answer the question.”

  Bailey glanced at his employer’s attorney, who just shrugged. Then he looked back at Gomez, who stared him down. Finally he said, “I believe they each had beer with their sandwiches.”

  “Just one?” Gomez waited. Jinxx could feel the tension in the arm that rested on the table next to her.