Page 10 of Drag You Down (Bloody Desires #2)

Birth records for “Levi” are useless, never mind that I don’t know if he was even born in New Bristol or somewhere else.

So how could I possibly go and whip or spank a boy I don’t care about, when my lamb is being tortured and abused by another man?

“There were a few newbies,” Dom continues. “Found a needy brat who really wanted a good Daddy. I told him about you. He’s keen to meet you.”

I open my mouth to tell him off but change my mind. “You think I’d make a good Daddy for a boy?”

Dom peers at me. “Uh. Depends on what the boy wants and needs? You’d be good at the whole pain play part. You’ve got the whole being a dominant asshole thing down. But the caretaking side…” He shrugs. “Not your style.”

That’s not true.

That can’t be true.

I’d take good care of my lamb.

“Whatever. I don’t want to talk about my love life,” I say mulishly. “I want to know about Zachariah Carpenter.”

Dom huffs in annoyance. “This guy got you this worked up? What was he even doing, that he got onto your radar?”

“You know I can’t divulge information like that,” I tell him, glad to have redirected the conversation.

Of course, he’s not supposed to share the kind of information I’m asking for either, but plausible deniability is one of the ways we operate.

Dom keeps staring at me, until he says, “Well. You’re right about bad vibes.

Zachariah Carpenter is his newest name. He’s had five already, but his last one was Joshua Baker.

It looks like he’s been moving from city to city…

and the last name, about fifteen years ago, was convicted of child endangerment and child abuse.

He had a compound outside of Calamity City, and they found about ten people living with him. Two of the women had kids with him.”

I add the fresh pasta from the fridge to the boiling water, glancing at the time. It gives me a moment to compose myself even as the cold anger starts to build back up within me. “Was there any sexual abuse?” I ask.

Dom doesn’t answer for a while, watching me stir all the food together. “I’ve only got summaries, and I’d have to call the Calamity PD to see if they have more detailed case files. But the news articles about it don’t paint a pretty picture.”

Of course they don’t.

“So he’s bad news,” I summarize, grabbing bowls so I can plate the pasta for us. More than bad news. He might not have escalated to some of the more unsavory behaviors befitting the type of environment I suspect he runs here in New Bristol yet, but that doesn’t mean he won’t.

That doesn’t mean my little lamb is safe.

Fierce possessiveness races through me, and the urge to go straight to Levi’s apartment and bring him home has me taking a step in the direction of the door before I manage to stop myself.

How long has Levi been there? How much damage has Joshua Baker done to him?

“Am I right in thinking it’s a cult?” I ask, my voice harsh. “Or am I jaded?”

Ten other people in a compound, including two with his children, Dom had said. This is no typical religious congregation.

At least, I don’t think so.

What do I know about what “normal” religion looks like?

“Yeah, it was almost definitely a cult.” Dom shakes his head. “I don’t get these idiots.”

I swallow back my anger. Levi is far from an idiot.

Dom continues, unaware of my darkening mood as I set a bowl in front of him.

“They really can’t see through the two-bit con artists?

Zachariah, Joshua, whatever, he’s been running scams like these for years.

Before Joshua, he did romance scams. Guess he was still young enough to pull it off then.

And some sort of fake investor scam? And that’s just the ones he got caught for.

I bet plenty of people got conned and never reported it. ”

“Getting scammed doesn’t make them idiots,” I tell him, stabbing my fork into my pasta. The itch to grab Levi, consequences be damned, is only growing stronger. “How many of them were young and impressionable?”

“Young and impressionable, old and gullible, sad and desperate…” Dom shrugs as he scoops up his pasta. “They all fall for it. You try to teach them how to think, but so many of them fall for it again and again.”

I eat in silence, thinking back to the bearded man I’d seen touching Levi the day of the fire alarm. Maybe I’ll cut his tongue out before I kill him so he can’t spin lies to those who are unable to resist.

“And what do the cops do when people report these crimes?” I ask. My voice is terse because I can already guess that the answer is absolutely nothing . They probably act like Dom is, assuming they’re fools who can’t be taught differently.

“Okay, I know that tone.” Dom waves dismissively.

“There’s not a lot we can do, okay? We can arrest people like Zacky here, but we need proof of crimes.

A lot of the victims hand the money over willingly.

Then if the con artist isn’t even in the US, those guys are out of our hands.

And no matter how many warnings we distribute, no matter how many bank tellers tell the victims they’re being scammed, the victims go through with it anyway. ”

“So when it’s a cult, what then? You know what they’re capable of doing: rape, exploitation, murder. You know they escalate. So when do you act? Once it’s done, and… oops?” I ask, shoving my bowl away from me.

“They’re grown-ass adults, Gabe. If they don’t want to leave, we can’t exactly force them.” Dom calmly keeps eating. “What’s it matter, anyway? Just don’t tangle up your money with this guy and you’re fine.”

I debate how much to tell him, and again, I come back to plausible deniability. The less he knows, the better. “I’ll refuse him as a client,” I tell Dom. “Thanks for the info.”

I’m going to murder Zachariah fucking Carpenter.

It will be slow, and it will be painful, and I won’t have to worry about this turning into a mass suicide. Maybe the victims will go on to fall for another scam, but Levi?

He’s mine, and I’ll never let anyone else fool him again.