Unwilling to Back Down (Survival of the Fittest Book 2) Read online

  He decided his first step had to be refreshing what he didn’t know. Plucking up his phone, he dialed the number on the west coast.

  A brisk, all-business voice answered, “FDPC, Office of Professional Conduct, Investigative Agent Andrew Lark speaking.”

  Reggie didn’t pester him about the overly formal greeting. His own number would not show up on any call display, even on the personal line of a senior Dawn operative. “It’s Fisher. Go secure.”

  Andrew’s professionalism shifted toward respect. A button clicked. “On secure. To what do I owe the call, Sir?”

  “We need to discuss the events surrounding Kyle Hutchings.”

  Andrew sighed. “Unfortunately, I don’t have an update. He hasn’t exposed himself in the way we assumed he would. No appeals to the media. No efforts to win over local law enforcement. We didn’t think he had this sort of patience. It’s unnatural in a young fertile.”

  Reggie flipped his pen a little more, calculating how much of that was honest analysis and how much was wishful thinking. “What kind of coverage do you have?”

  Confidence entered Andrew’s voice, knowing this part was solid. “We’ve still got two murders pinned on Hutchings and one of the women nearest him. The police believe the agents died investigating a cult of sexual deviants. We left it vague and let them draw their own conclusions. All major police departments across Washington, Oregon and Idaho are all responsive. Some of the sheriffs from smaller counties might not cooperate as easily, but our coverage is fairly comprehensive. The owners of the local news outlets are dancing to our tune. Half of them proved worthy of being approached directly. Rich people always love hearing they are among ‘the chosen’. The biggest worry is that Hutchings finds the ear of an independent reporter or a blogger online with a significant following.”

  Reggie added his information to the mix. “He might be more ambitious than you think. A Department of Justice agent is heading for Seattle. She’s looking to meet up with a contact about possible corruption in the FDPC.”

  “Damn. That has to be Hutchings,” Andrew cursed.

  Reggie agreed, “Either him or someone to whom he is feeding information. We don’t have flight information or much in the way of details. Do what you can with it. You need to apply more pressure. Jump-start your investigation. Stop just looking for him. Figure out what he is going to do. He’s contacted the DOJ. Which means he knows something. Or he thinks he knows something. Or he knows where to find something and needed help. Maybe, he just needed an impartial witness. Figure out what it is he wants, and maybe you can figure out what play he’ll make next.”

  “I understand, Sir.”

  “Stitch this one up quick, Lark. He’s off the grid. He’s got no support. Terminate on sight. A little noise is fine, if necessary. We wanted a test to see if we could handle the fallout. Well, that hasn’t changed. Anything we can do from the Federal level?”

  “If he gets in a tight spot, he might dump all this on social media and let public opinion sort it out. It might get discarded as a conspiracy theory. But there is a non-zero chance it could go viral and disrupt our little house of cards.”

  Reggie knew he was right. They lived their lives calculating the odds of precisely that happening, and the odds had gotten worse of late. “We’ll consolidate a little extra influence in the larger streaming services. ClickView and NowFeed will kill any podcast channel we want, assuming we notice it is there. Always In Touch is a monster. Pretty much impossible to buy up everyone there. But we have some in-roads,” he replied. “As for the small fry who might put it up on their site, anyone can be bought. If we see Hutchings post anything, we’ll acquire the loyalty of whoever is supporting him and kill it.”

  “Appreciated, Sir.”

  “All that is just damage control, Lark,” he said, his voice hard. “Find him before he finds anything of value. Stop him before any of this is necessary. Find him and kill him.”

  Chapter 1

  Kyle Hutchings stepped out of the mountain chalet he had come to call home. The crisp air bit sharply into his lungs, potently different after spending time inside where they kept the air intentionally warm to allow for a far wider, more risqué choice of clothing to be the norm. Inhaling deeply, Kyle stretched out his arms and embraced the chill sensation. Winter hadn’t come yet, though the first snow couldn’t be far off. The leaves were already turned. Soon, they would fall and leave only the evergreens for color. Against the mild cool of the morning, he had thrown on a light jacket and jeans, not yet bothering to put on gloves or a hat. Looking off the front porch, he checked the same priorities he always did when he walked out of the house.

  First, the trail. He looked and listened for any hint of someone coming up the poorly marked, rugged, but passable trail. It was a good practice on any day. Today, he watched with a little added anticipation. Lily Perkins was due back from her latest shift at the nearest hospital. He smiled at the memory of the beyond-pretty blonde’s helpful smile and spritely cheer. But there was no sign of her yet.

  Next, he tracked over to the small line of ATVs. There were three instead of their normal set of four, since Lily had one for her ride back in. The machines looked ready to go. A few months ago, they were strange machines that no-one knew much about besides Laura. The former cheerleader’s father had seen to her education in just about every outdoor activity known to humanity, including the care and fixing of small engines; she seemed to have a working knowledge of everything from snow blowers to ATVs like this. Now, she had coached them all through the basic repair and maintenance for them. Kyle didn’t consider himself an expert, but he felt comfortable handling them after her tutelage.

  The smooth, cultured voice of Megan Clarke came to him from further down the porch. As ever, it carried a sensual, sultry undertone that never failed to thrill Kyle to his core. “We’ll be needing to pull those into the storage shed soon and warm up the snowmobiles.”

  Kyle turned to see the beautiful woman who had captured a large part of his heart. She was boldly attractive in a way that Amazons must have been. About equal in height to him, she had powerful, shapely thighs he could worship for hours. That had been the start of his obsession with his former history teacher. He had secretly obsessed over her stocking-clad legs until the day he was finally given the chance to touch her. Whatever else happened in his life, at least a part of him could die happy just with that one fact alone.

  At the moment, she wasn’t dressed in anything so provocative as a skirt and heels. She had on a thick robe wrapped around some flannel pajamas. Her flow of lustrous brown hair was loose at the moment, and long enough to hang halfway down her back. For the last few months, her tummy had swollen steadily with his child she was carrying. She took care of herself, keeping healthy since they knew they might have to run at any moment. But although she had kept relatively fit, there was no denying the prominent swell of a woman late in her sixth month of pregnancy. She was leaning against the porch railing, nursing a cup of tea as she enjoyed her own look at nature. She looked both comfy and richly appealing. The very image of what home should be.

  Kyle walked down the porch, tucking in behind her and curling his arms around her sides. For a wandering moment, he cupped her firm breasts through her clothes, delighting in the flesh playing through his fingers. Then, his hands swam down over her stomach and massaged her full tummy. He leaned his mouth in and kissed the nape of her neck, giving a few flashes of tongue to delight the nerve endings near the top of her spine.

  Megan let out a soft moan of approval, especially for the attention paid to her stomach. She leaned into him, melting against his chest. They relaxed into each other, until suddenly a strong thump hit the inside of her tummy and punched against Kyle’s palm.

  His eyebrows flew up in surprise as they always did, then he grinned. “Ouch. He’s kicking up a storm, isn’t he?”

  “She is a fighter, just like her father.” Megan gave a throaty chuckle.

  Lily was doing a fine job s
afeguarding their general health and had taken a crash-course in how to care for babies in a rustic environment. Despite her efforts, nothing could change their lack of modern conveniences. There was no way to tell the sex of the baby without an ultrasound. This had led to a fun renewal of things like baby pools, teasing, and wishful thinking surrounding all three babies that were due to be born in the next few months.

  In the end, Kyle would be more than happy either way. As the saying goes, he thought, all we really need is a healthy heartbeat and strong lungs. Ten fingers and ten toes would be nice. We’ll figure the rest out.

  Part of him was terrified. What did he know about taking care of kids? And he was about to have three of them roaming around soon! But somehow, the fact that they had a small community all huddled together, vying for survival and ready to love these kids to distraction made it seem easier.

  The truly terrifying part was the idea that at any minute, these bastards that had nearly killed his family might sweep in and eradicate them like cancer, inoculating their ‘perfect future society’ against the disease of his somehow less-than-worthy genetic profile.

  The dark thought made him hug against Megan all the more tightly.

  She felt the change, and asked, “Are you still going on this mission?”

  Kyle murmured against her skin, kissing her neck and shoulders a few more times before answering. “I don’t want to. You and Yvette are not much more than a few months from your due dates, and Danielle is less than two months off by our best guess. Lily said she isn’t going back to the hospital after this shift until well after the babies are born because things could happen.”

  “There’s never going to be a good time.” Megan stroked his hands with her own, encouraging him to keep up the massaging strokes on her tummy. “When are you ever going to enjoy being away from us for… well, for however long this is going to be? Could be a few days, but if things get intense or you’re being tracked, it could also be a couple weeks or even months. But if you get lucky, you might be able to figure this out and be back to us before Danielle gives birth. We’ll miss you, but I think it’s worth the risk.”

  Of all the women sharing his life, Kyle found Megan’s clear mind and sound reasoning the best for bouncing ideas around. He treasured her directness and willingness to challenge what he was thinking, even if she did defer to him in the end. She was his regal queen, in more ways than one. He loved how she was a bit of a queen bee among the other women, helping calm their fights and keep things reasonable when an explosion seemed imminent. She was directly dominant with Yvette and Laura, and was training Dazz to be the same, but she had influence with all the women under their roof. They deferred to her, and her strength was a comfort to him. He knew that no matter what happened, she would do everything she could to get all of them through any trouble alive and together. How could I not love this woman?

  The warmth in her words brought out his affectionate desire for her. While one hand continued to orbit around the tight skin of her swollen belly, he slipped his other one a little lower. Finding a gap in her robe, he rubbed the fabric of her flannel pants against her sweet mound, teasing along her slit as far as he could reach. “To say I’ll miss you is an understatement.”

  Megan let out a soft gasp, then melted against him all the more. As deep into her pregnancy as she was, she was pretty much endlessly, relentlessly horny. The pressure of his thick, impressive erection hardening against her buttocks inspired her to start a slow grind of her ass against him. She managed to groan, “Doesn’t change the fact that you need to do this. Especially with Jackie here. She won’t wait on you forever. You promised her answers. We can’t let her wander off before she’s convinced.” She was finding it harder and harder to be coherent.

  Kyle didn’t make it any easier on her. Pausing in his persistent massages long enough to flick open the button on his jeans and work open the zipper, he also managed to work her pajama bottoms down over the swell of her buttocks, bearing her flesh to the chilly air. Megan arched her back beautifully, presenting herself so that they could keep cuddling while also opening herself to his invasion from behind. Kyle eased his imposing cock between her thighs and into the steamy opening of her sex. There was no rush. He sank into her steadily, sheathing himself inside her until they were blocking out the cold around them by pressing flesh against flesh.

  Kyle sighed, totally content. He stirred himself inside her as he resumed his cuddling and massages. With the gentle stimulation layered over their conversation, even talking about leaving couldn’t penetrate the calm and peace he felt inside. “You’re right. Whatever else, that’s the crux of it all, isn’t it? Jackie put her trust in us. We can’t just tell her to hold on and wait because it might not be convenient. We need to show her some real results.” He stroked a little harder, taking the rustic, outdoors lovemaking to a new level.

  His full girth and length never failed to bring a gasp from her whenever he filled her wet, tight core. Her head lolled back and forth, brushing her hair scented with roses and orange-spice against his nose. “Mmmm.” She sighed. “Ohh, I needed this, Kyle. Sooooo… oohhhhh…. soo… soooo gooooodd….” She moaned and her hips swiveled in counter-circles to his own stirring hips, meeting him with each spiraling thrust that built upward in intensity. A few strong thrusts later and she succumbed, spilling out into a quiet but lasting orgasm that made her shiver all over. Her hands clenched the porch railing and her teeth gritted to keep from letting out a scream that would wake anyone who was not already up inside the chalet.

  As she clenched around him, Kyle let go of his own control. He let her strong, inner muscles milk along his thick shaft and coax him into a climax. His hot seed erupted into her, turning their union into a celebratory blend of their shared cum.

  They both slowed, then locked into one another, trapping that heat inside. His hands renewed his cozy hug. They remained there leaning against the porch, as close as two people could be. Megan’s head drooped back against his shoulder in contentment.

  Strolling in from the forest, Agent Jackie Moraker approached the porch stairs. She had clearly just come back from a cross-country run in the woods. There were a couple of rough paths winding through the trees that the group had beaten down over the last months. All of them shared an interest in keeping fit, and most of them liked to jog as part of that. The broken ground made it a risk and a whole new type of workout, but it was effective. Jackie had discovered it on her second day at the chalet. Now, a week later, exploring those trails had become part of her daily routine.

  The cold didn’t seem to bother her all that much. Along with her deep-tread sneakers, her lithe, athletic legs were totally revealed by her skin-tight, lycra pants. She had a sleek, dark grey hoodie to give her a little warmth, and used the front of it to wipe the sweat off her forehead. Her shoulder-length, brown hair was drawn back into a bouncy ponytail that bobbed behind her head.

  Skipping up the steps of the porch, Jackie stopped and scanned the two lovers up and down. Whatever someone else might miss, she was a trained investigator. She caught the way Megan’s robes were hanging a little differently and the slight looseness of Kyle’s undone jeans. She gave a light laugh. “You really never get enough, do you?”

  Kyle kissed the back of Megan’s head, taking one last inhale of her enticing scent before answering. “Can you really blame me?” He didn’t make any move to disengage himself from Megan’s body. After a week, he had ceased to be embarrassed on the inevitable occasions that Jackie stumbled upon him wrapped up with one of his lovers. The chalet was big, with a dozen rooms and several common areas. But unless Jackie was willing to isolate herself completely, she was going to see things. If not with Kyle, then with two (or more) of the women enjoying their own bit of fun. Their affection for each other only grew in their shared isolation. Boundaries were dropping fast. They spent less and less time in separate bedrooms. Not all of the women were sharing his bed or the bed of any of the other women, but invitations were alway
s open. The reservations for those yet to share in the romance were slowly crumbling. Even Kyle, who had never thought of himself as knowledgeable about women, could see that.

  Megan seemed the most determined to encourage that trend. Masterminding encounters and encouraging everyone to spend more time together, she was focused on bringing everyone in the chalet into the same bed, one day.

  He grinned. She had his full support. He would never pressure any of the women to do anything they didn’t want, but… if they ended up wanting it? He would gladly fall into bed with any one of them. They were all special, each in their own way. I’m a lucky man any way you look at it.

  Jackie leaned against one of the porch posts. “I guess not. It’s quite the family you have here.”

  Megan glided her hand around her tummy. “About to get a little larger.”

  Kyle added, “Which is what we were talking about: the next steps. We’ve shown you all the material we have. We need to figure out who’s heading with us back into the world, then hold a strategy session. No matter what else, we need to show you that training camp we saw mentioned on the email server. I want to be back before my first kid is born.” He met her eyes. “I need to know if you’re convinced enough to come with us.” It was a soft challenge, but not an empty one. He had promised to turn himself in if he couldn’t convince her that there was something real to this messy conspiracy. He was normally a man of his word, but the idea of being put in cuffs and dragged away from his lovers and his new children was crushing. He figured to himself, The best option is to paint the picture so clearly that she can’t miss the connections.