Too Close by Sasha White Page B

banter between the men was fast and smooth, second nature to them both.  
    “An inside source says ‘The woman who’s committing these crimes is not only seductive to her victims, but damn talented with a rope.’ ” Jackson read out loud.
      Kane switched gears as he flipped through the last batch of pictures from Yardley’s crime scene. “With each robbery, the victim is bound in a different and more creative way. And even when she uses a silk tie or an electrical cord to bind them, there’s never a mark or bruise left behind.”
    “That’s not much to go on after four robberies in ten months.” Jack shook his head and leaned forward to tap his pencil on the photo of Edward Yardley’s bound wrists. “Tell me about these ones.”
    “These ones are beauty. She used a twelve-foot section of climbing rope this time. Forearms and wrists were bound to the chair in such a way the guy didn’t have a clue what he was getting into until he tried to stand up and realized that not only was he bound, but he was stuck there until someone else came along.” He met his friend’s gaze. “A clear example of Shibari.”
    “You an expert on bondage now?”
    “No, but I showed the crime scene photographs to that guy you found online, the Bondage instructor, and he says it’s so.”  
    Jackson shook his head, smirk still peaking out from under his Fu-Manchu style mustache. “Did they lift anything from the rope?”
    Kane heaved a sigh of frustration. “No hair or skin, just a piece of fiber. They’re looking into it, but I’m not holding my breath.”  
    “So you get to cruise the local adult playgrounds looking for a sexy babe that likes to get kinky, but isn’t so kinky she’s into pain, while I get to catch up on paperwork.” He shook his head. “Want to trade?”
    “Sorry, bud. But I didn’t get myself shot in a drug raid, so I’m not stuck with desk duty. Although, I can say I’m sorry you are since you seem to know all the right places to look for information on bondage knots and that’s the only solid lead I have to follow, so far.”  
    His blood heated and his frustration eased as the thrill of the chase ran through him. It was time to start digging deeper into the sub-culture of alternative lifestyles.

CHAPTER THREE

    Kane was frustrated as hell.  
    In the past week he’d been to almost every club on the list of ‘adult playgrounds’ Jack had compiled for him.   And he’d had absolutely no luck.
    Sure, he’d met plenty of people dressed in leather and lace with Goth style makeup and studded collars. A few of them, male and female, had even offered to tie him up when he’d hinted at an interest in bondage, but none of them had given him the perp tingle.  
    Pretending to be into the lifestyle had gotten him nowhere, and after double-checking the knots and restraints from the Yardley photos he knew that RR wasn’t just playing at bondage. The particular way things had been done had led them to learn more about bondage, and Shibari in particular. The more he learned, the more he realized that the woman knew what she was doing.
    Shibari was more than just tying someone up, or even the way the knots were done. It originated with the Japanese and is considered an art. With the restraints being done in different designs meant to be effective, pleasing to the eye, and pleasing to the recipient, it wasn’t something just anyone could do. And while RR wasn’t binding the victim’s genitals, as seemed to be a common thing in Shibari, she was certainly doing more than simply ‘tying them up’.  
    With three more clubs on the list, he’d decided to try talking openly with the owner of the next club as a cop. Straight out.  
    He parked in front of The O Club, and sighed. Jack said that the O stood for anything from ‘Orgasms’ to ‘Oh My God!’  
    Great, just what he needed… a club that couldn’t even decide what its name stood for.  
    He shook off his frustration and headed for the