Smoke and Fire (Surrender to Them 1)

“Oh well, let’s get this over with. At least we know she’ll be waiting on us when we’re done.” I chuckled and opened the door.

We talked to the Chief, got everything set for the day, and then we crawled into bed. It was a slow morning and our seniority kept us from being pulled away for mundane calls. Even with coffee coursing through our veins, we were dead tired after the night we spent with Kayla. The coffee got us through the door, but a whole pot wasn’t going to get us through the shift. Around the middle of the day, we got a call for a fire in an old warehouse. It was an easy call and there was nobody there, so we just put it out and went back to the station. We were both fairly filthy, so we showered and went out into the common area where several other firefighters were gathered.

“Want to play cards?” I looked over at Chase.

“You’ll just take my money.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Nah, let’s check in with Investigator Davidson. I’m sure his crew has cleared Kayla’s apartment.”

“That’s not a bad idea.” I nodded. “If things are slow, we might be able to cut out early and see if we can pack up a few of her things.”

We met with Investigator Davidson and confirmed that his team had finished up with Kayla’s apartment. The report was filed and would be public record before the end of the day. That meant she would be on the news again, and they wouldn’t be calling her a victim anymore. He also told us about the conversation he had with the building superintendent at Kayla’s building, who was very clear that he was going to have her evicted for violating their policies. Chase and I agreed that it would be a good idea to pack up what we could before they let people back on her floor. We made arrangements with the Chief, and since we never took vacation, he had no problem letting us leave early, especially since there wasn’t usually much going on that late into our shift. We got a few more hours of sleep and then headed to her apartment once we woke up and got some coffee in us.

“The kitchen is all packed up, at least the stuff that is useful.” I closed the last box and taped it shut. “She really seems to live a minimalist lifestyle. One frying pan? That’s crazy.”

“I guess it works when you live alone and actually do the dishes.” Chase chuckled and walked into the living room. “I’m pretty sure nothing in here is worth saving.”

“I’ll get the pictures that aren’t ruined.” I walked over and started stacking the ones that were on the opposite end of the room. “Do you think it’s strange she doesn’t have any pictures of her family? These are all just photos of various landscapes.”

“I don’t have any pictures of my family at our place.” Chase put his hands on his hips and shrugged. “Maybe they are part of the reason she left that town—what was it? Glendale?”

“Yeah.” I nodded and carefully put the picture frames into the box. “We can’t really get any of the furniture, but we can pack up the rest of the stuff in her bedroom I guess.”

“Bathroom, too—if she left anything.” Chase walked down the hallway and I pushed her bedroom door open. “Nope, not much in here. Just some contacts and a lot of lotion. I guess she packed most of this the other day.”

“Grab it all.” I shrugged and walked to her closet.

“Well, this is strange.” Chase walked into the bedroom before I got the doors open.

“What is?” I turned towards him.

“She has a set of blue contacts.” He held up a clear container that had two contact lenses floating in the middle.

“Maybe she likes to change things up.” I shrugged. “Toss them in the box and help me with this closet.”

We opened Kayla’s closet and started putting her clothes in boxes. She might not have had much in her kitchen, but her closet was packed. I actually had to put together a few more boxes before we were halfway done. We needed two just for her shoes. Chase emptied her dresser once the closet was mostly packed, making remarks as he found pairs of panties he thought she would look good in. As I got the last of her stuff packed, I noticed a small brown box tucked away on the top shelf of her closet. I pulled it free and walked over to the bed as I opened it. My eyes got wide immediately when I saw what was inside.

“Uh, Chase.” I reached inside and pulled out a few Polaroid photographs.

“Yeah?” He turned towards me.

“Look at this.” I tossed a couple of the photographs on the bed and dug more out of the box.

The photographs were all pictures of Kayla. She was younger and her hair was a much darker shade of brown. Some of the pictures were of her in various states of undress and some of them were shots of her completely naked. There were pictures of her wearing a leather collar, pictures of her on a leash, and a few of her in a metal cage. As I dug deeper, I found pictures of her with red lines across her flesh, a battered ass that was much worse than the spanking I gave her, and in the background I could see a variety of implements on the wall. It was clear that she was in some sort of bondage dungeon, although there were no pictures of sexual acts or the person who was with her. Some of them were so graphic and extreme they turned my stomach.

“Holy shit.” Chase held up one that showed Kayla’s nipples black and blue with fresh red lines across the previous marks.

“Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.” I started tossing the pictures back in the box. “We should have asked her before we just started digging around in her stuff.”

“Yeah, but remember what she said last night about someone hurting her and taking it too far? I think this is what she meant.” Chase’s stare was solemn and then his lips twisted into a sneer. “We should find this motherfucker and put him in the ground.”

“Let’s not overreact. For all we know, she was in to some of this.” I got the last photograph in the box and slammed it shut.

“I mean, a little spanking is fun—maybe more if she’s into it—but that’s way too far. That’s downright torture.” Chase’s jaw tightened and he shook his head.

“She had a few marks that I was curious about when we were together, but I didn’t say anything.” I sighed and stared at the box. “I wish we hadn’t seen that.”

“Yeah, but we can’t lie to her. If this is going to work, we’re going to have to talk to with her about it.” Chase slowly stood to his feet. “Let’s finish up.”

What kind of girl are you, Kayla?