Page 35 of Spies Like Us

“Note to self, stop calling him Nerdy Sexy.”

“No, you do it affectionately. He loves that. Bishop was jealous of Lathan’s intelligence—about everyone’s skills, actually—and could be nasty about it.”

“We really were going to talk to your dad about him once the mission was finished. None of us liked him, and Miller downright hated him,” Dayton confirms.

I chuckle darkly. “Sounds familiar.”

“Pfft, hang in there. Miller will come around. We saw the two of you with your heads together at church today, and you saw how strongly he reacted to Bishop when he said nasty things to you. Miller just needs to get out of his own way,” Anders assures me.

We fall into an awkward silence, and after a while, we finally hear sirens in the distance. “Remember, we came out here for a swim. We saw the other car but didn’t recognize anyone or even get a plate number,” Dayton instructs us.

“What color and make are we going to say it was?” I ask. “I think we should all say something different, then they will think we definitely don’t know who it was.”

We agree to the plan and wait for the police to arrive.

It’s at least another hour before we are allowed to leave. The chief of police himself shows up. I stay in the car while he talks to Anders and Dayton, playing the good, terrified schoolgirl. The deputy asks me a few questions but quickly dismisses me as unimportant, just a piece of ass the guys brought out to the pools for some fun.

They walk back down the track—I’m guessing they asked them to identify the body. It doesn’t take them too long to return, the paramedics carrying a stretcher with the sheet-covered corpse on it.

The guys shake hands with the chief of police before climbing into the car. We’re quiet while Dayton starts it and turns around, avoiding all the emergency vehicles before we head back into town.

“We identified him and told Chief Thompson we would inform his family. They will decide what they want to do with the body. I’ll call Percy as soon as we are home so he can make arrangements. They puttied over the bullet hole, so the ME said they are going to have to do an autopsy. He suggested drowning while intoxicated as a possible cause of death,” Anders says, turning slightly to face me.

“Yeah, but how are they going to claim he got out there?” I point out.

He shrugs. “Who knows, but Percy or whoever goes for him will pretend to be a grieving family member and accept their rulings. We don’t want to tip them off to anything. The truth will be placed in his file.”

“Dad will have him buried on MITHOS grounds, with the other agents who lost their lives in the field—not that he deserves it,” I say, muttering the last part. “Well, at least the tunnels are clear for us to search now. I think I have a pretty good idea where the club is. The map showed a large section under the movie theater. Maybe while we’re working tonight, you and the others can check it all out. You could always break into the library and use the tunnel in the basement to gain entry. I doubt it will even have a night guard,” I suggest to Dayton. “Just watch out for people down there. I overheard them saying they are going to have a club night this Friday. It will be interesting to see if they bring in auction merchandise or if they have regular whores who attend as well as their members.”

“That means sometime between now and then, those cells downstairs are going to fill up. Maybe while we are down there, Lathan can put our own cameras throughout the tunnels to see if we can figure out how they are coming and going,” Dayton muses.

“Ugh, I wish I could come too. I want to see what’s down there.” I pout like a toddler, and Anders chuckles.

“Yeah, but you and I also have a job to do.” He winks, and I perk up.

“Oh, that’s right. So how do you want to play this? Do you want me to fight you? Do you want me to be, ‘Oh yes, Daddy, please spank me?’” I ask, and Anders’s eyes light up with desire.

“I think you need to be an enthusiastic participant with Anders, but when it comes to the sex club, you need to be a little more reluctant. We need them to auction you to Max. We trust that you know how to play this. We’re just here for backup.”

“Also, the tracker for Miller arrived. I need to insert that, but I won’t have time before work tonight. We wrap up at twelve on Sundays, so we can go back to ours and do it before I take you both to the Standishes,” Anders tells me as we arrive at the end of the dirt road to Serenity House.

“Okay. Thanks, guys. I wish I could say this was fun, but it would have been more interesting without a dead body.”

“We need a do-over,” Anders declares.

“And I still need to collect my winnings,” Dayton reminds me.

“You’re on, but let’s find a spring that hasn’t had a dead body floating in it, yeah? See you tonight, Anders.” I wave goodbye as I climb out, holding my dress down because I’m still not wearing underwear. Throwing my backpack over my shoulder, I hurry down the driveway as they pull away. It’s only three thirty, so I might take a quick nap before I have to get ready for work. We don’t need to be there until seven, and Miller organized for Ryland to drive us both, which was nice and surprising of him.

When I walk through the back door, I find Cassie in the kitchen, making a cup of tea. She looks up and smiles at me, but then she looks closer and notices I’ve been crying.

“Hi, how was your afternoon? Did you get plenty of work done? Is everything okay?” She bombards me with questions, and I smother the smile that wants to break free.

I groan, shaking my head and leaning against the wall. “Not really. I did a bit, but then Sophie and her crew showed up. They were awful, so I went to the hot springs with some friends, and we found Bishop’s body floating in the water.”

“Oh my god! He was dead?” she asks, and I nod.

“Wow.” She seems kind of stunned, but then she shakes her head. “Yeah, Jessica came back a couple of hours ago. She looked like she was crying. This tea is for her.” She nods at the cup she just made. “I was just going to check on her.”

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