Page 3 of Spies Like Us

“Yeah, I think we’re good.” The banging happens again, the person on the other side is getting impatient, and the glaze in Lathan’s eyes clears. “If you pretend you’re incoherent, I’ll say I’m taking you home.”

“We’ll stay. Maybe Billy will approach us once he sees you leave,” Ryland agrees, and when I finally look at Miller for his thoughts, I find him staring at me with death in his eyes. Huh, I guess Ryland is the only one in the relationship that doesn’t get jealous. I don’t have time for his insecurities though. He can continue to hate me, but I also don’t want to insert myself into an obviously solid relationship. I’ll be keeping Ryland at arm’s length from now on.

“We’ll head back to our place, fill the others in on Bishop, and call Percy and let him know. We’ll have to discuss our game plan.”

Miller and I stay silent. I am happy with Ryland’s and Lathan’s decisions, so I don’t feel like I need to add anything.

I mess up my hair and rub my eyes a little, smudging my eyeliner and mascara, then I pull off my long-sleeved top and wrap it around my waist, leaving me in just my bra and skinny jeans. Lastly, I lean down and pull on the laces of my boots so they are undone, then I look at the guys critically. I reach out and unfasten Ryland’s button-up shirt, leaving it hanging open.

“Pull off your belt and throw it over your shoulder,” I tell Miller. “We can’t do anything about your T-shirt unless you’re willing to rip it a little.” It’s a vintage band shirt, and I know he’s not going to want to do that.

“No,” he snaps but unbuckles his belt before pulling it out.

Turning my back on him, I look at Lathan. I reach out and shift his glasses slightly so they look crooked, then I undo a few buttons and fasten them the wrong way. He looks freaking adorable, and I just want to forget the rest of the mission and spend the night making out with him.

“Perfect,” I declare, and he blushes. See? Adorable.

“Let’s do this.” I go to the door and yank it open, staggering slightly. Lathan jumps forward and catches me.

The couple waiting to use the room just gapes in shock as four of us walk out, then I hear the girl mutter, “Lucky bitch,” as we pass by.

Chapter 2

“Hey, miss? Can we get another pitcher?” A man at one of the booths waves an empty pitcher at me as I deliver a couple of bourbons to the table two down from him. I give him a nod of acknowledgement while smiling at the customers I’m serving.

“There you go, boys.” I slide their drinks onto the table before putting the tray under my arm and winking at them. “Can I get you anything else?” One of the men grins before taking a sip of his drink.

“How about your number, sweetheart?” the other one asks, reaching out and caressing my leg. These two have been drinking steadily for a while and have gotten bolder and more handsy as the night wore on.

It’s my first shift at the Life Lounge, and so far, it’s been fairly normal. I started around five, and there was a steady stream of patrons for after-work drinks. Then the dinner rush happened, and after those people cleared out, it became packed with men and women looking to hang out and hook up.

It has a surprising amount of men in suits who look like they aren’t locals. I asked one of the other servers about it, and she just told me to shut up and keep my head down. Apparently asking questions will get me into trouble. They all seem to have conversations with Matthew as he does rounds, schmoozing with the patrons and shouting drinks like there’s no tomorrow.

Anders gave me the staff rundown earlier today. There are three other girls serving apart from me, and all seem to be around their early to mid-twenties. One of them, Carla, has that wide-eyed look of someone who is traumatized, and she flinches when someone touches her or a patron shouts too loudly. The other two, Meredith and Samantha, or Meri and Sam as they told me to call them, both look as high as kites, and they are working the room like pros. Anders said they are roommates, and both of them have drug problems. All their money goes to supporting their habits.

I find it interesting that all four of us are “troubled” and have problems. Matthew certainly has a type of employee he likes to hire. Is that because no one is surprised when they end up missing?

The other bartender’s name is Keith, and he’s probably in his early thirties. He has oily, slicked back hair and wears his shirt with a few too many buttons open. He also wears a gold medallion that glints in the bar lights. Thank fuck he wasn’t on duty when I applied for a job. He’s not unattractive, but he gives me the creeps. Giving him a blow job would have required hazard pay.

“Maybe, if you play your cards right.” I wink at the guy and deftly avoid his hand as he tries to slip it farther up my leg. The bar uniform is very much like the ones Hooters waitresses wear—short shorts that barely cover my butt cheeks and a tight, little black top that dips low and leaves nothing to the imagination.

I head back to the bar for the requested pitcher of beer, and my mind drifts back to last night.

Lathan drove me back to the governor’s mansion where we told Max, Dayton, and Anders about Bishop. To say they were shocked would be putting it mildly. Lathan immediately grabbed his laptop and started searching through the camera files, looking to see what happened to Bishop.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if he pushed too hard for information instead of just letting it happen organically. He was always in such a rush, impatient to get things done,” Dayton suggested. The three of them had been watching TV when we arrived. I got the feeling they were waiting for the guys to get home safely, which was kind of sweet.

“Yeah, and if he asked the wrong question to the wrong person, then it would seem suspicious. I’ve been very careful not to ask questions. I just let Matthew overhear me talking to Max on the phone or catch me watching dubious porn. When he asks questions, I pretend to be a little reluctant to share but do in the end.” Anders swiped a hand through his hair, his agitation at the news of Bishop’s death evident.

“That’s right, you have to make it seem like it’s their idea. If you rush in like a bull in a china shop, then they are going to get suspicious,” I said, flopping down on the sofa next to Lathan, who muttered under his breath as his fingers flew across the keyboard.

“What’s with the outfits?” Max smirked as he pointed to me and then Lathan’s shirt all buttoned up wrong. I still had my long-sleeved shirt tied around my waist. I was overheated even on the walk back to the car, because I had to pretend to be intoxicated all the way in case anyone followed or was watching. My adrenaline was high too. I was only starting to cool down now.

“Well, we had to pretend that the boys triple-teamed me when we found the secret door. Ryland and Miller weren’t prepared to let Lathan and I explore on our own.” I rolled my eyes, and Lathan snorted. “Seriously, this town is fucked up. The amount of devious shit I saw tonight was amazing.”

“Wait until Sunday. All of them will be at church, dressed completely differently and acting piously,” Anders drawled and shook his head.

“They were lucky we didn’t get caught,” I grumbled.

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