Page 24 of Spies Like Us

I don’t hear his response. It’s swallowed up in the chaos of the diner as we leave. Mac is nowhere in sight. I was hoping we could catch her before she went to the library, but I guess we weren’t quick enough.

“Can you believe that girl?” Dayton asks, pushing his fringe, which is longer than the rest of his hair, back off his face.

“What kind of white supremist shit was that? Did Ry or Max ever mention that this town had a problem with that sort of thing?” I ask him, and he shakes his head.

“No, and you would think they would have mentioned it, but now that I think about everyone we’ve met since we’ve been here, they are predominantly white.”

“Lucy and Michelle aren’t,” I point out, nodding through the window at the group of people the other half of our team is with.

“No, but they also don’t live with their families. They are obviously here for a specific reason, now that Lathan has discovered who their fathers are, but what?”

“I guess we’ll find out eventually. I have to go meet Matthew over at the club. I’ll see you at home after?” I ask him, and he nods.

We go our separate ways. Our cars are parked on opposite ends of the street, since we were too late to grab ones right in front like Ry and Max did. I park my truck in the club parking lot and go into the alley, knocking on the side entrance. Matthew said he’d be here checking inventory.

It doesn’t take long before he sticks his head out. “Anders, good, just in time. That shipment of wine was delivered earlier, and we need to move it to the basement to store it. The senior chapter of the morality group has booked the club on a weeknight for some paint and sip thing… or maybe it’s a book club thing. I don’t know, but the wine was a deal Melissa Sweeny arranged. I need help moving the barrels. They are freaking huge.” He holds the door open, and I enter, letting it close behind me.

“You weren’t expecting barrels?” I ask him, and he snorts, shaking his head. “No, I was expecting a few cases of bottles. This is enough wine for fifty book groups.” He leads the way into the back, past the dry storage, and to the door that’s next to the walk-in refrigerator. “There’s no way I can fit them up here, so we are going to put them in the basement storage until I can speak to Melissa about what she wants to do with them. It’s not like they can dip wine glasses into the barrel. She’ll need to decant the wine somehow.”

He opens the door that leads to the alcove that Mac and I put the empty kegs in last night. They are gone, and in their place are some fresh ones, but there are also three large wooden wine barrels taking up the rest of the space. They are as high as my waist and probably three feet across.

“Wow, they are huge. How are we going to get them into the lift?” I ask him, and he grimaces. “I think we’re going to have to roll them on their ends. Between the two of us, we should be able to handle it.” He pulls out a card and swipes it across the reader. The elevator doors open, and he reaches in and presses a button that I assume is going to keep the door open while we transfer the wine.

“We’ll do it one at a time. I have a dolly in the basement, which should make things easier to move once we get down there.”

Together, the two of us move a barrel onto the elevator. It isn’t easy. The round shape of the barrels makes them difficult to grip, but we finally figure out a system that works, and we get the first one into the elevator. He presses a button, and the doors close, then I feel us move down. When the doors open, he presses a button again to hold them in place. He steps out and gets a hydraulic pallet lift and wheels it back.

“Okay, if you tip the barrel on the edge, I’ll slide this underneath, then you can walk next to it to make sure it doesn’t tip either way.”

I chuckle. “Hundreds of liters of wine would make a mess.”

We do that, and once the lift is under it, it’s a breeze to move. I just walk next to it to support it. We stack them in a spare space in the back of the room. There are all sorts of things down here—poker tables, slot machines, even one of the cages from the dance floor at the top of the club. I know the hinge is broken, and we’re waiting for it to be repaired. I didn’t realize this was where he stored it.

By the time we get the third one down here, we’ve both worked up a sweat and are breathing a little harder.

“Come on, let’s grab a drink.” Matthew slaps my shoulder, and we head back into the club. He leads the way out to the dark bar, only turning on the lights behind it. He grabs a couple of beers then slides one across to me. He holds it up, and we clink them together.

“Cheers to good help. Thanks, man. Keith messed up his back last time we did that, so he can’t help anymore.”

“You’ve done that before?” I ask, not hiding my surprise as Matthew takes a long drink of his beer.

“Yeah, those women are always having wine nights. I think they sell the rest on the side, or maybe they have amazing wine cellars at home, who knows, but it’s at least every six months or so.”

“Huh?” I take a sip of my own beer, the cold liquid soothing my parched throat. Despite how fit I am, that wasn’t easy. Those barrels were heavy.

“Listen, speaking of good help, we’re closing down on Friday night. I have a private party that we cater, and I was wondering if you wanted to earn some extra cash. The money is good, and the perks are off the charts. The clients like looking at hot young bartenders.”

I let my eyebrows jump with interest and nod eagerly. “Yeah, man, that would be good. I’m always up for a bit of extra money, but what’s the catch?” I ask, sounding a little suspicious. “Sounds too good to be true.”

“Good, well then, I have a task for you. That new waitress, Mac? I need a video of you fucking her in the dry storage. I want some blackmail material to hold over her. I want her to serve at this private party too, and she has to be topless. A video of her having sex with you that I can show her foster mom if she doesn’t cooperate is exactly what I need.”

“Oh, ah…” I hedge, not wanting to seem too eager, and he waves a hand at me.

“The girl was a pro back in Maryland, so I’m sure you won’t have any problems. I’ll make it clear to her that it would be beneficial if you feel relaxed on your break. She’s not stupid, I’m sure she will jump at the chance, but just in case, I want the video footage.”

“Don’t you have any of the blow job she gave me?” I ask, and he grimaces.

“No, it couldn’t see below the counter. All those cameras are focused on the registers, so I know if someone is stealing from me. The dry storage is perfect.”

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