Page 7 of Spies Like Us

I go around to his side of the bar, grab a tray from the shelf, and lean against the bar while he finishes making the drinks for Carla’s order.

She smiles wanly at me. “How’s your night going?” I ask, and she shrugs.

“It’s been okay. Tips have been pretty good. I’ve almost saved enough to buy a bus ticket.”

“Oh, where are you going?” I ask her.

“Anywhere that isn’t here. This town isn’t right.” Her eyes cloud, and she shudders visibly. “Be careful who you get close to. My advice is to keep your head down, study hard, and get the fuck out of here the minute you turn eighteen. Don’t hang around, hoping things will get better. Get into a college far away from here.”

We chatted as we set up the tables before opening, and I told her that I was hoping to get into college.

My mouth drops open in shock as she picks up the tray once Anders places the last drink on it and disappears.

“Whoa. What the hell?” I watch her walk away, her shoulders hunched. She is giving off stay away from me vibes.

“Carla was roommates with the girl who was found dead in the field or ditch. The official report was an overdose, but Carla insisted that her roommate never touched drugs. Lathan hacked the coroner’s files and discovered pictures of the body. She had a bullet hole in the middle of her head, but the police report was falsified, and the ‘official photos’ had the bullet hole puttied over and masked,” Anders says quietly as he quickly makes the three shots and Stella’s cocktail.

I pull a bottle of Sam Adams out of the fridge, pop the top, and place it on the tray. “Sounds familiar. I wonder if that’s what they’ll do with Bishop?” I say dryly. “That’s going to be a little tricky for them, since his cover is supposed to be the governor’s staffer’s kid.”

“Yeah, your dad is going to send an agent to pose as his family to collect his body. I think it’s going to be trickier to hide it with him than the girl. She had no family to claim her body, so she was cremated, and her remains are in storage in case anyone else comes forward.”

A wave of sadness washes through me. It would be horrible to have no one claim you or care enough to take care of your remains.

“Did you see Max come in?” I ask him, changing the subject.

“No, but he did say he had a dinner date with Stella tonight. Are they here?”

“Yeah, that’s their order.” I nod to the tray he just finished, and his eyebrows jump.

“Did Stella or Max order?” he asks, and I snort.

“Who do you think?”

“It would have to be Max. Stella wouldn’t order anything like this. She always had a glass of prosecco whenever she was here previously. I’ve heard her complain to Matthew about how dirty the names of the drinks are.”

“So do you think the women have no idea about the sex trafficking? Granted, I haven’t met many of them, but Martha and her older niece seem fairly freaking uptight.”

“Who knows? Sophie is too, apparently, but the two girls she hangs out with are not stingy with their affections, or that’s what the guys told me is the gossip around the school.”

“They are here too. Carla has their table.”

“Are Ry and Miller with them?” Anders asks, and I nod. “They talked about going back to the ranger’s cabin tonight and retracing their steps to see where the tunnel led to, but I guess they changed their minds.”

“Why? Max obviously has an in with Stella, not to mention I overheard Matthew talking about the governor’s sons possibly getting an invite to a special occasion. Surely they could be focusing on something else now instead of trying to keep those girls happy?”

Anders shrugs. “Their cover is still in the high school. It was the easiest place to stick so many agents without suspicion, so they have to continue to maintain it. Come on, Mac, sometimes we have to do things for the good of the mission.”

I lift the tray and huff out a breath. “I know, but they are fucking annoying. I have no idea why I was so excited to attend high school. It blows.”

He chuckles as I walk away. I make my way through the crowd, dodging writhing bodies, and arrive back at their table. I place the tray on the surface and pass out the drinks.

“Can I get you anything else?” I ask suggestively, looking at Max and ignoring Stella. He reaches for the blow job, and with his eyes locked on mine, he throws it back.

Stella’s gaze flits between us, and her eyes narrow. She sits up and drags her cocktail in front of her, taking a sip. “Max, how about we drink these and get out of here? We can go back to my place where we can be alone. It’s so noisy and crowded here.” She wraps her lips around the straw suggestively and takes a sip, but as she pulls away, she knocks the drink over, and it splashes violently across the table, splattering the front of my uniform with liquid.

“Oops, I’m so clumsy,” she says unapologetically, wearing a fucking smirk on her face. What I wouldn’t give to wipe it off permanently. I hate this bitch. She better not come back in again, because I can guarantee I can be just as clumsy as she is, and a cocktail on that white dress is going to be hard to hide. I look down at my front. Thankfully the uniform is black, but it’s sticky, and I smell like a fruity distillery now.

I feign an uncomfortable smile. “If you don’t need anything else, I’ll just go clean up.”

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