Page 52 of Shadows of Justice

I wait as the seconds tick by, wondering if Leo will take the bait. Suddenly, the Malibu speeds off, heading down the street. I would chuckle—if any part of this was funny.

I didn’t lie to Leo when I said I would get backup to infiltrate The Roost.

That might actually be the only truth I told.

What I didn’t tell him was how much leather and spandex my backup would be wearing.

Sugar sucks on a lollipop stick, the end of it goopy and soaked through with her saliva. She rolls it around in her mouth, eyeing me and the two hundred dollar bills in my fingers as we stand outside of the convenience store where I found her lurking.

“You’re fuckin’ serious, aren’t you?” she asks me, quirking a painted eyebrow.

“As serious as a heart attack,” I say, paying no attention to my burner phone as it chirps, notifying me of yet another incoming text message that I’ll ignore. “You know the Dogs, right?”

Sugar snorts. “Know is kind of the wrong word. I know which ones of them are cut and which ones aren’t, if you catch my drift.” She laughs as I suppress the urge to shudder in disgust.

“But you hang around them a lot. Enough that they’d recognize you?” I press. “You’ve been to The Roost?”

“Mmhmm.” She nods, eyeing the hundreds again, practically drooling over the sight of the cash. “They even let me up on the pole once,” she adds, like it was some sort of honor.

“Well, I need you to get me in there, and I need you to keep your mouth shut about who I am.” Sugar’s face gets a wary look. “It’s okay, I’m not going to do anything crazy. I’m just trying to locate some materials to confirm whether or not they’re up to no good. I promise, nothing bad will happen. I’ll get a picture or two and get out of there. The money will be all yours.”

Both our attentions go to my right boot, where my burner phone chirps again from inside. Leo must be going out of his mind. It makes my chest hurt to imagine him, but I push that thought away. I need to focus.

Alma mía, serás mi fin.

Her eyes narrow. “Where’s your little partner? Shouldn’t he be here too?”

I gnaw on my thumb. I’m not sure how much I should tell her. I turn my head and point to the skin-colored earpiece inside my left ear, hidden by the thick curtain of my hair and practically invisible if you didn’t know to look for it.

“He’s hanging back. We don’t want anything jeopardizing this operation. It’s important.”

Sugar purses her scarlet lips as she assesses me, obviously weighing her options. “If your operation is so important, then it can afford four hundred.”

I sigh. I can’t be mad at the girl. They say that if you’re good at something, never do it for free.

I reach into my cleavage and pull out my folded cash, opening it to give her her requested amount. Thankfully, she doesn’t comment on the remaining hundred. It’s all I have left of what I pulled out of the ATM on the opposite side of town this morning.

She snatches it from my hand and assesses my outfit, looking me up and down.

“Not bad,” she says, and sniffs me. “You smell too clean, though. Go buy some smokes and you can use some of my perfume. You get caught and we’re both dead, got it?”

I gulp and nod, knowing that she’s not fucking around. I do as she says and go inside the store and buy a lighter and pack of Marlboro Reds—Carlos’s go-to choice. It’s the first brand that comes to mind, since I’ve never smoked a day in my life.

I try not to fidget as the clerk eyes my cleavage, knowing I need to play the part.

I’m the new and improved Viv.

I spark up a cigarette once I’m outside and force myself to smoke it. As I do, I take out the phone Leo gave me. Besides the burner, my cash, the tiny pocket knife shoved in my boot, and now these cigarettes, that’s everything I have on me.

I open it up and check the time—12:13 AM. Right on schedule.

Midnight arriving also now marks an unsettling shortage of time until the Ahn-Chun wedding later today. My plan has got to work. I’m their only hope.

I click through the notifications, rolling my shoulder.

27 unread texts, 8 voicemails, and 14 missed calls.

I don’t open a single message. I know I’ll lose my nerve if I do. Instead, I compose a new text to the only contact in the phone.

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