Page 56 of Exposé

"God, it took you long enough." Aria walked around the back of my car and froze in her tracks. "Holy shit. You clean up well."

I snorted.

"And then you do that. The magic is lost."

Laughter bubbled between us as I locked my car and interlaced my arm through hers. "Okay, what's the game plan here?"

"Well, it's your story. You tell me?"

I rubbed my finger against the edge of my lips as if my stain could budge. "I need to find a dealer, so let's keep an eye out for that. But in the meantime, we can have some fun."

"Define fun? Wedohave work tomorrow."

Scoffing, I raised a brow. "You meanIhave work tomorrow?Youare on the easy train for two weeks."

"True, but still."

Faint thumping bass caught my next words in my throat.

"Do you hear that?"

"MmmHmm."

I dug out my phone and confirmed the address where a tall, thick, ebony man stood, his back to a rusted door without a handle—his suit and tie slick and pressed.

"Hey, is this where we go for the party?"

He nodded, his hands at his sides as though waiting for an altercation with a slight sway side-to-side.

"Can we go inside?" I raised a brow and tilted my head.

"If you can find the way."

Find the way?

"What do you mean?" Aria dug her phone out of her pocket and turned on the flashlight, waving it over the surface of the door.

"I light up the night but am not the moon. I pulse with the beat and fill the room. What am I?"

My mind spun, and Aria jumped up and down. "Oh, I know. A strobe light."

The man gave a curt nod and pointed towards a broken light on the ground, the black casing surrounding it the size of a pizza pie sheet. "Good."

"This is fun." Aria put her phone back into her pocket.

"Is it?" I lifted a brow, not so sure. "I came here to dance, not play an escape room game."

Aria pushed against the door. "Can we go in now? We answered correctly."

"Finish the puzzle first."

I rolled my eyes. "Alright, how much to just let us in?"

The man remained steady, his lips sealed shut.

"Come on, this is fun."

I leaned into Aria as she dragged me towards the strobe light. "I have work to do. I don't have time for this."

---