Snake Eyes (The Masks Series Book 3) (8 page)

Caitlyn

The bar was noisy and chaotic. We got in without a sweat. The IDs both withstood the test and now, we sat at a little round table drinking beers. Quella offered to buy the first round. I ran my thumb up the cold bottle, carefully sipping at it and hating the flavor. It was an effort not to grimace with each swig. I’d tasted beer before, but never really loved it. I think if I wanted to get rip-roaring drunk, my best bet would be shots. Quick and fast.

Quella gulped down another mouthful of Corona, trying to hide her grimace. She obviously wasn’t used to it either. I’d kept her mask off all evening so I guessed all her expressions were exaggerated to me. She wanted me to think she was cool. The idea of coming across as anything other than sophisticated was humiliating to her. I narrowed my eyes a little, wondering how I could play on that.

I looked across the bar, scanning faces and trying to think how I could get Quella talking with information that would actually help this case. It was pretty damn hard with the pulsing music thrumming through my head, not exactly conducive to intimate conversation, but I highly doubted she’d want to go hang out at the beach.

My eyes traveled back to my drinking buddy, bobbing in her seat like an excited school kid as she sipped at her beer. I noticed some guys leaning against the bar and checking us out. Quella blushed pink, her lips quirking with what she thought was a flirty smile. That was the last thing I needed.

Leaning forward, I touched her arm.

“Don’t be so obvious about it.” I flicked my head at the guys. “Play it cool. Mysterious and hard to get is way sexier.”

Her face blanched. Swiveling away from the guys, she rested her beer on the table. “So, how would you play it then?”

Man! This was so not me!

I didn’t know!

Conjuring up every image I could remember about Stella, I sat back in my chair and swung one leg over the other. “Pretend you haven’t even noticed them or you have, but they’re really not worth your time.”

“Will that make them want me more?”

“Oh yeah.” I took a swig of my beer and licked the gloss off my lips, feeling like a total fraud. Like I honestly knew how to pick up guys! It was a freaking miracle I ever scored Eric! But he wasn’t like these guys. He didn’t lurk around bars trying to pick up chicks; he was all about the genuine article.

I swallowed, guilt singeing me.

“Once we’re done here, we could maybe hit the dance floor.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “That would really make them hungry, don’t you think?”

I nodded and shrugged, trying to play it cool while screaming in my head, “I don’t want to make those douchebags hungry!”

“Let’s finish our drinks first.” I tipped my bottle at her.

Quella nodded enthusiastically and started gulping hers back.

I raised my eyebrows and shook my head. “You don’t drink much, do you?”

She pulled the bottle away from her lips, her expression asking me if once again she’d let her complete naivety show through.

I snickered. “Stop trying so hard. Play it cool. You don’t want to get completely wasted while the night is still young. Stretch it out, have some fun.” Okay, Stella would so never say that, but I had certain lines I wasn’t willing to cross. I’d be useless to everyone drunk. Although, it would probably work in my favor to get Quella a little tipsy.

I raised my beer again and took a sip. I subtly spat my mouthful back into the bottle. Super gross, but it was starting to make me queasy and I had to keep my head in the game.

Thankfully, Quella didn’t notice and took another sip, but some of it dribbled down her chin and she scrambled for a napkin. I handed one to her and put on a pitiful look.

She wiped her mouth and winced. “I guess I am so obvious. I scream small town, don’t I?”

I wrinkled my nose. “Parents pretty strict, huh?”

She rolled her eyes. “My father. Yes.”

Although her tone was scathing, I could see how much she adored the man. She obviously had no idea of his creep factor. I couldn’t help wondering for a split second if Kaplan had it wrong. Was Mendez really behind this?

“It is a miracle he even let me come here.”

My insides pinged. Was I about to get some goods on her dad? I took a second to respond, wanting to maintain my casual, slightly disinterested demeanor.

“Oh yeah? Where did he want you to go?”

“Correspondence school.”

“No shit! That would have sucked.”

“I’ve been home-schooled my whole life and dreaming of this day for years. I’ve begged to go to a real high school ever since I was thirteen.”

“Well, high school kind of sucks, so you got the better end of the deal, believe me.”

Considering she’d been so sheltered, I was surprised by her confidence. If I’d been in a sheltered, home-school situation all my life, going into a crowded bar and throwing back beers would have been like stress city! Quella was obviously not like me.

“So, what do you think changed your dad’s mind?”

“I don’t know.” She shrugged. “We fought about it for nearly a year and then one day, about two months ago, he suddenly surprised me with college applications.” She grinned, looking triumphant as she took another mouthful of beer. “He said I had to go to a school in either California or Arizona.”

“Is that where you’re from?”

“We have houses in several places, but we spend most of our time in the south-west.”

“Nice. Your dad must be loaded.”

Her grin was wicked and a little smug. I was starting to get a picture of her upbringing. This girl had never wanted for anything.

“What does he do?”

She shrugged, her face giving me nothing. Damn it!

“Some boring job where he travels and meets with other businessmen. He does not talk much about his work, but I would say my father is an entrepreneur.”

Okay, so she obviously didn’t really know.

“Always looking for ways to make money, huh?” I smiled.

“He is a smart man. Many fingers in many pies and it makes him mucho money, so I will not complain.” She giggled.

I raised my beer, forcing myself to look impressed. “To wealth.”

“To freedom.” She lifted her bottle and clinked it against mine, letting out a loud whoop. “Come, Caity. We must dance!”

Her command was hard to argue with, especially when she grabbed my wrist and yanked me away from the table. We jiggled our way onto the squished floor and I tried to look as though I loved this kind of thing.

Quella was in her element, her hips swaying rhythmically. She was a damn good dancer and I felt like I had two left feet. It didn’t take long for the guys to swarm upon us. I inched back, not really wanting to get into their line of fire, but it didn’t work. I bumped straight into a tall guy with dark green eyes, short wood-dust hair and a well-manicured beard. It was short, like a fine dusting of hair on his face.

He had an angular look about him, square jawline, prominent nose, but what really drew my attention was his intense expression. He was in a bar, surrounded by revelers, and he looked completely serious.

Why the hell was he out here on the dance floor when he obviously didn’t want to be?

Moving to the beat, he forced a few subtle moves, but I could see behind his mask and he was hating this...just like me, which meant he was either here because his partner was forcing him out of the house to have a little fun or he had something else on his mind.

He smiled down at me, yelling above the music. “You seem pretty young to be in a place like this.”

“Maybe I’m not as young as you think.” I don’t know what made me get cocky, but I somehow felt like I had to prove myself to this guy.

“I don’t know. You seem pretty out of your depth.”

My eyes narrowed.

Wait a second. This guy knew me.

He wasn’t being forced here by a girlfriend, he was here for work.

I stopped dancing and resisted the urge to put my hands on my hips. “So which one are you then? Rex or Eddy?”

His eyes rounded slightly and I threw his mask back on, realizing he’d actually been playing it pretty damn cool.

I chuckled. He frowned.

Placing his hand on my hip, he forced my body to get dancing again before finally muttering, “You can call me Rhodes.”

It was hard to hear him, but I watched his lips and leaned towards his ear. “Rex Rhodes?”

He made a face.

“Eddy then.” I nodded. “Nice to meet you.”

His green eyes turned a shade darker before flicking over my shoulder. His unmasked expression blanched a little and he threaded his arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him.

I started to push back, but he squeezed me to him and mumbled, “She’s looking at us.”

I pressed my lips together and reluctantly swung my arms around his neck. “I thought you were supposed to be monitoring this situation from a distance.”

“I would have kept my distance if I hadn’t been watching your underage self get drunk in a bar.”

“I’m not drunk.” I rolled my eyes.

“Either way, you’re supposed to be on the job.”

“I am!” I scowled. “Look, Kaplan wouldn’t have asked me to do this if she didn’t think I was capable.”

“If she knew what you were up to right now, she’d be seriously second-guessing her decision.”

My eyebrows rose. I found it interesting that he hadn’t told her already. So it wasn’t Kaplan who had ordered him in here after me. If anything, he was breaking the rules to give me a lecture.

Interesting.

“I can see you don’t trust me.”

He flinched, his eyes narrowing.

“This is my in with Quella, okay?” I glanced over my shoulder and watched her cozy up to one of the bar guys. I’d have to break that up soon. She was having way too much fun, although underneath her mask I could see that quiver of uncertainty. I turned back to Rhodes, needing to wrap this up. “She wants to party and let loose. She’s not going to open up to some goody-two-shoes. She’s already told me a little about her over-bearing father. I’m telling you, I know what I’m doing.”

He didn’t believe me. “You better not screw this up.”

“Hey, I want to find those girls as much as you do.”

A wave of agony coursed over his expression. The very idea of those girls suffering hurt him and I found myself softening towards this serious guy...until I kept reading him and noticed how little faith he had in me.

I sighed. “I know you think this isn’t going to work and I’m just some shitty babysitting assignment.”

His forehead wrinkled, his grip around my waist loosening.

“And now you’re a little afraid because you thought you were hiding that.”

He frowned and I took the chance to really prove myself.

“The truth is, you
are
hiding it...from everyone around here, expect me.”

The green of his eyes swirled with uncertainty and he licked his lips.

“I know Kaplan’s told you about my ability and you didn’t believe her.” I gazed up at him. “But now you’re starting to, and that makes you feel vulnerable.”

He let me go and I dropped my arms from around his neck. Very slowly his expression shifted, his disbelief ebbed away, replaced with a glimmer of awe.

I grinned. “Thank you.”

The awe scuttled into hiding behind his scowl. “I still don’t think you’re the right person for the job.”

“I know.” I nodded, trying not to be irked. “But there’s nothing much you can do about it, is there?”

His scowl deepened. I really had to end this conversation now.

“Thank you for watching my back.” I slapped his arm. “It’s nice to know someone so capable is close by.”

He appreciated the comment. My smile grew as I watched him fight a small grin.

With a little huff, he realized I could see it all and spun away from me before I could read anything else. I couldn’t help a small giggle before spinning back to find Quella. Her arms were raised in the air, her head tipped back with a laugh. She had three guys around her now, their hungry expressions making my stomach turn.

I muscled my way in between them and tugged on her arm.

“Let’s get out of here!” I yelled in her ear.

“But I’m only just getting started,” she whined.

“This place is getting boring.” I matched her tone. “There’s another place we can check out down the road! Let’s go!”

Quella stumbled after me with a giggle. We collected our stuff and I pulled her out of the bar before the guys could follow us. I really didn’t want to go anywhere else, but Quella wasn’t drunk enough to let me get away with lying, so we hit one more bar before heading back to our dorm.

It was a more sedate setting, but after another beer, Quella didn’t seem to mind. I certainly appreciated the calmer atmosphere. Unfortunately, I didn’t get too much more out of her. I tried to bring up her father again, but she waved her hand and said she didn’t want to talk about him.

“Let’s talk about that cute guy you were dancing with instead.”

My chuckle wobbled with nerves; I couldn’t help it.

“It was nothing.” I waved my hand, trying to keep my movements floppy. I didn’t want her to think I was still completely sober.

“It didn’t look like nothing.” She wiggled her eyebrows.