Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, but stay the hell away from people actively trying to kill you.
I got in my car and followed the blip down the highway, not sure what I’d find out. There was a chance I’d just tagged someone who was honestly trying to help me, and if that were the case, I suppose I’d feel a little guilty. But on the other hand, if he wasn’t, I’d feel justified in being suspicious and paranoid. It seemed a risk worth taking, especially since I’m not one to wallow in guilt, even if I probably should. Call it an underdeveloped sense of empathy, but I’d never been one to let the past drag me down. Another thing that would have made me an excellent field agent, if I do say so myself.
I watched the blip slow as he turned his car off the highway and headed into the city, into an area I admit I wasn’t that comfortable with. Especially not on my own. I didn’t have a choice if I wanted to find out what was going on, though, so I took a deep breath and followed. The map screen showed he turned into a parking lot and when I caught up and saw the disreputable bar, I drove on by, circling around the block trying to figure out my next move. I didn’t want to go in there. I really, really did not want to go in there. I tried to rationalize my fear by saying it was because so far he’d recognized me in every disguise I’d had on, and that did disturbed me. There had to be a way he knew, I just couldn’t figure out what it was. But the real reason I was so hesitant to go in there was because it was a biker bar. I’ve never been one to hang out in any rough and tumble places, and I didn’t know if I’d be able to handle myself in one. My nervousness would be apparent and make me an easy mark. If only there was a way I could get the information I needed without actually going inside. I could skulk around the outside, no problem. Skulking was good.
I pulled up next to his empty car in the parking lot, got out of my car and peered into his. On the seat I could see a high-tech bug-finder. At least he hadn’t been lying about that, though why he was so careless to leave it just sitting there in plain sight was beyond me. I tried the handle of the door, and of course it was locked. I went back to my car and pulled out the lug wrench next to the spare tire. This was not the time for subtlety. I also started my car, so I’d be ready for a quick escape. One good swing and the window shattered. Amazingly, no alarm went off. This made me pause, and I began to get nervous. If they were tracking me, and this was all a set-up, of course no alarm would go off. That would also explain the device left sitting out on the seat in this neighborhood. I reached into the car and grabbed the device, as well as a few CD and the small amount of cash from the armrest. He owed my for the hamburger, anyway.
I hopped in my car, but there was no need for a quick get-away. No one came out of the bar. I drove down the street and parked, then turned on the device and started sweeping myself and the car. It didn’t come up with anything, but I had no way of knowing if it was working. Short of sweeping Robert, who I knew was carrying a bug. I chewed on my lip for a moment, then decided that in for a penny, in for a pound; I was going for it. I popped the back hatch and dug through the store of clothes and accessories I had there, coming up with a combination of Isabelle, the goth chick, and a biker chick, as yet unnamed. It should work to blend in at this place. I hoped. I quickly changed clothes, glancing around to make sure no one was watching on the street, but it was a pretty deserted place. All it needed was a lone dog barking mournfully in the distance and you’d have the scene from a horror movie. Probably one about zombies, and this would be the eerie deserted quiet right before the invasion. And here I was, in stilettos, which of course I would be too stupid to take off when they started chasing me. Improbably, I would keep ahead of the zombies until my heel broke, sending me tumbling to the pavement where they would descend upon my like starving Chihuahuas on a pork chop.
“There’s no such thing as zombies,” I told myself firmly. It helped saying it out loud, I have to admit. I pulled out the make-up case and began slathering it on. Let’s see if he recognized me this time. At the last minute, I realized I was still wearing my favorite necklace – a Tahitian pearl drop necklace that I never took off. It really didn’t go with the outfit at all, so I took it off and, unable to leave it out in the car in this neighborhood (after all, Robert’s car was just broken into!), I stuffed it in my pocket. I tossed the scanner in my bag and took a deep breath, and headed into the bar.
It was loud and dark, pretty much what I expected. There were dark, scarred wood tables and uncomfortable-looking wooden chairs, and a very battered looking bar. There were no fancy lighted shelves full of pretty alcohol bottles behind the bartender, and the beer taps were plain wood handles. The air smelled like whiskey and beer, and the men standing around the pool table in the back corner had a definite air of menace about them. And they looked like they knew how to use those pool cues for more than just shooting pool. I slid up to the bar, two seats away from where Robert was talking to a man I didn’t recognize. I ordered a drink and settled into some serious eavesdropping, a little surprised, but pleased the men in the bar were leaving me alone. Not that I thought I was so amazingly hot that a guy couldn’t help but hit on me, but I figured I looked as uncomfortable as I felt and they’d pick up on it right away.
“…I don’t think she has any clue, but just in case, we really need to find a way to tag her. I tried tonight, but I didn’t get a chance. Besides, just slipping it in to her purse would be too risky. She could find it, or it could drop out.” Robert took a long swig of his beer. The bartender threw him a disdainful glance, but Robert didn’t notice.
“No need for that now, we have the necklace done.” The other man pulled a small jewelry pouch out of his pocket, and after a furtive glance around him, slid it over to Robert. “All you have to do is sneak into the apartment and switch it.”
“That’s if she doesn’t sleep with it on,” Robert said. He took another long pull on his beer. This was definitely I side of him I hadn’t seen before.
“I’m sure you can think of a way to… charm her out of it, if that’s the case. I’m sure she doesn’t shower with it on, that would be the perfect time.” The other man smirked, and I felt a greasy chill run up my spine, like someone had coated an ice cube in bacon grease and dropped it down my shirt. At the thought of bacon grease, which led to the thought of bacon, sizzling in a pan, my stomach rumbled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten in awhile. How I could in mortal danger and still hungry was beyond me, but I promised it that if it could just stay quiet for ten more minutes, I’d feed it anything it wanted. Yes, that included that gigantic banana split they make at the corner bistro. That seemed to do the trick.
“You are seriously saying my job hangs on the balance of me sleeping with her, and swapping out the necklace when she takes a shower?”
“Yes. I am.” The man’s tone was completely humorless, all traces of the former smirk gone.
“God, I love my job,” Robert chuckled. “Okay, give me a few days, I have to play out a line I started this evening. I’ll let you know when it’s done.” His tone had lost all of the good-boy joviality I’d come to know. And despite myself, I felt disappointed. I knew this was a good possibility. I’d tried to prepare myself for it. But still, being left with no one to trust was crushing.
At least I knew how he’d recognized me. That blasted necklace. I wore it so often I didn’t think about it, and had it on with each of my outfits over the last few days. It was a one-of-a-kind design, and my co-workers knew it. Which meant the whole agency knew it. And it had been perfect for keeping tabs on me. I fingered the necklace in my pocket. It was one of the last things Jake had given to me, and I was loathe to give it up, even temporarily. But if it was the difference between life and death, it would have to go to the storage unit for awhile.
Robert made a motion to get up, and I quickly pulled out the scanner and discretely gave him the once-over as I brushed by him on the way to the restroom. It trilled loudly, and I quickly shoved it into my purse and dug out my cell phone, pretending to take a call. Robert looked at me, then his eyes slid on past. He hadn’t recognized me. I kept up my pretend conversation all the way to the bathroom. When I’d gathered myself enough to come out, both he and the other man were gone. And my chances of a quick escape were soon blocked by a pool cue thrust across my path.
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