“We’re in it,” Marc’s voice drifted from behind Future. There was the click. Future turned and I stepped to the side. Marc had a gun pointed at her. “For family,” he said.
My heart started to thunder harder, and the wriggly sparks ignited in my stomach. He’d slipped in so quietly, I was overwhelmed. More than that, Marc’s intensity was all over his face, in the way he narrowed his eyes on Future, the snarl on his lips. His arm was steady. He’d mow her down to save me.
“Who are you?” Future asked.
“I’m with her,” he said in a deeper tone. “Now lower your gun, or I make sure Future doesn’t have one.”
“You’re the one in the SUV?” Future pointed her gun to the ground and then stepped to the side. Marc followed her with the tip of the gun still pointed in her direction. Future slid her eyes down Marc’s body, stopping at his waist and then slowly drifted her gaze back up. “Hot. You should have been the one to come play with me.”
Marc smirked and then slowly lowered the gun but held on to it. “I don’t think I’d look as good in the skirt.”
“Honey, you’d look amazing. You should try it out. Are your eyes different colors? Are those contacts? You’ve got really pretty eyes.”
I swallowed, trying to smother the adrenaline. “Do you believe us now?” I asked.
“Maybe,” she said. She tucked a painted fingernail against the back of her ear and scratched there. “So you’re looking for this little girl? She a relation, then?”
“Yes,” Marc said before I could answer. “She’s family. We need to find her and her father before this gets too far.”
Future looked back at me. “You thought you could ask me about it?”
I nodded. “I didn’t mean to trick you, but I thought if I could get in with Henry about his cases, I could ask him. When you showed up, though, I thought maybe you might know, and would be easier to talk to.”
She smiled big. She flicked the safety on her gun and put it back in her purse. “You should have told me sooner.”
My heart lifted until I was nearly floating in the kitten heels. “So you’ll help?” I asked.
Future turned to me, smiling. Her voice picked back up into that feminine pitch. “Girl, if we’re going to cause Henry a whole hell of a lot of trouble, count me in.”
ONE HELL OF A PARTY
With the guns put away, Marc had us pile into the SUV.
“This is a badass SUV,” Future said from the passenger seat.
“I thought you liked the van,” I said. I took the back seat, sitting back, catching my breath.
“The van is bulky. What you need is a sweet SUV.” She put her hand on Marc’s shoulder. “So tell me the story, sweetie. What’s going on?”
I sat back, but kept my eyes on Marc. I wasn’t sure how I felt with Future pawing at him. In the saddest part of my heart, I really hoped Marc didn’t think Future was prettier than me.
In the twisted part, I was laughing that Marc was being hit on by a man.
Marc turned his head in reaction, glanced at the hand on his shoulder and then looked at me with a help me expression. He grimaced and then focused on the road. “We’re looking for Sara.”
“You’ve said that,” Future said and sat back, folding her arms under her breasts. “I want the whole story. From the beginning.”
Marc told her the summary. We were asked by Harry, the grandson, to check out the grandmother, then figured out Fred was missing.
“You broke into his house?” she asked.
“His apartment had all Sara’s things there,” I said, hoping she’d let the breaking and entering slide. “She was living there.”
Future tilted her head back and forth as if she was thinking. “What’s her name? The wife’s name?”
“Luanne,” Marc said. “Luanne Gunther. At least she’s still hanging on to that name.”
Future nodded. “And Fred and Sara Gunther.”
“Have you heard about them?”
“That’s the funny part,” she said. “I haven’t heard a damn thing. Usually these big cases, Henry likes to brag about. Either he’s bitching for his team to find the guy, or he caught him and he’s celebrating. He’s ornery like that.”
“Do you think he dropped the case?” I asked. “The grandmother paid off the bond, but later on Henry’s office called Fred’s apartment while we were there. We thought he was looking for him.”
“Not a lot of people can afford paying off a bounty hunter.” Future pursed her lips and then shook her head. She reached for her bag, fished out some lipstick and then started to apply it. “No, I think he’s keeping that off the books. It’s a double down.”
“A what?”
“Bond agencies don’t have the money to front all that cash,” she said. “There’s insurance companies that tell the court they will pay them money if the bondee skips. The only money they handle directly is the fee you pay for them accepting the bond. Otherwise, it’s all paperwork.”
“So you think Henry would still look for him?”
“If Fred escapes, I think it’s the insurance that pays, but the bondsman may have to pay the insurance company something. I’m just guessing, because that’s all the business end. I just find the bastards.”
“We can’t go on assumption,” Marc said. “We need to find Fred before he does. We need to figure out why he ran in the first place.”
Future put her lipstick back and then tugged at my arm. “How do you feel about double teaming Henry tomorrow?”
“At work?” I asked.
“It’ll give me time to get ready,” she said. “I’ve got a few friends. We can take him downtown, put a gun to his ear, and make him tell us the whole story.”
“Hang on,” Marc said. “We can’t kidnap him.”
“Then how do we get real information?” she asked.
“We should follow him, and see what he does. We need to check out this party that’s going on.”
“You don’t want to go to that party,” she said. “Henry hires a bunch of escorts for those parties. He gets them for his bounty hunters and a few policemen. It’s a disgusting frat house. It’s probably why he didn’t tell me. Those escorts can’t stand the competition.”
“It’s a good time to check out what’s going on,” Marc said. “Henry’s not going to give this secret up simply by talking to him.”
I groaned. I didn’t like the sound of this plan. “I don’t know if I want to go to a party.”
“At least we’re already dressed,” Future said. “Although if you’d told me we were going to crash a party, I would have found something in leather.”
♠♠♠♠♠♠
Marc stopped for some fast food and we took our time heading to the party. He sent in word to the others what was happening. Eventually, Marc rolled the SUV into a small suburban neighborhood. The sun had fallen, and while the sky was a mix of orange and purple, the street lamps were bright along the sidewalks. The house at the end of the block was lit up and crowded with parked cars. Palm trees surrounded the fenced property. The gate and the front door were wide open, and music spilled out onto the street.
“He’s celebrating,” Future said. She clicked her mouth and then shook her head. “Bigger than usual means he caught a whale. He didn’t tell me.”
“Does this mean he caught Fred?” I asked. “Are we too late?”
“We need to get in there,” Marc said. He pulled out his cell phone and started typing at it. “You and I should go in.”
“Nope,” I said.
“What?” Marc asked.
“I’ve already crashed one party for you guys. I’m not doing another. This is your turn. You can go.”
“There’s no crime to crashing a party, honey,” Future said. “Only not leaving if you’re asked to leave. One more hottie at the party is never turned away.”
Marc waved his hand through the air. “Just hang on a second.” He held the cell phone to his ear and then spoke into it. “Brandon? Yeah. Parked
out front. Come find us. Bring your party face.”
“I get Brandon,” I said after Marc put away his phone.
Marc’s eyes went wide on me. Don’t you dare.
“Ooo, there’s more of you guys?” Future asked. She slid her arm through Marc’s, trying to cling to it. “Yay, I get the cute one with the pretty eyes.”
Marc pulled his arm away. “Hey, now,” he said. He pointed at me. “I’m with her.”
“She wanted Brandon.”
Marc twisted his lips a little in a smirk. “Have you seen Brandon? He’s tall, surfer, blond.”
“It’s not totally blond,” I said. “It’s the light hair you get when you’re out in the sun a lot.”
“You mean like that frosted look?” Future asked. She stretched her fingers over her own hair and raked it a little. “I tried to pull that look off in my younger days. Had to go whole hog on the blond, though. It’s true what they say about blonds having more fun.”
There was a knock at the passenger door, and I jumped, turning.
Brandon waved at me and then reached for the handle. He stepped up, leaning against the car a little as he peered in. He smiled at me once and then his eyes rolled down my body. “Oh my god, you didn’t say she was wearing that.”
“Cute, isn’t it?” Marc said, smirking.
“Fucking cute is right,” Future said, leaning forward and then pressed her hand against my arm. “Holy shit, he is a hottie, too. No wonder you picked that one.”
Brandon smiled at first, like he won a prize. Then he looked at Future and blinked. “Uh…”
“I’m about to get into a cat fight,” Future said. She released me but then tucked her arm back around Marc. “But I’m a good sport. Let’s go.”
We got out of the SUV. Once Future and I were next to each other, Brandon gave us both a stare down.
“Marc,” he said, still staring at me in the skirt and then at Future. “Marc…”
“What?” Marc asked. He was fiddling with a phone.
“What are we doing?” Brandon asked. “Exactly? And who is she?”
“I’m Future,” she said. She did this walk where her butt sashayed from side to side as she approached him. She traced a red-painted fingernail across his bicep. “And I’ll be yours if you’re going with us to this party.”
I started to say something and then Marc tugged my arm, leaning against me and whispering in my ear. “Don’t say anything,” he said. “He doesn’t know.”
I chuffed. “What?”
“I didn’t tell him Future was a he. Let’s see how long it takes him.”
“But…”
“Don’t ruin this for me,” he said. He pulled back, grinning big.
Was I that mean? Yes, I was. Was this the time? Probably not, but who cares.
Brandon looked at me, giving me the look a boyfriend gives his girlfriend when he thinks he’s about to be in trouble for letting another girl hang off his arm.
I smiled prettily and waved him off. “You know what? Maybe Future should go with you. You might have to go inside the house and Future’s your ticket just in case anyone’s asking questions.”
Brandon stuffed his hands in the pockets of his jeans and put on a straight face. “What are we looking for?”
“Future,” Marc said, “if you can, I need you to talk to people you know about the Gunther case. See who might be willing to talk. Brandon, stay with her.” He looked at me. “You still have that MP3 player?”
I went back to the car to retrieve it and the cell phone.
Marc took the player from me and passed it to Brandon. “Plant this somewhere. Maybe we can listen in if this is Henry’s house. Try a bedroom.”
“What about Henry?” Future asked. “Shouldn’t we talk to him?”
“Bambi and I will find him and listen in on any conversations here.”
“Bambi?” Future said, looking at me. “Oh honey, that’s a beautiful name. Why did you ever tell me it was Rachael?”
Brandon and Marc started to snigger.
“It’s Kayli,” I said in a flat tone, and giving Marc a warning look. “My real name is Kayli.”
“Bambi’s cute, though,” Future said. “I mean Kayli isn’t bad. If I had to have a real girl name, I’d pick Kayli.”
“What is your real—” Brandon started to ask.
Marc coughed loud, grabbed my elbow and started hauling me toward the party. “No time. We need to get inside,” Marc said.
Future took Brandon by the elbow, pulling him toward the front door. “Let’s check out the inside. There’s a lot of dark corners in there, I bet. We’ll have to go inspect them.”
Brandon gave me a panicked look. He started shaking his head, silently telling me he really didn’t like this plan.
I smiled big. “Have fun!”
Marc laughed, throwing his arm around my shoulders and dragging me toward the open gate. “If he doesn’t find out about Future before we leave, wait until I’m around to tell him.”
Once Brandon was inside the house with Future, I felt a pang. I’d only seen him for a moment, and then threw him at Future. I felt a little bad about it. I hoped he didn’t see this as me rejecting him and trying to throw another girl in his face.
It killed me that I was still thinking about his kiss.
I died a little more thinking about Axel. Part of it probably was I hadn’t seen him all day. Corey had at least sent a text this morning.
Maybe he had been drunk last night. Could you get drunk off two glasses of wine? Was he avoiding me?
Marc kept his arm around my shoulders as I hobbled in the kitten heels toward the back. My heels kept sinking into the soft ground. The space between the side of the house and the fence was a little dark, but it opened up to a pool deck in the back yard.
There were a few beach bunnies in the pool already, bikinis barely clinging to their bodies. They were either up against the pool walls, talking to the guys who were sticking their toes in the water, or bouncing a beach ball around. Other girls were strutting around the guys along the deck, hanging over shoulders and tossing hair.
“There’s a lot of money spent on girls tonight,” I said.
Marc scanned the partygoers. He pointed to the back. “That’s Henry, isn’t it?”
I checked, and sure enough, Henry was sitting in a pool chair next to a tan brunette, looking as I’d seen him earlier: bald and bulky. The woman next to him was in a mini-sundress, with a bikini peeking out from underneath. She leaned back in her chair, talking to a guy sitting at the table with them. Henry was enjoying the pool show.
Something was off about this whole scene. Maybe it was the fact that they hired escorts and couldn’t get women to come over naturally. Then I scanned the men. A couple of the guys had wedding rings. I grunted, shivering. Ick.
“Yeah,” Marc said. “I don’t like it, either.” He nodded toward the edge of the pool. “Let’s make a slow circle, and then try to sit close to Henry.”
Marc started out walking beside me with his arm around my neck. At one point, we passed a cooler, and he fished out a can of beer sitting inside. He released me to open it, and when his hand was free again, he slipped his fingers across my back, holding me by the waist, close to him.
I was ready to head back to the hotel. My nerves were fried from the long day and now I was anxious; I felt authority around me. Bounty hunters. Police. I felt like they might be able to see right through me to the thief I had been, and to why I was there now.
When I started to notice the eyeballs on me in the tartan skirt, I threaded my arm around Marc’s middle, clinging back to him.
Marc rubbed his palm across my back. “You okay?” he asked.
“I think they assume I’m an escort,” I said. “Let’s get this over with.” I smothered a yawn.
“About time to switch up the teams,” he said. “Let’s get this job done. Then we’ll head back to the hotel.”
“You’ll send Raven out? Is it his turn.”
&nbs
p; “We’ll see,” he said. He rubbed his palm slowly across my back in a comforting gesture. “You know, you did a good job today.”
“What?”
“Doing the bounty hunter thing.”
I rolled my eyes. “That was totally ridiculous.”
“Still, it gave me an idea.” He swept his fingertips over my side. “What do you say, when we get back to town, we team up?”
“What do you mean?”
We made it to the other side of the pool. Marc positioned me so he could keep his eyes on Henry, looking past me as he spoke. “I’ve got a few bail bondsmen friends back home. We could do something like Future. You lure them out. I take them down. Could even get Raven in on it. We could make a really good team.”
“Don’t you work for…?” I started to say the Academy but then stopped and looked at him pointedly, “…that other place?”
He smiled and then talked through his teeth. “Sometimes.”
“Don’t they pay the bills?”
“No.”
I tilted my head. “Who does?”
“I do. We do. I mean, I take care of myself.”
I rubbed a fingertip across my eyebrow. “I don’t understand. How do you work for them if you don’t get paid?”
“How are you working for us and don’t get paid?”
“You…” I said, snapping up and looking at him. How do I tell him this without letting him know I overheard? Maybe it was my messed up nerves, but I ended up just going with it. “You’re getting paid for this,” I said. “A percent of the recovery, right?”
He looked confused for a moment. “It’s not…I mean…” He looked over my shoulder and then back at me. “I can’t talk about it here, okay?”
I rolled my eyes. “Of course.”
“No,” he said sharply, and then tugged me closer. He leaned in. “I need to listen. I’ll tell you later. Okay?” His eyes bore in on me, pleading with me to understand. He was okay with the question, but this wasn’t the time.
I bit back other questions I had. “What do I need to do?”
“Just relax,” he said. He released me slowly and then slid his arm around my back. “With me.”
I wanted to appear tougher and stand and pretend to talk to him, but it was easier to sink into him. The tiredness was wearing on me. I was looking at his beer, considering drinking it because I was hungry. I tucked my head into his shoulder, resting.