“The girl I’m thinking of is very chatty,” Blaze says. “But you’re better off keeping your mouth shut.”
Pandora growls loud enough for the mic to pic up. “Oh fuck off, Blaze. Don’t say that to her! And I’m notthatchatty. I’m acceptable levels of chatty.”
“Pandora?” Samantha whispers, her voice barely audible. The mic picks up on that, too.
“Are you listening, Samantha?” River asks.
“Yeah,” I say. “I think she’s what we’re looking for, Mr. Bouchard.”
“Oh! You can hear me!” Pandora exclaims. “Well, I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to rescue you. Blaze and Asch are going to distract the security while River and I sneak in. Room 203? Yeah. Just hang tight and don’t freak out. Freaking out would be really bad.”
I’d expected Samantha to look at us with suspicion, but instead there’s a fragile sort of hope in her expression. She nods, and I clear my throat.
It’s tricky to think of what to say that wouldn’t be strange to an outsider, but I’m aware that even if this room isn’t bugged, it could cause serious problems if we’re not careful.
I nod to Blaze, trying to signal that Pandora has spoken to her and that we’re ready for the next stage of this. Having an open discussion with Samantha would’ve been better, but… beggars can’t be choosers, after all.
“She’s the one? Are you kidding?” Blaze pats Samantha’s jaw. “Nah. She’s cute enough but I want to see my options. With how much I’m paying, I want the best.” He winks at Samantha. “No offense.”
Samantha’s eyes flick back to Blaze, like she’s trying to figure out what kind of game he’s playing, and she bites her bottom lip.
Blaze gets up, and I gesture toward her ear to remind him to take the earpiece back. He shakes his head slightly, though, and I realize he plans to leave it in her ear. I don’t know if it’s the best idea, but if he’s making the call, he has to have a good reason.
“Onto the next then?” I say.
“Yeah.” Blaze waves to Samantha.
I unlock the door for us. Pam is waiting outside, tapping on her phone. I see her expression of dismay when we emerge, but she quickly pastes on a smile. “Done so fast?”
Blaze shrugs. “Nah. I changed my mind. I think blonde was the wrong idea. You have any brunettes?”
“Am I your type, Blaze?” Pandora asks, but it’s not like Blaze can hear her anymore.
If it wasn’t for my restlessness, the way I’m not sure how this whole mission is going to go, I might’ve wanted to laugh.
Instead, I watch as Pam offers the tablet back to Blaze so we can look through even more girls.
It’s going to be a long afternoon.
32
RIVER
Harmony has always seemed small to me, which makes it an odd place to place a high-end brothel run by one of the most powerful men in the country. I guess that choosing to place it so close to New Bristol was risky enough as it was; with Giulio Pavone having the monopoly on the sex trade in this part of the country, getting too close was never going to be a good idea.
But George Bouchard doesn’t seem to care, if the way he’s been spreading out from New Valence is any indication.
The hotel is on the outskirts of the city, small and innocuous, and as we get close, I scan our surroundings. There aren’t many cars in the lot, and one of them is Blaze’s sports car. It’ll make us conspicuous, but that much can’t be helped.
We need to make sure we have a quick, easy way out once we grab Samantha, and we don’t know what kind of condition she’ll be in.
I glance at Pandora. “You ready?” I ask.
I still don’t feel like we have much of a plan, if one at all, and it has me wary. But we might not have another chance like this, and plan or not, we have to take it.
“Yep!” Pandora pulls her beanie over her head, then holds up some electronic device she got from Anastasia Voronkov. “These people won’t know what hit ‘em!”
“We hope,” Asch mutters through the earpiece.
