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Sitting here playing the role of a heavily pregnant writer for the past five days has cemented my insignificance in their eyes. Perfect.
My guess? They are probably blackmailing dickhead and setting up a deal to extort a percentage of the daily takings regularly to keep the sex sessions from the wife-to-be. But that is hazarding a guess. There are a few ways this scenario could play out.
The redheaded waitress now approaches AD’s booth. I can’t look for fear of showing too much interest. Their table is bugged, so I’ll be able to hear everything.
Subtly I remove my glasses, placing them on the table facing in the direction of the redheaded waitress. I am filming them so that I can concentrate on Mario’s table while pretending to write.
“Here. I’ve got the takings for the day.”Shit, they just added theft to their extortion charges.“Put this in your bag. Now get out of here. I told Siobhan to leave for the day, and she drove off while you were giving Mario head. I’ll say I saw Siobhan talking to a guy out the back, and she handed him a padded envelope. Mario will be able to confirm the money got stolen this time, and then he will have to get creative each week when we take a percentage.”
“What? That isn’t part of the plan.” Mario’s AD is angry.
“It is now,” The redhead hisses. “If Mario decides to back out, we at least walk away with something to give the boss.”
I bow my head and murmur, “Mack, get out of 4B ASAP.”
“Clearing out in thirty seconds, Ophelia.”
“Make it ten seconds,” I mumble, “Two women are going to leave via the front door with today’s takings.”
I casually look up and watch AD and her friend take their purses and make their way toward the front door.
“Hey!” The redheaded waitress who just made a show of taking the two new girls’ order clicks her fingers in my face. “You need to leave, pregnant lady.” She’s not so friendly anymore.
Shit, I hope she didn’t notice me staring?
“What?” I play dumb, sliding my glasses back on. I was only expecting to deal with two young ADs—not four plus a corrupted waitress and Mario. The Latina is the one I am concerned with; she looks like she knows how to fight. She’s the muscle brought in to convince Mario to agree to their deal.
“You heard me. Move!Now!”
The two girls with the money say something to the dark-skinned female for a minute then they leave.
“Oh, um, I was just about to ask Mario for a mac and cheese to-go. I have a craving that won’t stay silent.”
Codeword: Mack-get-your-ass-in-here before this job goes pear-shaped.
Sixty-Eight
YOU’RE BREAKING UP…
Tucker
I’m inside the SUV, watching Mack’s six in case somebody decides to wander back to 4B for any reason while he’s clearing the bathroom of spy equipment.
What could go wrong?
Mack’s set me up to listen in on Ophelia. I can’t respond to her, but I can talk to Mack. I’m glad because it helps fight the urge to whisper in her ear how much I’ve missed her, and I can’t mess with her job or her safety.
I can see that Ophelia isn’t in any danger from the laptop, although she seems interested in two females seated near the door.
I nearly lost my composure when Ophelia walked out of 4B. I wasn’t expecting her to be wearing a fake belly. I wondered how hard it was for her to assume this undercover role. If Mack had known she had lost her ability to have children because of the accident that stole her parents’ lives, I know they wouldn’t have put her through wearing it. The drunk driver stole so much from her, and here she is wearing something that must bring up traumatic memories.
A pink Jeep comes speeding into the back parking lot, distracting me from the laptop, coming to a sudden halt diagonally across three parking spaces.
I crack my door open so that I can hear better.
Two women are getting out of the vehicle whisper-screaming at each other—one heavily pregnant. And then I hear Mario’s name whisper-screeched from both women as they continue to argue back and forth.
You should never ask yourself:What could go wrong?When on a job because you’re just asking for trouble.
