It so was.
Raye and Shanti came from the back, Raye saying, “We left a note for Duane that we’d been there, and we were in to help. We told him we’d be back tomorrow night.”
“Just saying, this time,” I chimed in, “I don’t think we need to worry too much about him being watched. TJ and his bud had no idea we were there. They came in, maybe, at most, ten minutes after we got there. They obviously didn’t see me and Raye go in, and we were pretty stealth, but not that stealth. They had to see we’d detached the screens on the back windows, but maybe with these idiots, not. Though, they noticed the door being busted and didn’t take that for the warning sign it was. So, my guess, all of this added together, no one is watching that house, and further, they don’t think Duane has anyone looking after him.”
“They also think he’s a dufus,” Shanti added. “It didn’t take us long to see that’s a fake.” She flung her arm irately at the image of Amy Small. “They don’t think he’s going to figure it out.”
“Or he’ll be so freaked at what he sees, like we were at first, he won’t look too closely,” Gemma said.
“No. They think he’s a dufus,” Shanti said hotly, though that heat wasn’t aimed at Gemma. “You should have heard the way they were talking about him. Like he was a total loser.”
Sadly, we all thought he was a total loser too. And that was food for thought.
However, we’d never done something to make him sick with worry and panic, and we weren’t expecting him to…whatever it was they were expecting him to do, which was either so bad or so terrifying, Duane was pushing back, and they were still “holding” Amy to try to make him do it.
“Even so, I think we should tread cautiously,” Raye said. “That means a team goes back to Duane’s to see if he’s left us a note tomorrow. Tonight, we found out his back gate isn’t locked, so no need to scale fences or anything like that. Tomorrow night, an alley entrance will be safer.”
There were nods all around.
Raye kept planning.
“And we need someone to volunteer to dress like a sex worker, go in, rent a room at the motel. Once she’s in, she can let another team in the back bathroom window. While she’s renting it, she can slip Duane a note telling him to pretend there’s a maintenance issue so he’ll come talk to us.”
“I did the ho thing the last mission, so I’m out on that,” Shanti said.
“Me too,” Luna said.
I wasn’t fired up to pretend I was a sex worker, but I was fired up to thwart whatever plan Amy Small and her son’s gang had in store for Duane, so I was about to pipe up when Joey did.
“Gemma and I haven’t even been to the motel yet. If someone is watching, there’s less chance of them making us, so it should be one of us. And I’m down to do it.”
“Good call,” Raye said. “So first, we’ll get in a request to Arthur to see what he can get us on this William Dexter. Then, Jess, Harlow, Luna, you go to Duane’s.”
“But shouldn’t the ones who know the lay of the land go?” Harlow asked.
“Maybe not so good to revisit the scene of the crime,” Raye said, and I thought Harlow was right, but that made sense. “Gemma can drive them.”
“Works for me,” Gem said.
Raye kept at it.
“Joey goes into Sun Valley Motor Lodge in disguise, lets Shanti, Willow and me in the back.”
“We should warn Jinx and the crew this is happening so they don’t blow our cover,” Shanti said.
“Agreed, though I doubt they’d do that,” Raye replied. Her gaze drifted to the video of the Food City parking lot still projected on the wall. “We think we’ve figured out what’s happening, not all of it, but we can probably navigate it easier because I agree with Will, they’re probably not watching. That said, they’re clearly trying to coerce Duane into doing something he doesn’t want to do. We can’t let them get that far. And that photo might push him to give in. We need to keep moving on this. So we’re back at it tomorrow night.”
Fortunately, I could decorate and deliver my cake in time to do my part for the team, no problem.
Raye kept going, but now her expression was kind of scary.
“And then, once we figure out what these fuckers are trying to do to Duane, we’re gonna need to figure out how to share they can very kindly go fuck themselves and the horses they rode in on. He’s pervy and unfriendly and obstinate, but from the very first mission he was in on, he did something to try to keep us safe. He might make a play to get paid for information to save face, but he’s in the thick of a life where, you talk, there are consequences, and for a few porno mags, he’s always told us what he knew. He’s not invisible. Deep down, he’s a pervy, unfriendly, stubborn guy who also has good in him. But bottom line, he’s ours.”
She drew a slow, steady, terrifying breath in her nose, so we all held ours.
“And no one fucks with one of ours,” she finished.
Damn straight.
