Hades marched away, pissed someone was messing with him.It threw the first death into a different light.Wassomeone messing with him?Recreating what happened in the garage, hoping to take him down?Was it Steven Harold trying to bring the law down upon him?
When he arrived, he marched through the quiet club to the loading dock out back.His contact, Detective O’Connell, waited for him, smoking a cigarette.
“This was an anonymous tip that came through.I took it when I heard the club name.”
Hades stared at the dead woman.A red head this time instead of a blonde, but her neck was broken and the position of her limbs didn’t seem natural.
“If I’d hazard a guess, it seems like this is a message.”
“I agree,” Hades said.
“I imagine you might have some enemies.”
“I’m not going to refute that.”He pulled out his phone and punched in the Detective’s payment.“Thank you for thinking of me first.”
When the notification came through, Detective O’Connell glanced at it and smiled.“Pleasure, Mr.Sinclair.”
Then he left, leaving Hades with a dead woman.He didn’t like this, not one little bit.The woman looked too much like Cora Charles.He placed a call to his cleaners.
****
“Hey, you wanna go toNightshade tonight?”Betsy asked as they clocked out.
The week had passed in a blur.Keeping her head down, she had made sure to avoid any place where Ranelle would be.On top of that, she tried to forget about her night with Hades Sinclair, yet was unable to stop dreaming of him.By the time Friday rolled around, she was bone tired from the mental stress.
At first, she was going to say no, but something stopped her.Once again, the memory of last weekend, how Hades had made her body sing, was still fresh in her mind.She knew it was a one-time thing and she’d never see him again, but she didn’t want to stay holed up in her bedroom feeling sorry for herself.They said to get over a man, you had to get under a new one.
She didn’t want to be alone.
“Yeah, actually.I need a break from all this,” Cora said as she gestured around with a wave of her hand.She didn’t need to spell it out to her friend.
“Maybe you’ll find your Mr.Right,” Betsy said encouragingly.
“Or Mr.Right Now.”
Betsy laughed, and Cora tried, but all she could manage was a smile.
“Thanks for being with me.”
Betsy nudged her with her shoulder.“Best friend pact, you know that.Wanna come home with me and get ready?I’ll let you borrow a dress.”
“Yeah, that’ll be great.”
They punched out and she followed Betsy into the parking structure, trying to ignore the memory of what she’d seen the last time she was in one.Betsy drove a twenty-year-old white Honda she called Snowflake.It had a gazillion miles on it, but the damn thing purred like a kitten.Cora slid into the passenger seat and they headed to Westminster.
In Betsy’s apartment, they got ready and Cora wore a black dress that was simple and nice.The hem was long enough so she wouldn’t get a complex that she might be showing off her panties.
Nightshade was a large two-story building located in Hollywood.With multiple bars and multiple floors, it was a popular place for people to forget life for a while.She and Betsy paid the bouncer the cover charge and ran up the staircase as the heavy beat of dance music made her body vibrate.
They wasted no time in losing themselves, dancing together and separately, sometimes falling in with others but always reconnecting.Soon, Cora was out of breath and thirsty, so she mimed drinking and Betsy did the thumbs up sign.
Cora walked up to the bar and asked for bottled water.After she slid over some money, she opened it and took a deep drink.Someone sidled up to her and she turned to see a good-looking man staring at her.He smiled and she smiled back, wondering if he’d be the answer to forgetting Hades Sinclair.
“I’m Brandon,” he said, introducing himself.
“Cora.”
He held out his hand and she shook it.
