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They both straightened, Bryce’s feet thudding onto the floor as they slipped off the table.
I shrugged, examining my fingernails. “I could score you free tickets. Every night that week, if you wanted.”
Bryce and Heather exchanged another long look before Bryce looked back at me with narrowed eyes.
“Premium seats?”
“Front row. Right next to a walkway. And the drinks would be on me, too.”
Heather glanced at Bryce quickly. “Those new signature cocktails are really good.”
“I could even try to arrange a little meet-and-greet with some of the Goliaths after the show one night.” I shrugged nonchalantly. “Maybe B. Were, Lady Victoria Venom, the Silent Scream…” I paused for dramatic effect. “The Tasselled Tussler.”
Bryce gasped, then hastily tried to cover it with a cough. The pair of them had another silent conversation while I casually leaned back and waited.
Finally, Bryce gave me a tiny nod as he rose from his seat. “I’ll see what I can do.”
A wide, evil grin stretched my mouth. “Fantastic.”
—
“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing at some point?” Vince asked dryly as we sat in my car that night, parked on a street I’d never been down before.
When I’d turned up at his place after work and asked if he’d help me with something, he’d agreed without question and got in the car with me. Vince was a good buddy like that. I obviously wasn’t planning on killing Frank and Beans, but if I had been, he’d have helped me cover it up without a second thought. And he was a little rough around the edges, in a good way, so he probably knew a guy who’d be able to get rid of the bodies. Or he’d find a remote spot and dig the holes himself.
Not that I was actually here to commit murder. Honestly, I didn’t really know what I was going to do, I just needed to do something. They’d hurt Rafe. And scared him.
“Are we on a stakeout?” Vince asked when I didn’t answer.
I scrubbed a hand down my face and reached for my pack of smokes on the dash. I wasn’t a big smoker, but I indulged every now and then. Tonight, I definitely needed them. “Kind of.”
“Give me one.” Vince held out his hand.
I tapped out two cigarettes and passed one over with the lighter. Once he’d sparked up and handed it back, I lit mine and we both rolled down our windows.
“So who are we staking out?” he asked with interest.
“Frank and Beans,” I muttered around the cigarette, staring at the small house on the other side of the street. It was dark, no lights on. They weren’t home yet.
From the corner of my eye, I saw Vince glance at me sharply.
“Okay,” he said steadily. “Because of what they did at work?”
“No.” My lip curled. “Because they hurt Rafe.”
“Rafe?” Vince echoed, sounding a little confused. “The IT guy?”
“Yes.”
“What did they do?”
“Tried to mug him.” I exhaled cigarette smoke through my nostrils. “Gave him a black eye.”
“The fuck?” Vince sounded disgusted. When I didn’t say anything, he looked over at me again and cautiously asked, “So are you two… friends?”
After a few seconds, I muttered again, “Kind of.”
Vince snorted. “So that means you’re fucking, right?”
