Chapter 32
“You got him?”
Audra leaned over her drink and looked up through her lashes. The blonde wig she’d donned cascaded around her shoulders, hiding the small earpiece tucked into her ear. They were taking a huge risk, but if it worked, it would pay off in an even bigger way. “Yep,” she answered Dean. “I see both of them and their lady friends.”
“Everyone stay sharp. Aud, we’ve got your back.” Sam’s voice sounded in her ear.
She smiled, hiding it with her straw. Sam hadn’t liked her plan. He’d adamantly tried to talk her out of it. But once he figured out she wouldn’t be dissuaded, he’d stepped up and become wholly involved. The mission was still dangerous. One of Liam’s people could be around and recognize her despite her disguise. But she felt safer with Sam at her back.
She tossed a strand of her blonde wig over her shoulder and glanced around the room. She didn’t see anyone she knew, but that didn’t mean someone wouldn’t recognize her. In the year she’d been here, she’d risen in status as people came to know her as Brogan’s fiancée. She’d been paraded around like a prized possession at party after party. There were bound to be people who would recognize her that she wouldn’t give a second look to.
Hence her current disguise. They’d found her a passable blonde wig and some outrageous eyelashes. She’d changed her makeup too, making it much more dramatic. Alexandra was more demure. A lady. This new woman was not.
“Hi.”
Audra ground her teeth together and looked at the man who’d sidled up next to her at the high table. “I’m not the woman you want. Move along.” He wasn’t the first one she’d sent packing this evening. She knew there would be more too.
The man’s smile died. Red tinged his cheeks, but he picked up his drink and left.
She huffed after he disappeared into the crowd. “Why do men always think a woman alone is looking for a hookup?” she muttered.
Max chuckled in her ear. “They don’t. But it is what they want. Especially when that lone woman is as beautiful as you are.”
“Quit hitting on my woman, Carson.”
Audra fought another smile. “Relax, Sam. You’re the only one for me.”
“Good.”
She picked up her drink and moved away from her table, hoping that mingling would discourage others from talking to her. They’d debated sending her with Sam, but were afraid someone might recognize him if they were together. They didn’t know if the man who’d chased them away from her condo got a good look at either of them, and it was harder to change Sam’s appearance. The chances were slim, but they wanted to play it safe.
That left Max and Dean. Max needed to stay in the wings for now, so he could go in to Brogan’s operation clean, which left only Dean. In the end, they decided it was better for her to go alone in case they needed to use him for something later where she had to have a partner. They were all in the club; just staying in the shadows.
“Your woman’s on the move,” Max said.
“Restroom?” Audra asked.
“Looks like it.”
Audra changed directions, putting her on a collision course with Simon’s lady friend. “Let’s do this.”
“The other woman’s going with her,” Dean said.
Dammit. She needed the blonde alone. The plan was to slip a bug onto the woman. Audra needed to get close and was afraid she couldn’t if she wasn’t alone.
“I’m on it,” Sam said.
Audra kept walking, not worrying about Geoffrey’s lady friend Celine, now. Sam was a quiet soul, but he could turn on the charm when he wanted to. All he had to do was smile and that woman would simper at his feet. It certainly worked on her.
Weaving her way through the crowd, she followed Simon’s girlfriend down the dim corridor toward the bathroom. A single light hung in the long hallway, casting deep shadows. An exit sign glowed in the darkness at the far end of the hall. The woman disappeared into the bathroom. Audra entered in time to see a stall door swing shut and lock. Audra stepped into the one next to hers and shut the door. While she waited, she took the listening device from her clutch and rolled it in her hand to warm the small bit of plastic. After a minute or so, she heard the toilet flush next door. Quickly flushing her own, she stepped out. The woman emerged from her stall and crossed in front of Audra.
“Hi, there! I didn’t expect to see you out tonight.” Audra grabbed the woman and gave her a quick hug, laying the surprise on thick. She didn’t bother to hide her accent.
The woman seemed frozen in her arms, but also limp. Anger simmered in Audra’s gut. The girl was high again.
Audra slipped the small bug under the strap of the woman’s dress over her shoulder blade, then pulled back to look at her. “How are you doing, love?” She injected some heavy sympathy into her voice.
The woman blinked up at her with dull blue eyes. “Um, do I know you?”
“Sure you do. We met at that party a few months back. You were with that dark-haired guy. What was his name… Sean? Seth? Simon! That’s it, isn’t it? Simon?”
The woman nodded. “Yes. I’m sorry. I don’t remember you. What’s your name?”
“Amber.”
Someone else entered the bathroom. Audra wrapped a hand around her arm and moved her to the side. The woman stumbled.
“Oh! Careful there.” Audra helped steady her.
“Sorry. I must have had too much to drink.”
She’d had too much of something, but it wasn’t alcohol. A new plan formed in Audra’s head. One the boys really wouldn’t like. “Are you here with him? Let me help you back. I wouldn’t want you to get knocked over. It’s a crush out there.”
“I’ll be okay.”
“Aud, what are you doing?” Sam’s voice growled in her ear. “Plant the bug and let her go. Her friend is on her way to you now.”
She ignored him. “Love, I insist.” She took the woman’s hand and looped it through her arm, then laid her other hand on top, securing her grip on the girl. And she was a girl. Up close, Audra could see through the heavy makeup. If this woman was twenty, she’d be astonished.
Hoping the drugs made her compliant for everyone and not just Simon, Audra led her toward the door. They needed to hurry. She had no intention of taking her back to Simon. If her friend showed up, she’d never get the girl out.
They stepped into the hall, and she had to hold back a triumphant grin. No one was in sight. She turned right, toward the blazing red exit sign.
“Where are we going?” the girl asked after they’d taken several steps. “The club is the other way.”
“I’m getting you out of here.”
Sam cursed in her ear. “Max, Dean, go outside. I’ll create a distraction, then follow her through the exit.”
“Copy,” Dean said.
“On it,” Max replied.
The girl twisted her head to look Audra in the eye. She didn’t try to stop, though, and Audra continued to haul her toward the door.
“You look familiar now. Who are you?”
“A friend, love. You can trust me.”
The girl snorted. “I’ve heard that before.”
“Well, with me, it’s true.” They reached the door. Audra prayed it wasn’t alarmed—or locked. She pushed on the bar. It swung open with a soft protest of the hinges.
Warm night air blasted her in the face, and the bright lights of the Strip made her squint. “Phew! It’s warm out here. I thought the desert was supposed to be chilly at night. How about we hit up the Paris for some air-conditioning? And some of their crepes? That sounds good. I’m starving.” She needed to get the woman away from the club and some place safe. Liam’s band of merry men usually stayed away from the Paris. It was one of the reasons she’d met Sam there.
“I hear you loud and clear, babe. We’ll see you there,” Sam said in her earpiece.
“I’m not very hungry,” the girl said. “I think I’d like to just go home. Can you take me there?”
“Where’s home?”
“Aud, no,” Sam said.
“I live with Simon.”
“No. We’re not going there. And I don’t think you really want to go back there. Do you?”
“No,” the young woman whispered.
“Then we’re getting crepes.”