Chapter 31 Chet #5
“Of course you’re not, love.” She draws her hand down my chest, up my shirt, pinches my right nipple.
“But if you do happen to come across any information that might be helpful in determining the identities of the people who took Seven’s head, I assume you’ll let me know immediately.
And who knows”—she leans her head toward mine, running her tongue along my ear as she whispers—“maybe I’ll find myself grateful to you.
Maybe I’ll let you do that thing you liked so much that evening in my chambers. ”
That thing I liked?
But then the memory comes searing back.
Before the head of the Three came off, when Her Majesty allowed me to—
All the blood in my body rushes toward my bits, and already I’m engorging.
I haven’t enjoyed the physical manifestation of love since that night in Her Majesty’s chambers. Not once. After you have a Queen, you can’t cavort with the peasantry.
She smirks as she looks down between my legs, and then slinks out of the room, leaving me holding myself in my apartment.
What to do now?
It was not my intention for Her Majesty to be this upset, or even for her darkest secrets to be spilled.
I merely wanted to stir things up a bit, rock the boat. Give Her Majesty a challenge to overcome.
But the ripples have expanded wider than my original intent.
Perhaps the time has come to reel things in, control the damage.
All without upsetting Her Majesty, without letting her realize it was I who set this all in motion to begin with.
But if things backfire, I want to make sure Miss Wonder is safe.
So that night, while she is sleeping, I slip into her apartment—foolish of her to leave a key under her mat; I’ll have to have a word with her about her safety—and plant a small trinket. The small shampoo bottle I’ve kept in my pocket ever since I left the Caterpillar and struck out on my own.
If things go south, this will be the one small piece of evidence that might lead the authorities to Her Majesty.
* * *
Only a few days pass before I get my chance.
It’s Valentine’s Day, one of Aces Underground’s biggest nights.
Nearly everyone who is a member shows up and brings a guest. Some of the higher-up patrons can bring more than one guest. I’ve dyed my eyebrows in a vivid shade of pink and am wearing a pinstriped suit in a matching color.
The Black Door opens and in walks my angel along with her gentleman escort.
I raise my eyebrows as they make their entrance. “Ah, Miss Wonder. I was hoping we’d see you again soon.”
She smiles a touch too quickly. “Can’t get rid of us that easily, Chet.”
We talk a few minutes more, I drop a few Shakespeare quotes—completely lost on them, regrettably—and they descend into the club’s bowels.
They’re acting normal.
Perhaps I have nothing to worry about at all.
* * *
My hackles are raised again. Mr. Hathaway and Miss Wonder left the club very abruptly. Mr. Hathaway said they were going to get a breath of fresh air, but they haven’t returned.
They were preceded in their departure by the King of Diamonds—the real King of Diamonds, not Mr. Hathaway’s new title—who also looked to be in a hurry.
So much seems to go on here.
Do I really know it all?
* * *
I slept nary a wink last night. I barely had enough energy before coming to the club tonight to wash the pink dye out of my eyebrows.
Nothing has happened, at least as far as I know.
Perhaps the King of Diamonds killed them.
That would make things a bit easier.
The Black Door swings open, and—can it be?
My two favorite patrons.
I twist my lips into my trademark grin. “Mr. Hathaway. Miss Wonder. We were wondering where you ended up last night.”
Miss Wonder wrinkles her forehead. “What do you mean?”
I tent my fingers. “You left rather early in the evening. You said you’d be right back, that you were just getting a breath of fresh air.” I raise an eyebrow, keeping my voice steady. “You never returned.”
“Plans change.” Mr. Hathaway hands me his driver’s license. “Alissa will be my guest tonight.”
“Of course. Wouldn’t expect anything to the contrary.” I leer at my angel. “It would appear you’ve truly captured Mr. Hathaway’s attention, Miss Wonder.”
She swallows. “I suppose I have.”
As I look over Mr. Hathaway’s ID, he rakes his eyes over me, the wrinkles in his forehead deepening. Finally he speaks.
“Chet, what’s your middle name?”
Ah, so they have figured it out! But best to play it coy, lest Her Majesty finds out I’m involved. “That’s a bit of a personal question, Mr. Hathaway. Whyever would you be asking?”
“I think you know why,” he says.
Miss Wonder grabs Mr. Hathaway’s arm. “What does this have to do with anything?”
“Just answer the damned question, Chet.”
I bounce my eyebrows a few times. Time to give them their next piece in the puzzle, but this one will hopefully lead them into a trap. “It’s Aristotle, Mr. Hathaway. My middle name is Aristotle.”
Mr. Hathaway reaches into his wallet and pulls out the riddle I penned mere days ago, with my initials all but completely erased from the bottom.
He deduces quickly that I’m the one who wrote it.
I deny having any idea of what they’re talking about, but I ensure my tone is laced with just enough playfulness that they stay on the line.
Miss Wonder then realizes that I placed the cards in her purse as an additional hint. She is not correct about when I dropped them, but I don’t tell her this. All that matters is she knows the intent behind them.
I need to lead them deeper into the rabbit hole.
If only—
Heavens above! Mr. Hathaway pulls out a key encrusted with red diamonds, one that I recognize immediately.
Oh, things could not have worked out better than this!
This key was lost long ago. Her Majesty has a few copies of the key to her safe, but this one has been missing for ages, before I even began working at the club. Before Mr. Hathaway came to the club. Back when his father was a member before his untimely death.
I did a little digging when I first started looking into Mr. Hathaway at Her Majesty’s request. I know the late Mr. Hathaway left the current Mr. Hathaway a riddle, one that I was able to decipher immediately but that I did not believe he had the wit to figure out for himself.
The first part of the riddle leads to this key, and the second part leads to the small compartment over the ladies’ room where the server’s tissues are stored temporarily before being distributed to local hospitals.
They seem to have only figured out the first part of the riddle, meaning that tonight is the night the two of them must be stopped.
But again, this must be handled delicately.
I widen my eyes in mock shock. “Looks like you found your way down the river of tears, Mr. Hathaway.”
I eventually lead them to the conclusion that the key opens Her Majesty’s safe. They bustle down the mirrored staircase.
And now we wait.
* * *
My blood-red radio rings. The grainy voice of Her Majesty. “Chet, there’s a disturbance in the Diamonds section. I’m going to need you to come down.”
My heart leaps. This must be it. Miss Wonder is creating a distraction so Mr. Hathaway can sneak into Her Majesty’s office.
I could simply tell her to go after him now, but—
She needs to find both of them. And it has to occur organically. If I tell her to look now, she will be suspicious of me. And I can’t lose my job.
I’ll make sure Miss Wonder doesn’t die. I will make arrangements for her to be held at the Caterpillar Hotel—perhaps even in my old room—and convince Her Majesty to keep Mr. Hathaway alive for his political influence. Miss Wonder will be kept alive as a bargaining chip.
They’ll have to be kept there until they break, of course. Likely a month or longer.
It will be a long time to be away from my angel, but it will be worth it.
I descend the mirrored staircase and clamber toward the Diamonds section. Indeed, I was right! Miss Wonder has tousled herself with another young woman—Miss Pia Linnet, a perennial guest of various clubgoers.
Mr. Hathaway is, predictably, nowhere to be seen. But Her Majesty hasn’t noticed. She’s far too entrenched in the scuffle occurring at her feet.
I peel my angel off Miss Linnet’s body. “Miss Wonder, perhaps you should take a moment to cool down.”
“Get off me, Chet!” she growls, trying to wriggle out of my grasp. But I’m stronger than she is, and I clamp down on her body hard. Finally she relents.
“Thank you, Chet,” Her Majesty says. “I was worried that this might get out of hand.” She looks around. “Where did Mr. Hathaway go?”
No. Not yet. I need to set the scene perfectly.
I raise an eyebrow. “I believe he was grabbing Miss Wonder’s coat. They’ll be heading out.” I let go of Miss Wonder and turn to Her Majesty. “But I do need to speak to you for a moment, Rouge. Somewhere private.”
She nods. “My office.”
No. Cannot be there. Not until Miss Wonder is in her position. “I’d rather not meet there. We’ll just go into a private area.” I offer a smile. “It won’t be a moment, I promise you.”
She narrows her eyes but then acquiesces—a rare victory for me. “Fine.” She turns to Miss Wonder. “Ms. Maravilla, I hope you know that we have a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to physical altercations at Aces Underground.”
She brushes herself off. “I didn’t see you stopping us.”
She chuckles. “In an outfit like mine? I don’t think I’d be very successful. That’s why I called Chet.”
“It took him several minutes to get here.” Miss Wonder stares her Queen down. “Admit it. You were enjoying the spectacle.”
She widens her eyes, making the wings framing them take flight. “Nonsense. I loathe violence. Nothing upsets my poor heart more.”
Miss Wonder smirks, but then she heads off.
She’ll thread herself through the eye of the needle, and I’ll only need to stall Her Majesty for a few moments.
I take her into the grand suite. “Rouge.”
She crosses her arms. “Chet.”