| |
Reagan was grateful that, despite Hare’s earlier assurance, the entire room didn’t turn to watch them as they entered. In contrast to this morning, she didn’t feel underdressed. She had no illusions she’d fit in here on her own, however.
She kept her hand hooked in the crook of Hare’s elbow, telling herself she was only doing it for appearances, not because she needed something to hold onto, and not believing the lie.
The conversations around them were quiet enough she heard the tap of her heels on the hardwood and the clink of glasses on tables polished so brightly, they reflected the people sitting at them.
At the far end of the room, a bar spanned the length of the wall. An almost-rainbow of colors lined the top, glasses filled with liquid that ranged from pale beige to the deepest violet. Numbered bottles sat on the shelf behind the bartender, their contents matching the poured wine.
She wanted to pluck one up, down the wine in a single gulp, and move to the next.
Hare handed her a glass and leaned in, his mouth near her ear. “Possibly the only time you’ll ever hear me say this—spit, don’t swallow.” He pulled back and nodded at a bucket sitting in the middle of a nearby table.
She gave him a tight smile. “Thanks. I know how that bit works.” She kept her tone low and sweet, despite the sarcasm she wanted to pour into her response.
“Rules,” was all he said.
Right. This wasn’t meant to be insulting, but he would assume she knew nothing. “I’m sorry...” Her voice stuck in her throat when they turned to face the room and she saw a familiar face. Hatter. He watched them from across the room.
Her stomach churned, and her hand shook. She dug her fingers deeper into Hare’s arm and steadied herself.
“What’s wrong?” Hare followed her gaze. “Isn’t he the reason you’re here? Or is reality just sinking in?” He spoke with a conversational cadence, so quietly only she’d hear the words.
That didn’t mean what he said made any sense. “I’m here because—”
“One of Jabberwock’s top men is meeting with a potential client tonight.” Hare nodded at Hatter. “He’s that top man.”
She wanted to retreat. Crawl under a table. Turn on her toe and bolt out the door. Hatter’s stare held hers, freezing her feet to the floor.
She wanted to look away, but if she did, Hatter would evaporate again. He was the enemy? “So he knows Jabberwock.” She wasn’t sure if she wanted to down the drink in her hand or was grateful she hadn’t had any yet to sour her insides. She set the glass on a nearby table instead.
Hare made a tsk sound with his tongue. “No one knows Jabberwock. Not that they could tell you. He works through his representatives. Rumor is, if you realize you’ve met him, that’s when you draw your last breath. He could be anyone. Fuck. You could be him, and no one would ever know.”
“I really couldn’t.” Every impulse in Reagan’s head screamed run. She wasn’t sure if it was from Hatter or Hare
Hare shrugged. “Anyway. Hatter is one of his primary representatives.”
Oh God. Her legs threatened to give out. She’d screwed him the night Wayne died. Had he been sent to take care of her, too? Why was she still alive? She’d never found pictures. In all her research, it wasn’t just Jabberwock whose face was hidden. No one had evidence of any of his people. “You don’t know for sure that’s true.”
“I do.” Hare’s response came without hesitation. “Because I’m one too.”
Reagan’s head spun, and her world dropped out beneath her. She was vaguely aware of Hare helping her into a nearby seat and taking the spot next to her. She must have misunderstood what he meant. “You’re one what?”
He rested his elbows on his knees and leaned close, leaving only a few inches between them. “One of Jabberwock’s representatives.”
Jesus-fuck-me-shit. “You lying asshole. You fucked me under false pretenses, you—” There was something more important to worry about. Reagan struggled to draw breath. The walls were closing in around her. “Then he knows where I am.” Stating the obvious helped ground her. Gave her a leaping-off point to figure out next steps. The problem was, the leap took her into nothingness. She had no idea what she was supposed to do.
“He has for a while,” Hare said.
“Then why am I still alive?”
“Because I’m here.” He spoke as if it were the only obvious answer. “I’m on your side. None of his people need to know that, it’s between you and me, but as long as you’re with me, they won’t touch you.”
She needed a similar plan to when she was almost abducted after brunch, but to execute it this time. Find a moment when he wasn’t looking, and run. Hare let his guard down around her before; it would happen again. Until then, she’d see how much information he gave her, and assume at least half of it was meant to deceive. “What about at the church? The restaurant? Why was someone sent to kill me?”
“I don’t have that information. I don’t think it was on his command, but we’re each privy only to our own orders. This is a really bad place to be discussing this, by the way.”
“Because the timing is never right to give me answers.” She left the distaste in her words, but did straighten in her seat and paste on a smile for the benefit of any onlookers.
Hare pursed his lips, then pulled her to her feet. Hatter had vanished. Again. Faded into the crowd. She wanted to search every face until she found him. Hare wrapped an arm around her waist, limiting her range of vision, and led her to another room. No one sat on the plush couches or lounges here. She didn’t know if she was relieved at the lack of an audience or concerned that it meant no witnesses.
“I was telling you the truth before—that Wayne wasn’t working alone. That he wanted to make sure you were safe if anything happened to him. Jabberwock wants you alive—I don’t know why—but I’m also here because of Wayne. It took years to entrench myself in this organization and work my way to the top. Please don’t blow my cover now.”
She shook her head and gave a short laugh. “You’re making it hard to believe anything you say. If that’s true, why did he approach me the night Wayne died? Was that on orders from Jabberwock as well?”
“You know him.” Hare’s cool mask slipped, and he raised his brows. His pleasant, neutral expression slipped back in again so quickly, she wondered if she imagined the change.
“He approached me,” she repeated. Deceived her. Used her. For all she knew, got off on hunting her. Fuck. Hare could be doing the same thing. Probably was.
“I can’t say why.” Was that a waver in his voice? No. “We all operate on a need-to-know basis, and I’m not how that applies to him unless it impacts me. It was a mistake to bring you here.”
“Then why did you...? Holy shit. You’re the one who’s supposed to be meeting with the business contact.”
“We both are. But I didn’t realize you’d met Hatter. That changes everything.”
“Does it? You were going to have to tell me anyway, if you were going to connect with this other person. Why am I here in the first place?” And how quickly could she leave? Would he let her walk away now? The man at the restaurant said safety was more important than keeping her alive. She should assume that about everyone.
Hare rested a palm on her cheek and forced her to look at him.
Ice crawled down her skin, raising goosebumps in its wake, and she resisted the desire to jerk away from his touch.
“I told you when we first met I have to be able to trust you as well. This isn’t the kind of information I can give to just anyone, if I want to keep my position and stay alive.”
It made a kind of sense, but that didn’t mean it was true. “Why have you worked so hard to find your way in?” Would she be able to spot another lie if he gave her one?
“Same reason you have.” Hare gave her a tired smile. “To find out what happened to Alex. Can we leave now?”
She didn’t want to go anywhere with him, but at the same time, running without a plan felt stupid. She nodded and let him lead her back to the valet podium. Questions surged in her head as she waited for the car to be brought around. Which could she ask and get an honest answer?
“Why bring me, if you’re going to leave without completing the job?” she asked as they headed away from the country club.
“Hatter can finish things. It was only surveillance. I wanted you to experience the subtlety of the operation and see if you picked up on anything.”
The odd statement was enough to pull her out of her spiraling thoughts. “Like what?”
“If I tell you, then you weren’t the one who picked up on it.”
She clenched her jaw. “That’s some cryptic bullshit. Are you tired of giving me answers? Again?”
“If I tell you my perspective, it taints yours. If you see this through your own eyes, it becomes more real. Less filtered.”
Unfiltered was the opposite of everything that came out of his mouth. “Where are we going?” she asked.
“I told you earlier, I have other work to do. I’m putting you in a new motel for a few days.”
It was too easy. He was going to leave her alone after dropping a bomb like this? She wanted to celebrate. Instead, for appearance’s sake, she pouted and slumped in her seat. “Are you sure it’s safe?”
He glanced at her. “Someone will keep an eye on you, until I can come back.”
“Yay. A new roommate.” Did her sarcasm hide the nauseated hope surging inside? And how did this all fall into place so quickly? Where was that point where he stopped watching her for Wayne and Alex, and started carrying out Jabberwock’s orders?
“No.” Hare smiled. “I’m too selfish for that. He’ll watch from a distance.”
“Good.” She didn’t dare say more, for fear of saying too much.
Fifteen minutes later, Hare pulled into the parking lot of a single-story building with a neon Vacancy sign flashing near the front office. Inside, he headed toward the check-in desk. “Wait here,” he said.
She was tempted to bolt, but if she waited until he left, and made sure she avoided her guard, she’d have a lot more of a lead when someone came looking for her.
A few minutes later, Hare handed her an envelope with a number written on it and a key card inside. “I’ll make sure your room is secure, though it should be. This is a last-minute decision, so it’s not likely to register on someone’s radar.”
That was good, right? If he didn’t plan this, there were no cameras or any way of monitoring her? Assuming he was telling the truth. `It seemed smarter to err on the side of paranoia at this point.
He accompanied her to her room and dropped the duffel bag that contained the clothes he’d bought her after they left the boutique on the bed. He spent longer than she thought possible examining every inch of the place, from the closet to the shower and including the two inches that separated the bed from the floor.
He stood and smoothed out his suit. “It’s clear. Will you be all right here for a couple of days? I’ll leave you with money, and the people watching you will be by your side if you go out for food.”
“I’ll be fine.” She gave him a tight smile. With a little luck, he’d interpret it as stress, rather than her mind tripping over the best escape route.
“Good.” He kissed her on the cheek. “I’ll be back in two days. There’s a burner phone in the bag. Call me if you need me.”
“Thanks.” You can leave now. She kept the mental chant from her expression.
After Hare left, she changed quickly. Part of her cringed at the idea of mistreating the expensive dress and shoes. She hesitated, then bundled them as carefully as possible and set them in the duffel bag.
Dressed in clothes more suitable for moving around, she sank to the edge of the mattress. How long did she need to wait before bolting? Where was her guard located, and was there more than one? If she went for a casual stroll around the property, would she be able to tell?
It seemed like a good place to start. While she was out, she could grab something to snack on from the vending machine she saw down the hall.
She opened the door, and her heart dropped into her shoes when she almost smacked face-first into Hatter. “Are you fucking kidding me?” The question escaped before she could stop it.
“Wherever you think you’re going, don’t.” He nudged her back into her room.
She bit off a laugh before it could slip into maniacal. “At the risk of never climbing out of this hell, what else could go wrong?”
“I’d give you a list, but we don’t have a lot of time.” Hatter hovered near the door, arms crossed, even when she paced to the other side of the room.
“I’m being watched,” she said.
“You are. Two men at each exit, and at least one general on you at all times. Jabberwock ordered me here to check your room, and then leave the rest of his people to nighttime guard duty.”
“Well fan-fucking-tastic.” She pulled the chair out from the desk and sat. “At least I’m safe.” The sarcasm oozing from her voice kept her mind from spiraling into a well of panic and despair.