EIGHTEEN

The music at Club Momo was loud and had a strong beat. It got in under the skin and into the blood. I felt myself merging with the tide of dancers.

I was thoroughly melted into my character. Stacey Malone, Rock Star of Clubbers. Jacque had outdone himself with the Clubber outfit. The sequined tank top hit just above my navel–complete with fake navel ring. My hair was hot pink and swung above my shoulders. Jeans, just a bit tight, hung low on my hips.

I scanned the crowd for Cora and John the Gorgeous Pirate. Lights flashed and all of the faces took on the same character–individual features blurred and I strained my eyes to pick them out.

Soon, I had a friend dancing close. Cute enough guy, I guess, if you were into guys who wore shiny pants and tight shirts. And who danced just a bit too close. Soon, I couldn’t see anything but this guys Adam’s apple. How does Stacey Malone handle this sort of thing, as it must happen to her all of the time? It did not happen to me all of the time.

Then I felt someone dancing close behind me and just as I was about to suffocate Mr. Shiny Pants was gone.

I turned. Jaisen, dressed in his own Clubber outfit, complete with spiked hair and an earring was dancing behind me.

“I was doing fine,” I said, continuing to dance, as Jaisen leaned in close to hear me.

“I know,” Jaisen said, his face inches from mine. “I was just checking in. Have you seen them?”

I shook my head. “I’ll try posting myself near the bathrooms,” I said, “I can’t imagine that she could stay away from the mirror for too long.”

Jaisen smiled and shook his head.

I left, dancing my way through the crowd, until I was posted near the bathrooms. Before too long I caught a glimpse of Cora headed towards me. I let her pass and then followed her in.

Cora stood in front of the mirror touching up her lipstick. The bathroom was crowded with bodies.

“Hey,” I said, standing right next to her.

She ignored me.

I poked her.

“Do you need something?” She said in an imperious voice without looking to see who it was. “I believe I’m using this mirror right now.”

“It’s me.”

Cora caught my eye in the mirror and her eyes floated right up to my bubble gum pink hair. She smirked.

“What do you want?”

“We need to get out of here. What are you doing anyway?”

“Like it wouldn’t have been suspicious to flirt with the guy and not take him up on his offer to get me out of that crap hole?”

“Fine, but it’s time to go now. Unless, you want to help out.” I looked around but it didn’t appear like anyone was listening to me.

“What?” Cora said, putting the cap back on her lipstick and throwing it into her purse.

I lowered my voice. “Ask him about Ja Wong.”

“No,” Cora said.

“What do you mean no? You don’t want to help out?”

“I’m just supposed to go up to him and ask him about some guy named Ja Wong? I can’t do that.”

“Fine. I’ll do it then,” I said.

“How are you going to do it?” Cora asked suspiciously.

“I’ll figure something out. Why don’t you go say you found one of your friends here, a friend who you are going home with, and you would like him to meet,” I said.

“OK,” she headed out.

“Wait, I’m going with you,” I said.

“I need to talk to him alone first. Then we’ll come find you.”

“Fine,” I said. I followed Cora out and took my post near the bathroom door.

I stood fuming by the door. This would be so much easier if Cora did it. She could say she saw Ja Wong at the pub or something. I, on the other hand, as Stacey Malone, had not been to the Crow’s Nest and it would be way harder for me to bring it up. Maybe if Jaisen hadn’t insisted we change into clubber outfits even, it would have been OK. Well, maybe not OK, it would have been weird and suspicious to see the same Chinese kid in two different places. But at least I would have been able to bring it up again. I imagined a spy report card saying, “needs to learn how to work with others.” Right now I was missing the old days of solo missions.

Finally, Cora came back, slinking along beside John, his dreadlocks tied back from his face.

“This is my friend, she’s going to drive me home,” Cora, whose alias I realized I didn’t know, said gesturing to me.

“Stacy Malone,” I said, in my Stacy Malone voice, just a drop lower than my own, but still in the feminine ranges.

John reached out and shook my hand. For the second time that night. Before the warm rings on his fingers sent me melting to the floor, I reminded myself he was too old for me, I had a date the following night with my dream man Alex, and I was here on business.

“John,” he said, introducing himself. “Pleasure. I need to be heading home too.”

“Do you live around here?” I asked.

“A bit to the west.”

“I used to date a guy who lived over there,” I said, with what I hoped was Stacy Malone Not a Care in the World Enthusiasm.

“Oh?” He said, his attention seemed to be waning, but he smiled politely.

“Yes, he was so cool. But way too caught up in his work. He worked for some guy named Ja Wong.”

A bit of recognition fluttered in John’s eyes. Cora was still snuggled into his arm and I was impressed she was able to keep her presence to a minimum.

“I know that guy. What did your friend do?”

“I don’t know. He never said. But he had to work all of the time.” I stretched out the all and rolled my eyes for effect.

John didn’t say anything.

“So you know Ja Wong? Do you know what he does?” I asked, all innocence, like it was just a matter of curiosity.

“He’s a businessman, half here, half in China. Owns a few restaurants and things. His books are a mess. I’m always hearing he has all of these guys working for him, outside of his restaurants, but there’s no record he pays them. It’s like they are a part of the Triad.” John shrugged.

“The Triad?” I asked.

“The Chinese mafia. Look I don’t mean to bore you ladies with these business details.”

Cora, or whoever she was this evening, giggled and John turned to her, pulling her in close.

“Have you ever sailed before? I do some crew w—”

I cut him off, not about to hear about his damn crew work on sailing vessels yet again.

“That’s so cool. Maybe we can go out with you sometime?” I said. “Business is boring. You seem to know so much about it though. How did you find out about Ja Wong’s business stuff?” I had plastered a Stacy Malone smile full of hijinks and fun, but inside my mind was going a mile a minute. But I couldn’t keep that smile plastered on my face for long, because the next words out of John the Gorgeous Pirate’s mouth were the last I ever expected to hear.

“Because I’m his accountant.”

I was floored. I couldn’t believe this. John the Gorgeous Pirate was an accountant. Was that what he was going to warn me about earlier? That Ja Wong might not pay me?

Disappointment filled me. The whole night we’d only gotten a couple lousy pieces of the puzzle. Ja Wong maybe had something to do with ONC Corp., the Triad, and someone named the Translator, who could be anyone really, from Veronica Sabre to Franklin Culpepper himself, who was in charge of whatever was going on with ONC Corp. Franklin Culpepper we didn’t know anything more about. We didn’t know how he was involved or where in the hell he was. As a matter of fact, we didn’t know much at all. Only one thing was certain—John the Gorgeous Pirate was not the sea faring rebel he came off as. He was an accountant.