Crazy Eights (Stacked Deck #8) - Emilia Finn Page 0,43
to her. But she’s smiling, she’s happy. She’s fucking ecstatic.
And, according to Soph’s intel, the majority of her money is coming from the place called Zeus’, which means this stuff at the quasi-studio is a passion project… something she’s doing just for fun.
Which is both beautiful and tragic, considering she’s squatting in someone else’s building.
Hours later, after Will leaves the studio, and Cam leaves out the back for what I assumed was just a moment – a bathroom break, or taking the trash out – but she didn’t come back after twenty minutes, I push away from the wall and fix the umbrella back over my head. I stop by Joe’s cart and buy a stale hotdog, because ‘when in Rome’. I wolf it down and pray it’ll fill my empty stomach, then I grab a to-go coffee from the deli on the corner.
It’s lunchtime, I’m starving, and Cam snuck out the back without saying goodbye.
Of course, saying goodbye would mean I have to show myself in the first place, but still.
I wander along the street and juggle my umbrella and coffee, only for my task to become more complicated when my phone rings, and my shoulder burns when I reach for it.
I hold the umbrella and the coffee in one hand, ignore the fire in my shoulder, and, taking my phone from my pocket, I swipe to accept the call, and bring the device up to my ear. “Soph.”
“It’s loud there. Are you at a waterpark or something?”
“Ha. No. What’s up?”
“A lovely chap by the name of Rupert has a package for you at your hotel. Said package contains everything you’ll need for your little soiree inside Zeus’ nightclub. You’ll get in without any problems. You don’t even have to sign in or speak to anyone. You have a card, so if a doorman wants to step in your way, you just flash the card and keep going.”
“Already?”
I check my watch, spill my coffee, hiss at the ache in my shoulder. I’m a fucking mess, and I’m already wet. So I offer the umbrella to a lady sitting at a bus stop, exposed to the rain, and continue walking when she startles and grabs it out of instinct.
“It’s only been a couple hours,” I say skeptically.
“Like I said,” she murmurs. “Magic. There are no secret passwords or bro-town handshakes.”
“Bro-town?”
“You know exactly what I’m saying. There’s no initiation or test to get in once you have that card. So walk on in and act like you belong there.”
“And if someone questions me?”
She huffs. “Show them the card! I literally just said that. The file is watertight, the card is legit, the membership is real. I also included a driver’s license under your fake name, so plop that into your wallet and take yours out and leave it at the hotel or something.”
“Okay… What’s my new name?”
“Spencer Serrano.” I can hear the smile in her voice.
“Wait. What?”
“He seems the type to have a membership at a titty bar, right?” She laughs. “Stand as tall as you can while in there. The rest will take care of itself. And if you do anything illegal and become the reason warrants are put out for Spence’s arrest, he said he’s gonna come looking for you, then he’s gonna stuff you with a skunk and make your mother smell your breath.”
“He said that?” I scrunch my nose and slow my walk as I approach the triple lock apartment. “That’s not a pleasant threat.”
“So don’t screw it up. Spencer knows things, and he’s not afraid of prison time.”
“Lies. His sweet wife will fuck him up if he’s sent away.”
She laughs. “Exactly. Which is all the more reason for him to take care of your body and dispose of you in such a way that you’ll never be found. Don’t screw it up. Ask at the hotel for your package. I told them you would sign for it, and they’re not to hand it to anyone except you. The lovely man told me you and he have already met, and assures me he will personally place the envelope in your palm.”
“Thanks.”
I stop walking when Cam’s front door opens, and back up until I slam against the concrete wall of the apartment three doors before theirs.
“He also told me to tell you to be careful,” she continues despite my half-attention. “He knows a guy with trouble in his eyes, and he knows you’re looking to get bruised up.”