Out of the Past: A Reed Ferguson Mystery Part 6

Yeah, right.

"Come on." Stephanie got up, grabbed a couple of gla.s.ses and a bottle of vodka from a cupboard and traipsed out of the kitchen, Brittany at her heels.

I sat for a minute, finis.h.i.+ng my dinner and enjoying the silence, wondering how long it would last.

A little before eleven I knocked on the bedroom door and announced that I was going to bed.

"There are clean sheets on the bed," Stephanie hollered, the first charitable thing to come out of her mouth.

"Thanks."

I went into the spare bedroom, pulled a blanket off the bed and came back into the hallway, closing the door behind me. I tiptoed back to the living room and laid down on the couch. Even though a real bed was tempting, I didn't trust the vodka vixens. And it turned out my suspicions were justified within minutes.

I don't know how they expected to fool me, as I could hear them whispering loudly as they came out of Stephanie's room.

"His door's closed," Brittany whispered.

"Sh."

I stood up and crept toward the entryway.

"Are you sure you want to go out?" Brittany asked quietly.

"Not go out on a Sat.u.r.day night? Are you crazy?" Stephanie murmured.

"Okay, but if he's after us, maybe we should have the bodyguard go with us."

"We don't know if it's true," Stephanie said. "And do you really want Reed hanging with us all night?"

They appeared through the shadows. Stephanie was now dressed similarly to Brittany, same skirt and s.h.i.+rt, varying her makeup and jewelry. They both wore leather coats and held high heels in their hands. In the dimness, they could've been twins. As Stephanie grabbed the doork.n.o.b, I spoke.

"Where are we going?"

They both shrieked, heels flying, hands waving around. I flicked on the lights.

"You scared us to death!" Stephanie screeched. She picked up a heel and threw it at me.

"You shouldn't have tried to sneak out," I said as I ducked.

"You're ruining my life!" she whined.

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "Hardly."

Brittany a.s.sessed me, her arms crossed. Then she giggled. "He's smarter than you said."

I gave a slight bow, and she giggled again.

"Now what do we do?" Stephanie asked.

"I guess he'll have to come with us," Brittany said. "We'll pretend he's your older cousin."

They stared at me as if a.s.sessing whether this story could ring true.

"A much older cousin," Stephanie finally said.

"I wish he wasn't dressed like a hobo." Brittany sighed. "But he'll do."

"This isn't a good idea," I said. They both appeared tipsy, and who knows what drugs they might've done.

"Why not?" Brittany asked.

I looked at Stephanie. "Didn't you tell her about the car following us?"

"She did," Brittany said. "And we've got it figured out. We'll be in public the whole time. We won't even go to the bathroom alone."

I smiled. "Won't that be awkward with me there?"

"What?" they both chirped.

"If you insist on going out, I'm going with you. Everywhere."

Brittany snickered.

Stephanie's eyes narrowed. "Oh, I hate my father," she said as she huffed past me to retrieve her heels. Then she gestured at me. "Well, come on, then."

I hadn't been clubbing in years. And after this night, I never wanted to go again.

CHAPTER TEN.

"Give me your car keys," I said a bit later as we got off the elevator in the underground garage.

"Not on your life," Stephanie said.

I stepped in front of her and did a quick one-eighty, and she plowed right into me.

"What is your problem?" she hissed.

"Did you forget that someone followed us earlier?" I asked.

"Duh." She put her hands on her hips.

"So I need to drive, in case we're followed again." She wouldn't know how to elude anyone, and I also wasn't about to get into a car that she was driving, given her 'altered' state.

We locked eyes. I gave her a look that dared her to try me.

"Fine," she finally said, shoving the keys at me.

I took the keys and we got into the BMW. I was on high alert as we exited the garage. I edged the car onto the street, looking both ways for anything suspicious. I spied Brittany behind us, tagging along in her Mercedes.

"Where to?" I asked. "Club Vinyl?"

"Ew," Stephanie. "The same club two nights in a row? I don't think so."

"How about The Church?" I mentioned an old Gothic-style church on Lincoln Street that had been turned into a nightclub. "I used to go there some because they played a lot of alternative music. Do you know it?"

"Everyone knows The Church, and yes, they play alternative, but not on Sat.u.r.day nights."

"What do they play now?"

"Latin," she said sourly. "So we're going to Milk. It's on Broadway, near Club Vinyl, so it should be easy for you to find."

"You're good. You're very good," I said, trying to sound like Bogie. It was a quote from The Maltese Falcon, but it was completely wasted on her.

I drove slowly down the block, my eyes constantly darting to the mirrors.

"See anyone?" Stephanie's tone dripped with sarcasm, but she'd also been watching.

"No, did you?"

She shook her head. She pulled out her phone and began texting.

"Mind if we have some music?" I asked.

She barely nodded, too focused on her phone. I turned on the radio and tuned in an 80's station. The Psychedelic Furs started playing.

Her thumbs stopped moving and she turned toward me. "You like this?"

"Yeah. "All That Money Wants" is a cla.s.sic. I just said that I love alternative." I talked, but she obviously didn't listen.

"Then you'll love Milk. It's Goth and they play 80's-90's alternative." She went back to texting, signaling the conversation was over.

I stayed vigilant but didn't see anyone tailing us, other than Brittany. But they were out there, I was certain. We drove through downtown and I soon parked in a lot across the street from Milk. Brittany pulled into a place nearby and we walked to the club. It was similar to Club Vinyl, in that it had multiple rooms and played the same house music, but Milk was a 21 and over crowd, so I didn't stick out...at least not quite as much. Once inside, they made a beeline to the bar and ordered apple martinis for themselves and water for me, and we went to a side room. They finished off the martinis and Brittany sauntered back to the bar for more.

"You might want to slow down," I said as I looked at the crowd. It was definitely Goth, most people in dark clothes and makeup, lots of spiked and colored hair, and plenty of tattoos and body piercings.

Stephanie c.o.c.ked her head. "Really, try not to act like an old fart."

"I'm trying to protect you."

"I can be drunk while you do it."

" 'The whole world is about three drinks behind'," I said.

"Huh?"

"It's a quote from Humphrey Bogart."

"Wasn't he that old actor?"

"Yeah, he "

She ignored me as Brittany returned, but my eyes were not on her. Near the door, a tall man in jeans and a black s.h.i.+rt seemed to be eyeing us. He was about Stephanie's age, with an athletic build, dark hair cropped short and long sideburns. As we sat and drank, the girls with more martinis, I with my water, the guy continued to look watch us. Was he noticing two hot girls, and was I being paranoid again? But this was what I was being paid for. A moment later, he was joined by another guy who brought him a beer, and after a few minutes they moved on.

"Let's check out the Green Room," Stephanie said. Her words were slightly slurred.

"Yeah." Brittany nodded.

So we went to the Green Room, but didn't stay long as it was so boring Brittany's words. We ended up back in the main room, standing near the dance floor.

"What's with the checkered decorating?" I asked, looking around at the walls.

"It's the Clockwork Orange room," Brittany said. "From the movie."

I nodded, not particularly inspired by the vibe, but enjoying the music.

"I really want to dance, but it's going to be hard with him here," Stephanie said over the sound of Nine Inch Nails.

Brittany slammed down her drink. "Darling, who cares," she said as she grabbed my arm.

"Oops, wait," I hesitated, then reached out for Stephanie. "We're all in this together, remember?"

Stephanie drained her gla.s.s and came with us. Out on the dance floor they moved with the beat. I consider myself a decent dancer. Soon they started playing with me, their moves teasingly seductive.

"How about toning it down?" I said after a minute.

"Am I embarra.s.sing you?" Stephanie said.

"Yes."

"It's part of the job," she sneered.

"Uh huh."

As I danced, I noticed Sideburns near the wall, watching us. I looked around to see if his buddy was nearby. Nope. If Sideburns was interested in them, why not talk to them? Did he think they really were with me? I guess anything is possible...but I didn't like it.

"I think we should go now," I said.

"Why?" Brittany asked, pouting.

"Don't both look at once, but see that guy in the jeans and black s.h.i.+rt? With the sideburns?" I nodded behind them. "You recognize him?"