"Wouldn't do business with him if I didn't."
He took a shot and made it, and I missed three in a row.
"By the way," I said, "which place are you staying at? Speaking of my dad, he wants to see if he can comp your room, or maybe get you an upgrade or something."
Joshua gave me a look. "I'm just staying at this cheap little motel."
"Really?"
"Sure. I like it there. Nobody bothers me."
"Good. What's it called?"
"Don't worry, Claire. I can afford my own room."
I wanted to press, but he had made it clear that he didn't want to keep talking about where he was staying. "I get that. Staying with my parents can be frustrating. How old are you, anyway?"
"I'm thirty-two. You?"
"Twenty-three," I lied, wanting to sound older.
"Look at us. Opposites."
I snorted. "Yeah, exactly."
My heart was racing in my chest as I threw a few more shots, missing them all. We began to chat about our families, and I focused on keeping him talking. I asked about what it was like growing up in the area, what his parents were like, but I was distracted.
I was worried I had given myself up, or at least that my questioning was a little too obvious. We were chatting amiably enough, but I felt a little wedge suddenly between us, like asking about his hotel had been a huge mistake. As time went by, I began to worry that I was never going to have another chance.
"Okay," he said finally, "I'm sick of missing. Up for one last stop?"
"Always," I said, giving him my best smile.
I caught him glance down at my breasts, and I subtly moved my chest out, giving him a better view. Maybe hope wasn't lost after all.
"This way." He walked off.
"Where are we headed?"
"You'll see."
He wound his way through the crowd and eventually stopped in front of a large entrance with "Fun House" written in paint above it. I'd never actually been in a carnival fun house before, and I'd always assumed they were basically like haunted houses but with more mirrors.
"Can't leave without going through here," he said.
"It's not scary, right?"
He gave me a look. "Have you ever been in one of these before?"
"No. Just haunted houses."
"You're in for a treat then. Come on." He tossed the bear down on the ground and reached out his hand. I hesitated and then took it, following his lead.
As we went into the dark entrance, the only reason I kept walking forward at all was the thought that Nathan was somewhere behind us, watching carefully, keeping me safe.
The first thing we came to was a slide. Joshua let go of my hand and hopped on, disappearing from view. Tentatively, I got on behind him and began to slip down.
It dropped a lot farther than I would have guessed. As soon as I was ready to start yelling for help, I came out into a pit full of plastic balls.
Joshua laughed at my very ungraceful landing. I was pretty sure he saw my panties, too, considering my dress blew up around my hips. Embarrassed, I adjusted myself and stood up.
"Warn a girl next time," I muttered.
"Why? And miss the show?"
I blushed. "Pretend you didn't see that."
"Nope."
"Anyway, what's next? Snakes?"
"Come on."
I followed him down a narrow hall full of silly paintings and bright colors. I had no clue where we were, but I figured we were pretty far beneath the pier. There were big spinning wheels in the next room and barrels along the ground. Joshua went first, running across the barrels and barely making it across.
I did not fare so well. I fell on the second barrel onto a soft, padded floor. He laughed as I trudged across.
If he was trying to get into my pants, humiliating me was not the way to go.
"Great job," he said, grinning. "You almost made it."
"This is the least fun I've ever had."
"Oh come on, lighten up. Last bit up ahead."
I nodded, thankful that it was a short trip. We entered the next room and I paused. It was full of mirrors, each one distorting and odd.
"Come on," he said, and walked ahead.
"Wait up," I called out.
He turned a corner. When I followed, he was gone. My own image was reflected everywhere, distorted and strange in some places, normal in others.
"Joshua?" I called out. "Joshua!"
There was no answer as I walked through the room. My heart was hammering as I moved slowly, taking the twists and the turns. The only thing I saw was my own reflection, spread out in the half dark. I felt lost and disoriented, and I had no clue where I was or where Joshua had gone.
"You shouldn't have come here," a voice said suddenly.
The voice was loud, too loud. I covered my ears as it echoed in the mirrored space.
"What? Joshua?"
"You made a mistake, and you will pay for it."
Terrified, I began to backtrack. I stumbled into a few mirrors, desperately trying to get out. I already planned on climbing back up the slide, maybe screaming for Nathan. He had to be nearby, had to be ready to come get me.
I was so angry I could barely think. Joshua knew. Joshua knew what I was doing, and he had brought me into a trap. My own grotesque, distorted body and face came back at me, reflected over and over as I moved, my head spinning, terror gripping my chest.
There were too many twists and turns, each one full of my own image. It looked as if I were laughing at myself, mocking my own fear and rage.
I turned a corner. There was another image reflected in front of me: a large man wearing a black ski mask. His clothes were dark and rumpled, a T-shirt and jeans.
I opened my mouth to scream, but the man's reflection reached out and grabbed me.
The next thing I knew, there was darkness.
18
NATHAN
It was hard watching that asshole flirt with her.
At first, when the whole thing started, I thought it was going to be no problem. Besides, Claire wasn't exactly the best at flirting, which was actually something that I loved about her. But as soon she tried to turn it on with that scumbag, it instantly made me jealous. My blood boiled, and all I wanted to do was break his jaw into a thousand pieces.
Which was stupid, because I knew she was only flirting on my orders. It was all part of the operation, all part of my plan. Still, it made my rage come up to the surface.
I kept my distance from them. As far as I could tell, Joshua didn't have anyone tailing them, although it was hard to tell in the mass of people. He clearly had sway with the carnival people, considering the way they deferred to him, but that wasn't unusual with prominent local people like him. I was being cautious anyway, keeping my distance, watching but staying focused.
Or at least as focused as I could be. I had to keep bringing myself back into my Zen battle mode, clearing my thoughts and breathing deeply until I could see the world more clearly. The anger threatened to overwhelm everything.
Otherwise, the operation was straightforward. I wasn't a spy or anything like that, but I had training in stealth and follow skills, and I put all that training to good use.
And Claire actually seemed like she was doing a good job. They were talking and laughing like they were having a good time. She had looked nervous as hell at first, and for a few brief moments here and there, but for the most part she was absolutely flawless.
People's heads turned when she walked by. She was overdressed for the carnival by far, though that was on purpose. I had to admit that I was a little proud of her incredible, sexy body, and I couldn't wait to get her back home and unpeel that dress from her. It looked like that was going to happen sooner than I expected.
Until suddenly they entered the fun house.
I cursed, moving to follow, but stopped short. I couldn't get in there without being spotted, and if Joshua had backup, I'd definitely be giving myself up.
Cursing my stupid luck, I quickly went around the building, looking for the exit. I found it soon enough, down some stairs and built into the bottom of the pier. I perched against a stoop far off but still close enough to make people out and waited.
For ten minutes, I waited patiently. When they didn't emerge, a stone sank into my gut.
Something had gone wrong. Every instinct I had was screaming it loud and clear.
I tipped my hat low over my face, took out my phone, and opened up my maps app. It loaded after a second and showed my position as a blue dot, another red dot moving away down a nearby street.
I didn't think, I just began running. All protocol was forgotten as I broke my cover and booked it toward that red dot. All I could think about was Claire. I careened around a corner, narrowly avoiding running directly into a family of four, and spotted a dark van making a right into traffic. I checked my app and knew it instantly: she was inside that van.
Stupid, dumb fucking mistake to let her get involved. I hated myself, anger overwhelming any semblance of calm as I ran back toward the car. I couldn't hold it back anymore as the anger flowed through me. I was thankful that I had planted a tracking device on her earlier when we had hugged, since I knew she probably would have said no, and that her father had given me the cash to buy some extra spy shit.