by TR Cameron
He frowned back at her. “I can do that, sure. There’s nothing here to suggest they’ve communicated in any way other than through the app.”
“Perfect.”
He turned in his chair to look at her. “You’re not thinking what I think you’re thinking, are you?”
She nodded. “Yeah, I probably am. I need to see Margrave and get some tools but after that? I have a date with a scumbag.”
Chapter Eighteen
After a visit to Margrave to pick up the tech she needed, Ruby swung by Daphne’s room, then returned to hers to dig into a trunk full of clothes she hadn’t found occasion to unpack since her return to Ely. She pulled out what she thought of as her date outfit, a decidedly slinky dress and the underthings to go with it, and hung them to let the wrinkles stretch out. I need to learn an ironing spell. Maybe something that mixes fire and water. Probably not the moment to experiment. She rooted inside again and retrieved the pair of matching heels, eyeing them with a grimace. She wasn’t good at the high-heeled shoes, had never developed the knack. Thankfully, the illusion should keep his eyes off my feet. She snorted inwardly and checked the clock. Too much time to simply hang around waiting, but not enough for a nap.
She crossed to her bed and sat cross-legged upon it, bumping Idryll out of the way. The reclining shapeshifter, who had been leafing through a magazine while Ruby searched her storage, asked, “Are you planning to do something else stupid today?”
“You mean besides going on the date?”
“Of course that’s what I mean. You’re not a secret agent, you know.”
Ruby chuckled. “No, but I am pretty good at illusion. I’ll make sure he has enough to look at that he doesn’t notice anything else.”
Idryll snorted as she turned a page. “Males.”
“Right? Now, shut up.” She closed her eyes and focused, then released her hold on her magic. The way her instructor at the university had described the spell while teaching it to the magicals she shared the class with, was letting the magic catch the breeze and spread. It was a metaphor that worked for her, and her power floated outward. Allowing it to expand on its own was more time-intensive than pushing it to do her bidding would’ve been, but it was also less draining. I’m going to require all the power I can keep for tonight. But I do need to check this.
Wherever her power touched on a stolen gem from the casino, she noticed it. She got a sense of where they were, could probably find her way to them if she needed to. What she hoped for was to discover a bunch clustered in one place, possibly a gang’s headquarters, or maybe even a fence they’d been sold to. So far, they were separate. She let the power go and flopped backward on the bed with a sigh. “Do you know how long it’s been since I was on a real date?”
Idryll rolled her eyes. “Never?”
Ruby slapped her. “Don’t be rude. But a while.”
“Maybe Demetrius will ask you out.”
“Yeah, I guess a girl can dream.” She sat up and decided to keep moving to her feet. “I need to get ready.”
First was a shower, followed by putting on her battledress. It was all deep red, a scarlet that amplified the contrasting lightness of her hair. Fortunately, Terri, the woman that she was impersonating, had hair almost the same shade as hers, so adjusting it to match wouldn’t be difficult. She sat in front of her makeup drawer and called up a phone picture Demetrius had pulled from the dating site. Idryll asked, “Why do you bother?”
Ruby shrugged. “This is how I learned to do it. I guess the closer you are to reality, the easier it is to maintain the illusion. Plus, if he touches me, it’s a lot less challenging to fool him if the dress feels like a dress, rather than having to fake it if I’m in a T-shirt.”
“Do you need all that makeup?”
Ruby laughed. “Apparently, Terri believes she does. Frankly, I think she would be prettier without so much. Again, I need to get it as close as I can so there’s less chance of screwing up.”
She saw the shapeshifter’s reflection in her mirror as the other woman stood and crossed the room to watch her. Her partner said, “I have to say, you look better in less makeup, too.”
“Aw, thanks. You’re sweet.”
Idryll grinned. “Not good, though, but better.”
Ruby turned and whipped her eyebrow pencil at her life-partner in a single motion. Idryll dove back on the bed to avoid it, laughing. Ruby put the finishing touches on her outfit, adding a black patent leather clutch purse into which her tools for the evening went, then headed for the door. “Don’t wait up. I’m sure this is going to be the most awesome date ‘Terri’ has ever had.”
Jared Trenton sat in the trendy restaurant attached to the Kraken casino and smiled inwardly at the irony. It had been during the head chef’s debut that they’d made the play to kidnap the owners’ kid. Of course, no one here knows that. Like the rest of the casino, the eatery was supposed to look as if it was underwater. The back of the bar was a surprisingly engaging display screen showing ocean images as seen from below the surface.
He sipped his drink in anticipation, trying to push away all of his every day worries. It seemed as if lately, dates were the only thing that gave him any pleasure at all. Well, and what usually came after them. This woman today, Terri, is hot with a capital H. He’d already finished one tumbler of whiskey and signaled for another.
A tap on his shoulder and a questioning, “Jared?” announced the arrival of his date. He swiveled his chair to look at her. She was tall, blonde–appropriate for a model–and impressively curvy. The red dress and heels were perfect, the former clinging to her as if afraid to fall off, the latter high enough to be a deliberate enticement to his attention.
He grinned. “You must be Terri.”
They laughed together and shook hands as she slipped into the seat next to him. She said, “Thanks for the invitation. I’ve never been here before.”
He nodded and waved at the bartender. “What’ll you have?”
She looked down at his glass, considered for a moment, then replied, “Vodka, soda, ice, please. Oh, with a lime.”
It seemed like something a model would drink. In his experience, and he had dated several, they tended to be concerned about every calorie. I suppose I would be too if that’s how I made my money. “Thank you for accepting the invitation. I know it came pretty quick since we haven’t been talking that long.”
She laughed. “We haven’t been chatting online long, you mean. I don’t know. It seemed like we hit it off fast.”
Jared was almost as good at charming women virtually as he was in person. “I’m glad you had the night free.”
She gave a small sigh accompanied by a pretty pout on her red lips. “Yeah, the whole high-roller hostess thing isn’t nearly as much fun since people have been breaking into the casinos and stuff. Before, it was fluttering my eyelashes and laughing at their jokes. Now I feel like I’m taking my life into my hands by stepping into the building.”
He looked away as the bartender arrived, not really wanting to talk about things that bordered on his work. When they were alone again, he suggested, “Ready to take a seat and have some food?” She nodded, and he signaled the host. She surprised him once more by having more than a salad, ordering a seafood pasta dish that he’d have to convince her to share a bite of. He asked, “What about your other job?”
Terri shrugged. “Modeling is intermittent at the moment. I guess that’s the right word. I get called down to Vegas once or twice a month, Reno about the same. It’s not enough to let me live in either of those places, so here I am. I’m working on finding a local photographer who’s willing to go into a business partnership with me. You don’t know anyone, do you?” Her tone was hopeful.
Jared shook his head. “With beauty like yours, I’m sure you’ll wind up on top in no time.”
She laughed, whether from humility or at his entendre, and they spent a pleasant meal chatting. She had a lot of questions, and he deflected most of them and made up answers to
the others. It’s not like we’re going to get married or anything. She’ll never find out the truth. He asked some of his own, and her replies convinced him she was bright but not overly so and had spent a good amount of time partying in her younger years. All of that added up to pretty solid odds for a post-dinner trip back to his apartment. She agreed to his suggestion about sharing dessert, then mentioned something about powdering her nose and headed toward the restrooms.
Ruby stared at her reflection in the mirror. Well, more accurately, Terri’s reflection. The illusion she’d conjured for the date was definitely on the voluptuous side, and it felt very odd seeing the model staring back at her. Despite spending the evening trying to come up with a way to plant one of Margrave’s bugs on Trenton, she hadn’t hit upon a single useful option. Her first hope had been to put it on his phone, but the device had yet to make an appearance. Dating in the twenty-first century and not having one’s phone out? Insanity. She’d even prompted him to show her some pictures, but he demurred, offering only, “Later.”
Ruby had been on enough dates to know what that comment entailed. She’d hoped to end the evening after dinner but wasn’t about to abandon the effort because things didn’t go perfectly, not after the time she’d already spent in his oily presence. Besides, a gift from Daphne that would help with that situation was tucked carefully into her purse. After reassuring herself it was still there, she touched up her lipstick, patted her hair, and headed back out to deal with the Aces Security owner.
Sliding into her seat, she said, “Hope you were lonely.”
He chuckled. “It felt like an eternity.”
“Well, that’s a positive sign, I’d say.” Dessert arrived, and they shared a slice of cheesecake covered in fresh strawberries and raspberries. She ate less than she wanted in order not to give away her disguise. Ruby-not-Terri would’ve fought for every last bite. It was that good.
They wandered outside, and he dashed her next hope as he summoned a car with his phone rather than taking her to his vehicle. Dammit, I need an opening here. Getting a bug into his car would’ve been really useful. She kept him at arm’s length in the car, despite his clear desire to start making out with her, teasing him over his advances. He managed to keep his disappointment off his face, except for one nasty glance that he didn’t quite cover in time. She leaned against him in the elevator to make up for it since another couple was in there with them.
When they entered his apartment, he pushed her up against the wall and kissed her, and she let it happen for a moment before disengaging. She gave him her best flirty smile and murmured, “I need a drink. Where can I find one?” He pointed at a bar cart and disappeared into the back of the flat, giving her time to make two drinks and spike both with the vial she’d gotten from her witchy roommate, covering the action with a very precise veil. She’d drunk a counteragent before arriving so the magical drug wouldn’t affect her.
He was waiting for her in the bedroom, clearly having figured he would seduce her when she came to find him. She held out both glasses. “Take one and drink up. You’re going to need your strength.” She sipped hers and bent to slip off her heels.
Trenton said, “No, those stay on.”
She straightened slowly, giving him a good look at her disguise, and lifted the glass. “To what’s to come.” He nodded, and they drank the glasses empty together. She snagged the tumbler out of his hand as he started to sway, then he fell back on the mattress, unconscious.
Ruby sighed in relief. Daphne had told her the drug would act quickly, and he would have an amazingly realistic memory of whatever false remembrance she chose to implant. Bending over, she whispered a story of a wild night full of acrobatic lovemaking, including a few things she’d only read about and couldn’t picture how they’d work in real life. At the end, she explained that he was completely satisfied and never needed to see Terri again.
She straightened and looked around the room with a critical eye. Sorry he’s going to ghost you, actual Terri. But I think I saved you from a bad match. She checked out his walk-in closet, but he had such an array of clothes and accessories that she couldn’t reliably bug something he’d need every day. She found his phone and examined it closely, cursing at the discovery that he didn’t use a case. Even though the magical eavesdropping objects were thin, he would likely feel it. Damn it to hell.
She hid listening devices in several areas in his apartment while she thought about what he might routinely use but not touch carefully enough to detect the bug. She finally decided on shoes. Ruby selected the ones he was wearing, plus a couple of pairs that looked slightly more scuffed than the rest in his closet, and pressed the transparent circular discs onto the front portion of the raised heel.
Her hand was on the handle of the exit when she realized she was making a huge mistake. With a groan, she headed back to the bedroom. First, she smeared some lipstick on the pillows and rumpled the covers, throwing some off the bed. Then, reluctantly, she peeled him out of his clothes, careful not to look out of a sense of revulsion rather than a desire to preserve his modesty. Once he was naked, she fled the scene. Okay, I’m definitely not cut out to be a spy.
Chapter Nineteen
Ruby had showered upon arriving home, fallen into bed for a good night’s sleep, then showered again when she woke up. The man’s aura seemed to cling to her. It wasn’t comfortable, to say the least. Still, the situation hadn’t pushed her further than she’d been willing to go, and some sacrifices were worth making. As long as I can wash his grossness away at some point, that is, and maybe find some eye cleaner to get the image of his nakedness out of them forever.
She had modified a small, old-school transistor radio and cassette player to pick up the feed from the bugs she left behind. Margrave had helped, but it was mainly her work, and she was proud of the finished product. While working on it, an idea had popped into her head for a gadget that would allow paired units to talk over a long distance, acting as both microphone and speaker. When she’d mentioned it, Morrigan had replied dryly, “Congratulations. You’ve invented the cell phone. Or, maybe the walkie-talkie.”
Ruby had countered, “Shut it,” they’d traded a few insults, then grabbed some food. Finally, they portaled out to the casino, went to Morrigan's much fancier office, and summoned another portal to bring Idryll to them. While Ruby was fairly sure that the magic in the gadget would outweigh the technology in it and allow the receiver to function in the kemana, she wasn’t positive. She didn’t feel like this was the right moment to experiment.
Morrigan got them all bottles of water as Ruby set up the device and powered it on. They sat in a circle around it, her sister behind her desk and her and Idryll in the visitors’ chairs across it, waiting for a sign that the listening devices were working.
It came almost immediately, the sound of a car door slamming and a man muttering. Ruby pressed record on the cassette portion, and Morrigan observed, “If that’s the best reception you’re going to get, I’d say the only thing you got out of that experience was a good meal.”
She scowled at her sister. “Give it a minute. It takes a little time to achieve alignment.”
Idryll asked, “Did you enjoy your date?” The tiger-woman had been teasing her about it since the moment she’d returned.
“Will you stop? I did not. He’s a scumbag. While I’ve dated scumbags in the past, they were all much more worthy of my attention than that guy.” She snorted. “Truth be told, I probably saved Terri from a very unfortunate encounter.” More sounds that weren’t clear enough to make out came through the speaker until finally, a door closed with a recognizable sound. A voice she recognized, Grentham the dwarf, asked, “So, late night?”
Jared Trenton gave a deep chuckle. “You have no idea. Let’s talk business first.”
His partner replied, “We’ve got the final tally from the groups. The gems they stole were worth a bundle. Plus, the ones our people took are going to put us in good shape for a while, even after the boss’
cut.”
Ruby saw the surprise she felt expressed on the other two faces in the room. Morrigan whispered, “They’re working for someone?”
She patted the air and hissed, “Shush.”
Trenton replied, “Good. Very good. Anything left to do there?”
“Only to get them sold. I wouldn’t be shocked if a bunch of us are reaching out to the same fence, which could cause problems, but we’ll have to wait and see on that one.”
“We can delay cashing ours out a little if we need to.”
Grentham responded, “So, now that the important business at hand is covered, you look like the cat that ate the canary. Out with it.”
Trenton gave another deep chuckle, and arrogance oozed from it. Ruby felt her stomach twist, equal parts disgust, and the desire to put her fist into his face. The men’s conversation evolved into details of the date and the night he thought he’d had afterward. Morrigan observed, “Gross. Okay, is that enough? Can we take this to Alejo?”
Idryll flexed her hands so her claws extended. “Or is it sufficient proof that we can just kill them now?”
Ruby shook her head. “No, to both of you. We’re not killing them, and unfortunately, this recording is inadmissible in court. We have the pleasure of living in a two-party consent state for recordings.”
Morrigan frowned. “How the hell do you know that?”
“It’s one of those things you have to be aware of if you’re building magic technology, so you don’t make something illegal.”
Her sister persisted, “Regardless, if you sent it to her, she’d be able to watch out for them.”
Ruby replied, “We’re not going to give her the recording. Although I do think she needs to know. I’ll tell her, masked up, of course. It’s probably time we officially met, anyway.”