Page 64 of Bastard

Dancing used to be the love of my life until he entered into it. Tonight, I feel the memory of my two lost loves in every step, every touch. My melancholy is like a song itself. Sad. Full of longing. I refuse to let it ruin the evening so, instead, relax into his embrace and allow myself this moment. I promised myself to live life in the present. I just never imagined he’d be part of it.

“Can I interrupt?” A short, gruff man steps in our path, forcing us to stop.

“No one dances with my wife but me.”

The man shakes his head. “No. I’d like a word with you. I was talking to Arnold Langsley. The tall man with the glasses? He mentioned you’re acquiring partners and expanding distribution channels.”

“But we’re dancing,” I fake-protest.

The man glances from me to Hayden.

“Excuse us,” Hayden replies, before stalking across the dance floor with the man hurrying after him.

I scowl, noticing I’m being watched, then exit the dance floor and head toward the beverage table.

I’m sipping a crystal goblet filled with punch when Hayden finds me twenty minutes later. “Come outside onto the terrace.” At my nod, he leads me across the room, through French doors, and then to the darkest part of the balcony and away from the other guests.

I wait until Hayden clears the area of bugs.

“Everything okay?” he asks.

“Yes.”

“We’ll begin upstairs in Ogdenhayer’s bedroom. We’ll need to work quickly after we disconnect the security camera across from his door. You’ll manage the locks.”

“But his office is downstairs. The ledgers Sabine has been keeping are inside, as I told you.”

“I made copies of the ledgers.”

I blink. “How? When?”

“While you were showering and while guests were dressing for the party, I broke into his office, located the ledgers, took pictures then uploaded them to an encrypted folder.”

“Just like that?”

“Don’t look so annoyed. It’s what I do.”

I roll my eyes.

“Your friend, Sabine, had an interesting way of cross-referencing names in the ledgers to names on a master list that Barrington keeps on all the buyers. She made small, neon pink asterixis next to the names, and a pink footnote at the bottom of the first page that read, ‘See Master List.’”

“She’s too sweet to be involved with a man like Barrington.”

“She’s made our assignment easy. That list might contain additional names, addresses, and phone numbers. It wasn’t in the study and I want to find it. Barrington keeps a separate bedroom from his wife, right?”

“Yes. An adjoining room.”

“We’ll search his room first. With luck, we’ll find that list and be gone by morning.”

“Then the job is over.”

He nods.

“That’s it?”

Silence.

“You led me to believe this assignment would be dangerous. A twelve-year-old boy from Loreto is more of a threat than the men inside.”