Page 24

EMIL

S o many cards stacked on each other to create a delicate house of them, so many secrets that I’m keeping. They’re all catching up to me a little sooner than I planned.

I didn’t plan for Rachelle to stay hidden forever, just like I was only humoring my son by allowing him to rot in prison. There are different lessons that are being taught for some, while I’m trying to protect my stepdaughter from spiraling out of control.

Nacio and Liliana are closing in on the drug dealer, which has held my full attention. Unfortunately, it’s causing my cards to fall around me.

Rachelle, it may be time to come out into the light and stop hiding. Fuck, I hope I’ve given you enough time to heal.

The issue is, how do you possibly move on from being buried alive?

JARED

“You didn’t get roofied did you?” I ask, sighing as I struggle to help Elijah up. Theo frowns as he wraps his arm around his back and hauls him up.

“No, I swear,” Elijah mumbles.

I got a text from Emil fucking Reyes five minutes ago, just as the club was beginning to wind down for the night. At first, I thought I was in trouble, then I panicked at the simple message that we needed to collect an unconscious Elijah.

The man is so fucking cryptic, I think he does this shit on purpose.

“Start again and take a breath,” I order as we begin to walk back to the store.

Elijah is deathly pale as he does as I ask before shaking his head. “I think I’m going to be sick,” he groans.

“Fuck,” I rasp before hanging him forward into the street so he can puke. His gasping breaths sound like it hurts as his body shudders. “For real, you’re freaking me out, Elijah.”

“Sorry,” he croaks out. “I should be good now. I just need some water.”

“Brea already clocked out for the night, so let’s go into the shop,” Theo suggests, easing Elijah into an upright position so he can leave him with me so he can unlock the shop door.

We came out of one of the side doors to find him, so we avoided the mystic shop completely.

“I was taking a break to take a walk up to the pizza shop so we’d have food to take home tonight,” Elijah explains.

“We really like that place, and I’m craving pizza.

Anyway, there was this girl that walked past me.

She wore her hair in those two cute buns on top of her head, and I could see her face clear as day as she walked beneath a streetlight. I swear, I think I’m losing my mind.”

The last part is stated with a groan as I ease him into a chair in the shop.

“I think those are called space buns, though I’m not sure why,” I mutter. I have a disturbing feeling he’s hallucinating seeing Rachelle again, which is very bad. “Why are you holding onto your side?”

The question forced him to focus, and he makes an annoyed face as I lean against the wall to gaze at him. There are traces of shadows underneath his eyes, his mind working overtime now that Ignacio is out of prison. He’s still not sleeping great.

“She hit me with her stun gun, and then it was lights out,” he grunts. “I swear, it was Rachelle’s fucking nose, her lips, her voice. Why am I seeing her and talking to her if she’s not real? Fuck me, it hurts.”

Leaning forward to pull up his shirt, I can see the marks left behind from the stun gun. I wouldn’t be surprised if it bruises.

“We all can’t be having a group hallucination,” I say, wincing in sympathy at his side. It’s right underneath his armpit too. Whoever this girl is, she was shorter than him based on her reach.

“Hey, I almost forgot the new girl started tonight," Theo says, having turned on a lamp in the store. “At this time of night, foot traffic is pretty light. I wonder if she’s who you startled. You’re a big guy, Elijah. I bet you scared the shit out of her.”

“I’d have scared her just the same if she was Rachelle,” Elijah pouts.

My lips twitch because despite the subject matter, he’s still cute.

Theo goes through the papers on the desk before picking up what must be the new girl’s employment paperwork. There’s also an NDA within it. I wonder if she thought anything of it.

“Her name is Rachel Thompson,” Theo mutters, his eyes grazing over the text.

“I will refrain from stating the obvious about that stupid fucking name,” Elijah grumbles.

Oh for fuck’s sakes, he’s becoming a drama king now. Opening the tiny fridge Brea asked to keep up here, I grab a bottle of water for him and twist it open.

“Don’t be a brat and drink your water,” I mutter, handing it to him.

Elijah gives me the shittiest face and makes me snort.

“I haven’t fucked the brat out of you in a long time. It may be time to correct that,” I tell him, smirking.

Elijah shifts before adjusting his erection and sipping his water like a good boy.

“It doesn’t change the fact that we should look into her,” he complains.

“Yeah, I can do that,” Theo says with a slow nod.

“The date of birth is different from Rachelle’s and so is where she graduated high school.

These employment forms ask for so much information.

I did that on purpose so that I could do a deep dive if necessary.

Let’s go up to the office and see what I can find. ”

Elijah stands, only wavering for a second before finding his balance. There’s a bump on his head where he hit it on the sidewalk, and since he threw up, I wouldn’t be surprised if he has a concussion. Fucking perfect.

Together, we walk to the back of the store and out into a hidden hallway.

The way everything is set up, some of these were always here, they’re simply hidden because you can’t tell the door is back here.

The hallway goes to our office, where we’re rarely at unless there’s an issue or we need to use the computer to research someone at our club.

Theo unlocks the door, and we pile in behind him so no one will see us. We told our managers that we had an emergency and were leaving early. Having someone know we’re still here will lead to someone needing us.

Theo settles in the office chair, and hits the button to fire up the computer. Thankfully, it’s not long before he’s hacking into the social security office to look up Rachel Thompson. Elijah isn’t wrong, the name is suspiciously close.

“Is anyone up for some B and E?” Elijah asks hopefully. “It’s been a really long time since we’ve pulled on masks and scared the shit out of people.”

“Settle down there,” Theo says. “She already whooped your ass once. Are you that interested in a second round?”

“I wasn’t expecting her to be carrying a weapon,” he sighs. “She appeared sweet and unassuming.”

“Small packages can be deadly,” I remind him. “Anything interesting, Theo?”

“She grew up in California according to this, went to school in a town four hours away from here, and has a pretty clean record,” Theo says. “She does have a parking ticket. That’s the most nefarious thing about her according to this.”

“She’s young, right? There’s no reason for her to have a rap sheet or anything,” I say with a smirk. “Brea probably hired Rachel because she seemed like a hard worker. The shop has been doing a lot of business lately. Are there any photos of her? What does her social media look like?”

“If it’s her, she’ll be smart and not have any of it,” Elijah says dejectedly. He’s swigging his water as if it’s alcohol, which makes me really glad that it isn’t. “I really doubt she’s posting her face anywhere.”

“Okay, Eeyore, let me just fucking look,” Theo says, shaking his head when Elijah gives him the lovely gift of his middle finger. “Very mature.”

“Ugh, I feel like shit,” Elijah groans.

“I think you may have a concussion,” I tell him with a wince. “Let’s get this figured out and we’ll head home. We’ll get pizza tomorrow.”

“Are we tabling the B and E too?” he asks dejectedly.

“Probably for the best if we do,” Theo says, lips twitching in amusement.

“Okay, when I search social media by her name, I get a ton of hits due to how generic it is. We also don’t take photos of our employees at this time for badges or records.

Technically, if you didn’t scare her off, she’ll probably return to work tomorrow.

If she doesn’t show, we’ll hunt her down. ”

“A hunt?” Elijah asks, perking up.

“Yeah, I think we may need one,” I agree with a cruel smile.

“Now, when I search by the phone number that she left on file, I find a tarot reading profile,” Theo says. “It’s The Blackhaired Mystic. There’s no photo, and they seem to do tarot readings for free.”

“Did you notice the sign in the window offering tarot card readings?” I ask. “I vaguely saw it when I walked in, and then forgot to ask you earlier.”

“I did. I was going to ask Brea about it, but it seems that she found someone in her newest hire,” Theo says. “She mentioned last week that the store’s best selling items are tarot card decks, and thought it may be nice to be able to offer readings.”

“Brea is a miracle worker,” I praise. “Not only is she the first person our clients see before entering the speakeasy, but she’s also pulled in clientele for the shop as well. How are her books?”

Theo is the money man and goes through them with a fine tooth comb.

“She’s actually in the black,” Theo says with a shrug.

“Brea is making great money for the mystic store. Since she is the first person our patrons see, we’re also paying her very well.

I’ve heard clients say they’ve come back to check out the store later in the week, having fallen in love with Brea. We’re lucky to have her.”

“I almost hope this mystery girl doesn’t come to work tomorrow,” Elijah says under his breath. “If we’re done here, I want to shower and go to bed.”

“Sorry to burst your bubble, but I’m going to be waking you up every few hours to make sure you’re alive,” I say, watching as Theo powers down the desktop computer. “If you survive the night, I’ll reward you.”

“If we’re talking blow jobs, I think we should tie him up and edge him,” Theo says, standing. “He’s been a fucking brat tonight.”