"We'll set up a transmission to play at a certain time. That way, we won't even have to be there when it's broadcasted. By the time they realize what's going on, it'll be too late to stop it."
I grinned. "It's good to see you, man."
"
Sherry baby, I'm so glad you're ok.
It's really good to see you guys," he spouted with a huffed breath. "How's Lillian?"
"Holding up," I said. "She's knows you're ok, but knowing and seeing are two different things."
He frowned. "Yeah, they are." He glared over at Daniel. "Let's hurry this thing up, huh? See you tomorrow night."
"We'll be here."
The screen clicked off and we all stood in silence. Everything seemed to be falling into place. Billings searched the wall for the 'core'
,
he said. They needed a hard line that had nothing to do with wireless or
radio frequency signals. He bent
down and shoved his face under a table. When he said, "Aha," we knew he'd found something.
"Got it.
The control panel is in the floor. All right, everything is back online." He pulled himself up. "Now if we just come back tomorrow, it should just be a manner of uploading
the video and setting the program
to a certain time
. Easy, peasy."
"Let's hope," Ryan said and looked around.
"We have to go see Chesser," Sherry said. "Tonight."
Ryan and I both nodded at each other before he said,
"Why don't we get out of here before we press our luck."
"Done," I said and dragged Sherry along. I was sure she was tired of me by now, with all my dragging and never letting her go, but when I looked back at her, she was smiling.
Miraculously, I was able to get the knob to screw tight again and it looked untouched. Once we reached the parking lot, I called out to Jeff.
All done. Any problems?
Just one. Your boy never came back and neither did the man-eater.
I growled.
Crap, Miguel. All right, we're going in after him.
We'll wait here. Be careful. It sounds…rowdy in there.
I knew what he meant by the time we reached the door. The bouncer worried me for a split second before he opened the door and swept his hand for us to enter. Wasn't much of a bouncer.
I turned to them. "I hate to say this again, but we need to split up."
"Agreed," Ryan said loudly so everyone could hear over the music. "We'll take the back."
"I'll take the middle!" Billings yelled and went straight for the bar.
I shook my head at him.
I'll guess we start here.
She nodded and looked around. I'd never been in a bar or club before. Danny was too young to get in when I watched them and Sherry would never have gone to places like this, so I had never seen one either.
It was packed beyond packed and everyone was in their own little worlds.
I noticed we were the only ones standing around that weren't making out, getting drunk, or dancing.
We should do something other than stand here.
Let's go…mingle or something.
She laughed and nodded as she tugged on my fingers. She took us to the loft of the club so we could look out and see everyone and everything at once.
I felt under
dressed. But
the ones wh
o were dressed in party clothes
were barely dressed themselves. I glanced away from all the obvious cleavage to study my wife. She looked around the room with a steady sweep.
"I've never heard this song," she said offhandedly, "but I like it." She swayed her hips and rubbed her back against my front. I suddenly got the appeal of the club scene.
"I like it, too…now." I kissed the back of her neck and waved the waitress away that asked if we wanted something to drink. She giggled and continued to move. She wasn't really dancing, just moving enough to stay with the beat. I continued trying to look around the club, and so did she, but she kept at her dangerous little dance.
"I don't
see
them anywhere," I whispered into her ear
,
and in an act tha
t was so human I almost laughed,
I tugged
on her earlobe with my teeth. I
told her, "I really wish we had t
ime to play."
She giggled and wiggled against me. "Me, too. Though," she turned to me, putting her back to the club and the railing, and put her arms around my neck, "if we were going to play, Finch, I'd rather be home in our pallet, not in some dingy club." She kissed my chin before leaning back and letting go. I tried to keep her there, but she laughed and walked backwards as she pulled me along.
"Mmm," I groaned and yanked us both to a stop. I pulled her to me, chest to chest, and noticed how smug she looked. "
I'd give anything to be able to live a normal life with you. We could do anything. Can you imagine going to a movie or bowling with me?"
She turned her head to think. "I'd just kick your butt."
I swung us around and pressed her to the wall there making her laugh harder. "You don’t seem scared."
"Should I be?" she replied coyly and bit her lip. I realized then how much better at this game she was than me.
She had the upper hand and I was feverish.
I took her mouth gently. She seemed happy with the fact that I had caved. She let me in and I devoured her
tongue with my own.
It was so dark in that corner and a million things I wanted to do to her flooded my mind. But hearing Jeff's question about how things were coming along made me stop.
S
till looking.
So to correct the lie I'd just told him, I chuckled in a
'
you're in trouble
'
way
and said,
"You're so going to get it later."
"I hope so," she whispered, her fingers walking my chest up to my neck. She kissed my chin again and I kissed her lips once more.
She smiled up at me and then glanced behind me. She gasped. "There's Miguel!"
I peeked back just in time to see Miguel's shirt back turn the corner. I marveled at good timing. If we had been still at the railing, we'd never had seen him. The wall was in the way.
I pulled her as we made our way back down the stairs. Ellie and Ryan must've seen him at the same time we had, because they met us half way. I searched for Billings and found him still at the bar. My eyes widened. He was about to
be
pummeled and didn’t even know it.
Cruisin' For A Bruisin'
Sherry
Billings was chatting up a blonde with boobs the size of Texas. Each.
But when he reached out to touch her cheek, he didn't see her enormous boyfriend that was staring him down at his back. The woman did. They must've had a fight because she was taunting him over Billing's shoulder.
And poor Billings was under the expression that he was about to score big. I did the first thing I could think of. I turned to Merrick. "Please, please, trust me. Stay here."
I took off. I felt him try to grab at my hand, but I kept going. I went right up to Billings. The woman and her man looked between Billings and me. It was obvious I had something to say. That was when Billing noticed the other man. He sat up straighter as he understood the direction the situation had turned in.
That was when I slapped him across the face.
He looked shocked. I tried not to do it hard, just enough to be believable. "What the hell?" he bellowed.
"How could you?" I accused. "I go to the bathroom and you try to chat up the first beautiful girl you see?"
"Uh…." he gulped, "well, you know me."
"Oh, I sure do. And you are in serious trouble, mister!" I grabbed his arm and pushed past the big guy. "Excuse us."
The guy never said a word to us and as soon as we were out of ear shot I said, "You can thank me later."
"For slapping me!" he hissed. "You had to slap me?"
"Better than having your butt handed to you. We were here to find Miguel anyway, not smooze at the bar."
"Oh, yeah?" He grinned. "Here to find Miguel, huh?" He touched my neck. "And Merrick sucking on your neck was how you looked for him, right?"
I covered my neck, my blush creeping up. "Shut. Up."