“So, I’m a tour guide?” Travis laughed.
“Pretty much. Why do you think you didn’t need full credentials? I mean, don’t get me wrong. If something were to actually happen, we want someone prepared to deal with that, but it’s unlikely you’ll see any real trouble, at least not from outside sources.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, she’s a handful to deal with,” he scoffed.
“A real ball-buster, huh?”
“Well, as long as she’s paying me, I’ll go pick up her dry cleaning for her. I’m not picky.”
“That’s the spirit. Oh, one more thing. Always try to eat separately from her.”
“Because of the vegan thing?”
“Yeah. Like this morning, we got up and ate early while she was still sleeping. We had steak for breakfast.”
“Doesn’t she see that on the receipts?”
“Nope. You just gotta know how to talk to the staff. Give them a little side money, and they’ll put down you had her vegan bullshit on the ticket. We split the cost of that and get to expense the meals.”
Travis laughed. This sounded like it was going to be a pretty decent gig, after all.
“Come on. I’ll get you checked into a room. We’re in the adjoining suites to hers, but one of them is small, so we’ve got you on the opposite side of the hall from her.”
Travis didn’t miss the glance the other two exchanged with one another. He was guessing that his assessment of the relationship between Bob and Vivianne was accurate, to some extent. The other two men excused themselves while he and Bob got him sorted out at the front desk, but he was barely able to examine the room before it was time to go.
As they stepped out onto the front sidewalk, he noted the difference in Vivianne from this morning and the one standing beside him. Whereas she’d been unrecognizable earlier, now she was flawless, looking every bit like the movie star image she projected on screen.
“You can ride with me,” she purred as a dark sedan, followed by another, pulled up to the curb. He saw Bob’s jaws tense a bit, but he said nothing as she stepped into the car and slid across the seat to make room for him. He glanced to his side as he began to get in and found himself looking at Kat coming down the sidewalk toward him.
He smiled, but only for a moment as she met his gaze and started to smile back, but quickly stopped as Vivianne called out to him again.
“Come on, big boy. I need to get fitted for some lingerie that will knock your socks off.”CHAPTER TWELVEKat
Kat hadn’t seen who was in the car. She hadn’t even noticed Travis until the last minute and had been caught off guard. He looked absolutely perfect in his navy blue suit, very different than the casual bar attire he’d been wearing when they had drinks.
For a moment, she had puzzled over the expensive-looking car he was about to get into, but then she had heard the woman’s voice. So, that explained everything. Perhaps it wasn’t the fact that she might have some genetic disorder, or maybe that was part of it, but either way, he was obviously more interested in whoever the woman with money might be.
Why it bothered her, she didn’t know. She hardly knew the guy and, as he said, they hadn’t even been out on a real date. Besides, she had bigger fish to fry today. Mike was still missing, and she’d spent much of the morning looking for him in some very seedy places, talking with people she’d describe as unsavory, at best.
Now, she was headed to one final stop, a local dealer named Paco. Her father had cautioned her against involving herself with anyone Mike had been associating with lately and let the pack take care of it, but she knew the pack didn’t care about Mike. He was a bad seed, as far as they were concerned. They were happy enough to let him get himself out of the mess he had gotten himself into.
It seemed her parents were too. Kat wasn’t about to let him go down the wrong road without at least trying to save him. He meant too much to her, and she knew he did to her parents. They were just angry and tired. They’d come around. In the meantime, she’d find him on her own.
“I need to see Paco,” she said to an oily haired goth-looking girl who sat outside the building she’d been directed to by some of Mike’s drug buddies.
“Paco don’t need to see you,” the girl said, absently picking at a scab on the back of her hand.
“Tell him Big Mike sent me.”
“Big Mike?” she said, finally looking up and her, sizing her up. “You his bitch?”
“I’m no one’s bitch. I’m his sister. Now, get Paco for me.”