In the ladies’ room, she saw that one stall was occupied. She heard a hushed voice talking.
Hadley pulled out her lipstick and leaned into the mirror. She tried to push Bennett’s words away. The toilet flushed, and Kitty emerged.
She was attractive. The high cheekbones and blonde hair caught the eye, but she also exuded an energy that caught the gaze. Hadley could see how a young, confused man could be swept in.
Hadley met Kitty’s gaze in the mirror and nodded. The other woman set her phone down on the counter beside the sink and washed her hands.
Hadley pulled Hex’s bug off the lipstick tube. Then she fumbled the lipstick and it clattered down beside the phone.
“Oh no. I’m so clumsy.” She touched Kitty’s phone, and quickly pressed the thin, plastic bug onto the back of it. Then Hadley grabbed her lipstick tube. “I don’t want to lose this. This shade is my favorite, and Gucci doesn’t make it anymore.”
“Oh, Ihatewhen they discontinue your favorites.” With a nod, Kitty left.
Hadley smiled into the mirror.Got you.
She exited the restroom and found Bennett waiting in the narrow hall.
“What are you doing back here?” she asked.
“I wanted to check that you were okay.”
She made an angry sound. “Do you really think a woman like Kitty Wentworth could take me?”
“It’s not that. I was a dick before, at the bar.”
“All men are dicks.”
“You aren’t that cynical.”
“I am.”
Suddenly, Kitty’s voice sounded close by. She was talking on the phone again, and getting closer.
“Yes, Knightley’s here. No. He has no clue. I think he was here for a work lunch. It’s a popular place.”
Oh, shit. “If she sees us—”
“Here.” Bennett yanked open a door. It was a storage cupboard. Tablecloths and napkins were neatly stacked on tall shelves. Cleaning supplies sat heaped in a corner.
They slipped inside and the door closed behind them, enveloping them in darkness.
Outside, they heard Kitty walk past, her voice muffled.
“You think she’s talking to L’Orage?” Bennett asked.
“We’ll find out soon with the bug in place.”
Kitty’s voice faded away.
“Sounds like it’s clear.” Hadley tried the door. It didn’t budge. “Oh, hell.”
Bennett pushed up behind her. “What?”
“The door’s locked, and there’s no handle on this side.”
“You’re joking,” he said.
“No.”