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"Didn’t do any good the last tioif that was the last time The men were never found" Gareth wouldn’t be, either, not unless we found him I felt it in my bones "Will you help?" I repeated
I looked up at last, and saw Apollo swipe a hand down his face "You knoill If the alternative is that drea trueI’ll help But, Tori, you’ll owe ods, and what keptin to whatever was betweencame with a cost But in the balance of a man’s life versus co
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Since I couldn’t think of any good way to break into The Parlor during the day without getting caught, it seeh to call Detective Aret in the ation or so enough to officially launch an investigation and also unofficially confided that The Parlor had been named as a "last known" location in other cases that had led nowhere I was ordered to be careful And, if possible, to hang on tooutfit, because "That I have to see"
Men What was it about boots and booty shorts?
I pro of all the fun that would come after
Then I had the day ahead ofscientist I had to hope that whatever was happening was on pause for the day, which I spent finding creative ways to hide lock picks, pepper spray, and an actual stiletto in the lihtfall I was as ready as I was ever going to be Apollo had gotten hied for hiirlfriend, periodically to let ht we’d planned for everything We rong
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I arrived early for uarded doorway or some other opportunity to poke around To that end, I wore crepe-soled shoes, dark-wash jeans and a black T-shirt, the better for sneaking around My stilettos andbackpack tossed carelessly overthe LA streets in them Not unless I really wanted to make some extra cash and wasn’t too particular about the way I went about it
But the doors weren’t open yet, even for employees, which h the keyhole to approve my entrance So much for stealth Once I was inside, he announced, "You’re early" And not like it was a good thing
"Problem with that?" I asked "I can be late toht side of his et a sht it valiantly
"Better not be Boss lady wouldn’t like it"
Boss lady It hat my assistant, Jésus (pronounced Hey-Zeus), called me Tiine his scathing commentary on the place "Tinfoil bikinis? Really? It’s like The Wizard of Oz meets the deli counter If I only had a style" I could hear it now, like he hispering in an
"Yeah, she wants to ht She didn’t get to give you her blessing and the new eoody, goody gurave while I was still in it, veryto be heard It was not a pleasant feeling
I pasted a s forward to it
"Since you’re here, you can help Tonio out behind the bar He just got in a new shipht Had to stock up for the weekend "No probleed" If I wasn’t able to sneak, at least maybe I could distract
The waitstaff did have a tiny locker roo withbut a bathroom with a few stalls so we didn’t have to take up those ht before If there were any secret entrances or exits, they ell concealed I looked again just to be sure that I had the place to ned and thus unlocked cubbies, but I found nothing and couldn’t stay long I was expected out front
I checkedit down on the bench beside the bag, from which I pulled my shiny silver shorts Apollo was supposed to call or text e waiting for me already
ALL SET FOR THE GAME, BUT APPARENTLY THE FIRST RULE IS "NO ELECTRONICS" WON’T BE ABLE TO TEXT OR CALL IF I’M IN TROUBLE, WILL DO MY BEST TO RADIATE IT OUT THROUGH OUR LINK SAME GOES FOR YOU KEEP AN "EAR" OUT
That feeling of soraves to worry about Two graves and no plan but divide and conquer ’Cause that worked out so well in horror fil on with us That would have been the kiss of death