Thirty-Three and a Half Shenanigans
Page 50

“I’d like you to talk as little as possible once we’re in there. I’d prefer for him to not even know you’re there.”
“You know I’m gonna blurt something out about the vision I have. I can’t stop that.”
“I know, but we’ll keep the talking in his room to a minimum, and even if he hears you, he won’t be able to see you.”
“You were serious about the hood.”
“Yes.”
“I really don’t want to see anything kinky, Skeeter.”
He laughed. “You won’t. He’s drugged, so he won’t remember much. He’ll wake up next to a blonde with big tits and think he partied too much. He’ll get pissed because he won’t remember screwing her.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay.”
He led me through a door, and I entered a room that smelled like mildew and pine.
“You can take your blindfold off now,” he whispered next to my ear.
I tugged it off and blinked as I took in the living room covered in paneling and green shag carpet. It looked like a house straight out of the 1970s.
Skeeter motioned to the dark hall, and I followed him to the last door. He opened it and stepped inside, giving me enough room to walk past him.
A guy lay on the bed, dressed in a white T-shirt and green plaid boxer shorts. His legs and torso were pale, but he had a fading tan on his arms that ended at his biceps. He wasn’t obese, but he had a bit of flab on him. He was on his back with his arms all akilter over his head. A pillowcase with a kitten pattern on it covered his head, making it hard for me to guess his age. I knew he wasn’t a teenager, but he didn’t look too old either.
I leaned close to Skeeter, suddenly realizing he smelled really good. Maybe it was because the rest of the place smelled like dirty socks original to the 1970s decor. “Can he breathe with that thing on his head?” I whispered.
“Yes. We’ll take it off after you’re done. It’s for your protection.”
And yours, but I kept that to myself. At the moment, it didn’t matter why he wanted to hide me—it just mattered that he did.
I moved closer to the bed, not sure if I wanted to sit on it. It hadn’t been made after its last use, and the man was sprawled over the rumpled sheets and blankets. I decided to squat at the side, and I reached over and grabbed the man’s hand, which currently lay on his pillow.
The man promptly rolled toward me, blindly reaching out for me and grabbing a handful of my hair.
“Mmm, baby,” he moaned. “I love your hair.”
My eyes flew open in alarm, but Jed freed my strands in an instant, all while I still held onto the guy’s hand. I looked up at Jed and mouthed, “Thank you.”
He nodded with a tight smile and stepped away from the bed.
I looked up at Skeeter and whispered, “What do you want me to look for?”
He squatted down next to me. “Let’s start with whatever you see, and then we can discuss whether you need to narrow it down.”
I nodded and closed my eyes, concentrating on the unconscious man. The vision came seconds later with a strong force. I was in a living room I didn’t recognize, looking at a man I didn’t know.
“That’s not how he wants it done,” I said in a deep male voice. “I’m supposed to get his schedule and turn it over. That’s it.”
“Well, things change. This is how it’s going to go down now.”
The vision ended, and I was thrust back into the bedroom with more force than usual. I fell backward on my butt, saying, “You’re gonna do it differently than he wants it done.”
Skeeter lifted me to my feet. I wobbled and almost collapsed. Sensing my weakness, Skeeter wrapped an arm around my waist and held me up. “What did you see?”
I shook my head, feeling drugged. “I don’t know,” I whispered. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Tell me, and I’ll see if it makes sense to me.”
After I told him about my short vision, he shook his head. “Schedule? What schedule?”
“I don’t know.”
“It’s worthless.”
I wasn’t so sure. I’d now had two visions that had left me with a bad feeling, both of which were seemingly ambiguous. What did it mean? “Then what do you want me to look for?”
“I want to know who he’s selling me out to.”
I took a deep breath. “Okay.”
I squatted next to the bed again and held the man’s hand again, focusing on Skeeter’s question. The next vision took longer. This time I was in a room lit by a bunch of fluorescent lights in a dropped office ceiling. I sat with a group of men around a dark wood conference table. Skeeter was at the opposite end, his face contorted with fury.
“Somebody tipped off Rodriguez, and nobody’s leaving here until I figure out who it was.”
The room was deadly quiet as I hid a phone under the table and wrote a quick text. He knows.
My eyes flew open. “Someone tipped off Rodriguez, and you’re gonna text someone.”
I glanced up at Skeeter, whose eyes had turned murderous. “So there is a traitor.” He pointed to the man in the bed. “Is it him?”
I stood and whispered. “I don’t know, but he hid his phone under the table and texted He knows to someone.” I shook my head in confusion. “I think you were in a conference room. A bunch of you were sitting around a table.”