“Thanks,” I murmured, accepting my tea mug.
“Anytime,” he returned, smiling as he tore off a chunk of his croissant and popped it in his mouth. He chased the bite with a sip of cappuccino, swallowed, and adopted a solemn expression. “So, spell it out for me.”
I took a deep inhale. “You know I’ve been investigating that old brewery down in Red Hook.”
He nodded.
“Well, there’s a bit more to the story,” I admitted.
“I figured as much.” A wry smile twisted his lips.
“It started with Vera.” My voice cracked when I said her name, but I forced myself to go on. For the next hour, I spoke without interruption, laying out the whole sordid tale as my heart pounded in my chest. The flea market, Roza, the tenements in Two Bridges, Miri, the significance of this very cafe, the note, Santos, Red Hook, the brewery, and, finally,Labyrinth. By the time I reached that portion of my tale, my tea was long gone and all that remained of Bash’s croissant was a small smattering of crumbs on the white ceramic plate. As I spoke, his eyebrows lifted higher and higher, the frown lines around his mouth becoming more prominent with each passing moment. He was quiet for a long time when I finally finished speaking.
“Let me see if I have this right,” Bash muttered, his wide eyes intent on my face. “You want me to help you get inside a highly-secure, tightly-guarded, entirely dangerous secret society, and then gather incriminating intel on some of the most powerful people in this country.”
I gave a hesitant nod.
“Are you out of your fucking mind?” he bellowed, causing several people at surrounding tables to look in our direction warily.
“Bash!” I protested quietly. “Calm down.”
“Calm down?Calm down?” He snorted. “Yeah, I’m feeling extremely calm after learning you’re on some halfcocked mission to get yourself killed. These people are dangerous, Lux. You know that better than anyone. I can’t fucking believe you’ve been going after them alone.”
“Well, if you come with me, I won’t be alone anymore,” Ipointed out. “I need your help, Bash. I need to see what’s going on inside that club.”
“And you don’t think, if these people are as powerful as you say, that they’ll notice a blonde sleuthing wannabe traipsing through their back rooms and looking through their computer files?” He laughed. “That’s optimistic.”
“There won’t be cameras.” I pulled out a page from the dossier that I’d stashed away in my purse before leaving my apartment. I held it out so he could look it over, pointing to a highlighted section. “See? It’s apparently part of the club charter. Too many important people are members — they’d never feel safe if potentially illegal actions were being recorded. The only cameras are on the perimeter.”
“You’re putting blind trust in the research of a guy you don’t even know.” Bash shook his head. “How can yoube sure it’s accurate?”
“I know Fae — ItrustFae,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “If she says we can trust him, we can trust him.”
Bash stared at me for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face. “You’re the same,” he muttered eventually, his eyes incredulous.
“What?”
“You haven’t changed a bit in all these years. You’re still stubborn as a mule — set in your ways and utterly impossible to negotiate with once you’ve made up your mind about something. Pigheaded, really.” He cracked a smile.
I glared at him.
“Relax, it’s refreshing.” His grin widened. “Take it as a compliment.”
“I’ll take it as a compliment if you agree to help me,” I suggested.
“I’ll agree to help you if you go out on a date with me,” he countered.
“I’m not going out with you.”
“Come on, it can just be a friends thing. If we choose to get naked afterward, so be it.”
“You’re terrible.” I tried to contain my smile, instead forcing a stern glare in his direction. “I think I preferred it when we were ignoring each other’s existence.”
“Don’t you need my help?” Bash steepled his hands on the tabletop and leaned forward. “You should be nice to me if you want me to get you intoLabyrinth.”
“You really think you can get us in just because your family is on the list?” I felt the rush of banked excitement stirring to life within me.
“It’s worth a shot.” Bash leaned back in his chair and let out a deep breath. “A photographer and a journalist whose last column detailed the many attributes of Channing Tatum’s physique, up against the most powerful people in the world. What could possibly go wrong?”