Leading Ladies Anthology [FEATURED STORY]

@RKClose - Excerpt from Red Night - A Modern Romance with Bite

Dirty little secrets are my bread and butter. Everyone has them, and exposing what people try to hide is how I make my living.

I've always enjoyed watching people, studying them—unraveling their mysteries. Give me a few minutes to observe someone and I'll know many of their secrets. I can usually tell if they're happy, sad, needy, or insecure.

People are easy for me to read and far too predictable. Money, sex, and power are prime motivating factors, at least for the people I'm hired to expose. Tonight, it's business as usual.

Busy shoppers move past me as if they're running out of time. With the holiday hours at the Scottsdale Fashion Mall, they're feeding their retail addiction late into the evening.

Thanksgiving hasn't even passed, yet Christmas sales and shopping have begun in full force. I have no interest in the shoppers or the sales. My focus is on the Tiffany & Co. store across from where I sit. A certain female shopper named Rebecca Tanner stopped in there about twenty minutes ago and has yet to emerge. I'm tempted to follow her inside and see what's taking so long but keeping a low profile will make my job easier.

The coffee in my cup is now cold and my stomach rumbles loudly because I'm missing dinner. Just as I'm growing bored and restless, a tall attractive woman with long auburn hair walks out of the store. She's on the arm of a dark-haired man, wearing a grey tailored suit. Both look as though they belong on the cover of a magazine rather than hanging with the ordinary mall shoppers. But they do make a striking pair. He has movie star quality written all over him. His good looks make him stand out like a sore thumb.

The redhead smiles and leans into him. Her eyes never leave him, but he appears preoccupied with leading her swiftly through the crowd. Her companion appears detached or aloof. Rebecca is my target tonight, but he's the surprise.

Where did you come from, Mystery-Man?

Tossing my coffee in the trash and grabbing my fake shopping bag from Victoria's Secrets, I begin to follow them. I tie my long hair into a quick messy bun to keep it out of my way as I move briskly through the crowd.

Mystery-Man's dark hair catches the lights and gives him an unearthly glow. With broad shoulders that taper down to a slim waist, even his expensive suit can't hide his long muscular physique. He has an air of confidence in the way he holds himself that causes shoppers to quickly part around him—many stopping to star or catch a second look. Nobody is moving for me and I'm forced to dodge bodies in order to keep up.

I'm not easily surprised so when it happens it's like a birthday treat. This evening may have developed an interesting twist, a bump in the road. I love bumps and twists because they make life and especially work, more interesting.

The couple turns down a long hallway that leads to the public restrooms but they continue through metal doors marked, "EMPLOYEES ONLY". Without slowing my pace, I pull a solid black apron from my oversized bag and slip it over my head while making my way toward the doors. This apron is the best ten dollars I've ever spent. It gets me into almost anywhere. Add a fake name tag and I'm simply another employee of any store or business.

Good thing I'm not wearing heels tonight.

Once through the doors, I'm in another dimly lit, industrial hallway with many gray metal doors. There is a stark difference between the lights, colors and festive holiday music of the mall to the colorless and sterile feel of the employee hallway.

Moving purely on instinct, I head left down the hall and around a corner. There I find a door marked "EXIT". Not knowing what's on the other side, I stop to compose myself. As I ease the door open, a burst of cool air hits me as I peer into a dark concrete jungle--also, known as the underground parking garage. I'm parked down here, but I can't say where because I'm not familiar with this part of the garage.