Cactus Wren

Chapter Nine - Near Miss

"This dress is ridiculous. Why do they make the waitresses wear this?" I ask out loud but I get no response. I turn my head to look at the guys gathered in the living room, all of their head snap up from where they were staring at various areas of my body and I can't help the smirk from appearing on my face. "Nevermind. That was a dumb question."

I've got the club's standard lack of uniform on and this time I've paired it with a pair of black knee high boots. They're covered in straps and buckles that I hope hide the bulges of my cell phone and various other small items that I have tucked into them. I have my blonde hair tied in several small upside down braids on either side of my head gathering all my hair to the top, creating a mohawk that cascades down the back of my head.

"All set, gorgeous?" Carlos asks. Travis isn't scheduled to work tonight but Carlos is working the bar so I won't be alone at the club.

"Almost." I tell him. I pause before placing my listening bug in my dress and turn to Eddie, "Were you able to hear alright with where I put the bug last time?" I ask.

"Yeah, audio was great." He says and then thinks a beat before asking, "Where did you have it?" I smirk and I place tonight's bug into my cleavage like I had it before causing him to blush and the others to chuckle.

"You asked."  I shrug and give Eddie a wink, he just grins and shakes his head at me before focusing back onto his equipment. I just can't help myself, so I ask, "Hey Eddie," he lifts his head to me, "Why did the blonde bring a ladder to the bar?" Eddie smiles, probably remembering my last blonde joke. He shakes his head with a silent, I don't know. "Someone told her drinks were on the house." I deadpan and the guys laugh. Eddie smiles at me and nods, letting me know my mic is working.

I finish adjusting the girls and the guys give me a thumbs up.

"Okay, Carlos. Let's head out." I tell him. He grabs his keys and we leave the apartment. The others will leave in a moment to head a few blocks away from the club in an office building that they've rented in for our mission control. Carlos leads me to a brown sedan and presses his key fob to release the locks, we each get in and he drives us out of the complex.

"Anything I should know about tonight?" I ask Carlos.

"Vega is still out of town so we're not expecting any action in VIP tonight. Harris has been pretty quiet recently but we like to keep an ear out for anything new." He tells me as he drives through light traffic.

"Understood." I reply. We pull into the club parking lot and both get out of the car. There are a smattering of other cars in the lot but no one is lingering.

"Go ahead and go in, I'll be right behind you." Carlos tells me.

"Hate to see me leave, but love to watch me go?" I smirk at him, I turn my back to him and wink over my shoulder, "Is that it?" I ask. He chuckles.

"More like 'Don't want Harris to see us enter together in case he's waiting for you to arrive'." He replies. His permanent smolder heats up with the smirk playing along his lips.

"Alright. See you in there." I tell him with a smile and wave goodbye. I walk into the club and see Harris in the corner of my eye leaning against the bar. Carlos was right, he was waiting for me. I continue to walk toward the hallway leading to the employee locker room, pretending as if I hadn't seen him. I saunter down the hallway and hear steps behind me, just as I reach the door to the locker room I hear Harris call out to me.

"Rebbie, do you have a moment?" Harris says. I turn to face him and smile when our eyes meet.

"Sure, boss." I answer and walk back toward him. He unlocks and opens the door to his office and gestures for me to enter. As I walk in I feel his eyes roaming over me. Ugh.