Heated Pursuit (Alpha Security #1)(9)
“Sounds too good to be true.”
“Head down to El Sótano. It’s a f*cking playground down there, especially with the old man himself doling out a few early advances. But the real fun will be when it hits those American bastards. Freedom is really going to ring then.” The man howled in laughter at his own twisted joke. “And soon. Really soon.”
Fuentes being confident enough in his product to already leak it to the general population twisted Penny’s stomach into a cold, hard knot. The men continued their conversation as they walked away.
Penny ran into the house, skidding on her heels at each turn. By the time she peeked out the blackened front window, the men were nothing more than black blobs down the street. Frustration pulled a growl from her throat and her disposable cell from her pocket.
She started hitting button after button, ticking through the list of phone numbers Logan had preprogrammed earlier. Each call ended with a no-service message or no answer, even the one to the bar. When a second round of calls yielded the same result, she barely resisted the urge to punt the piece-of-crap phone into the wall.
Five excruciating seconds ticked by before she admitted what she had to do, regardless of the animallike snarls it would incite, most of them probably from the Master Growler himself. Rafe could deal with it because she didn’t have a choice. With Rachel, each second counted.
*
Finding an adult version of a dress-up box stuffed in the safe house’s far back closet had been both a blessing and a curse. With a dark-haired wig and barely ass-covering leather skirt, Penny blended in with the local girls who were perusing the four dilapidated city blocks toward Tres Brujas. But with the fishnet stockings and thigh-high leather boots came a whole lot of stomach-souring leers and unwanted gazes.
She ignored the catcalls and whistles, breathing a little sigh of relief when the door to the bar came into view. Tres Brujas looked like the quintessential seedy neighborhood bar, the former redbrick building aged brown over time. Metal bars adorned four of the broken front windows, letting the loud thump of music spill onto the street without interference.
Penny pulled open the door. At least a half-dozen stares immediately slid in her direction. “No going back now, Kline,” she murmured to herself, stepping inside.
She took a moment to scan the room, finding Sean in the far back corner. The Alpha leader looked larger than life and lethal as he filled the line of shot glasses in front of him. As far as keeping covers during their prolonged stay, this one seemed to fit him well. He appeared to keep the chat down to a minimum, moving briskly up and down the length of the bar, serving one customer after another.
Penny battled her way through a sea of wandering hands and slinked to the room’s periphery. When she finally reached the counter, Sean was gone and she needed a bottle of disinfectant.
“Are you looking for some fun tonight? How much?” the man on her left propositioned her before she planted her bottom on the only empty stool.
“Sorry. I’m waiting for someone,” she replied coolly. There’d be no way in hell she’d give him the time of day even if he hadn’t mistaken her for a hooker. With long, unkempt, stringy hair, it looked as though he hadn’t seen the damp side of a shower in weeks.
An older woman stepped through a swinging door and stood where Sean had been only minutes before. Her gray eyes zeroed in on Penny almost immediately. After scanning her from the tip of her fake hair to her on-display cleavage, she broke into a sly smirk.
Beside her, Penny’s admirer clamped his mouth shut.
“Stop bothering my pretty customers, Roberto. Or I’m going to cut you off for the night, and this time, I mean it,” the sixty-some-year-old warned with a husky voice.
“It’s too early for that, Maria. You can’t do that to me.”
“This is my bar and I’ll do what I want and when I want it. Now, if you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your mouth closed and keep your eyes and your comments to yourself. Understood?”
“Yes, Maria.” Next to her, Roberto went dutifully quiet. Man, Penny needed to learn how to wield that kind of power.
Maria turned her attention to her. “Very pretty. And very brave, sweetheart. You’re looking for one of the boys?”
She wouldn’t call Rafe or Sean boys—not by a dozen years and a hundred pounds. But this woman had obviously linked her to the guys. “I…yes. No one answered their phones. Are they around?”
“Stay put and I’ll find someone.”
The second Maria slipped into the back, Penny’s unwanted admirer shifted closer. His meaty hand landed on her thigh and shifted higher each second. “A woman doesn’t wear that kind of outfit unless she’s looking for a good time. And I’ll give it to you, baby. I can f*ck with the best of them.”
Penny averted her gaze. “Somehow, I highly doubt that.”
“Let’s get out of here before the old lady shows up again and I’ll prove it to you.” Flashing a yellow smile, the brute gave her leg a painful squeeze. She bit her tongue to withhold even an ounce of emotion and casually palmed his jean-covered erection. One second. Two. She counted to three before applying pressure, and watched his complexion pale.
He shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “Get your hand off me, you little bitch.”
Eyes wide in mocking innocence, she replied, “Then I suggest you do the same.”