The Black Coats(37)
The hurt in his voice gave her pause. “I know.” She took his wrist and dropped her head in frustration. “I really don’t want to leave you. That kiss was just getting good.”
He shook away from her. “It was, and still somehow I don’t entirely believe you.” He looked into her eyes. “I can tell you want to go, you know.”
It was impossible, and yet Thea did. She wanted to be both with him on that blanket and in the car with Team Banner. She raised up on her tiptoes and kissed the tip of his sunburned nose before wrapping both arms around his neck. “We should probably head inside anyway; you’re getting sunburned.” She kissed him softly. “Tell me how I can make it up to you.”
He sighed, pressing his tongue on the inside of his cheek. “Okay, but you’ll be sorry you asked. Come meet my dad sometime soon? He’s been asking about you, and I’ve been putting it off, but he’s getting annoying and also”—he swept her up in his arms, lifting her off the ground and resting his forehead against hers—“I really, really like you, Thea Soloman, you with the mysterious side job restoring Edwardian furniture.”
“Victorian houses,” she whispered, “and the feeling is mutual.”
Team Banner could wait for a few more minutes, she figured, and she pressed her mouth to his for one last taste of sunshine before she began her descent into the electrifying dark.
The target’s name was Jonathan Samper, and he worked at an upscale farm-to-table eatery called Pear, near downtown Austin. They parked Mirabelle’s car outside the restaurant right before closing time.
“They are going to hate us. People who come to restaurants right before closing are the worst,” muttered Louise.
Casey shook her head. “Only you would worry about being polite during a Balancing.” She turned to Thea. “Do you have everything?”
Thea nodded, pulling a tiny black vial out of her pocket. “One powdered dose of Rohypnol, generously supplied by the luminaries.”
According to their Balancing sheet, twenty-one-year-old Jonathan Samper had been accused of drugging and date-raping not one but two of his girlfriends. Because they didn’t go to the police immediately, there was no physical evidence to charge him. He remained in good standing both at school and at work, while the two women he raped suffered the shame of their reputations. That was all about to change.
Team Banner was dressed nicely today; under their Black Coats they each wore a dressy outfit to blend in at Pear. A bunch of girls all dressed in head-to-toe black would have drawn attention, and that was the last thing they needed.
“This is on Mademoiselle Corday, right?” asked Casey, standing at the door. “I looked at the menu last night and it’s pretty pricey.”
Thea nodded. “Yes, but don’t go crazy. No duck. Sandwiches all around.”
“Or salads!” suggested Mirabelle cheerfully.
Thea’s fingers curled around the vial in her dress pocket. She was nervous, and the setting sun was beating down on her coat. She couldn’t stop seeing Drew’s disappointed face in her mind. “Let’s do this, Team Banner.”
The meal was quite delicious and the company divine. Even when they were on a Balancing, Thea was surprised by how much she loved hanging around these girls. They watched with careful eyes as the restaurant slowly cleared out, and soon they were the only ones left besides Jonathan—their waiter—and the bartender, who was glued to his phone. Thea signaled to Mirabelle, who raised her arm in the air. Jonathan zipped over to her side, his eyes on her chest.
“Hi.” She casually laid her hand on his arm. “We just need our check, and also I was wondering: Would you want to have a drink with us? We’re celebrating our friend’s promotion! It’s on us.” Jonathan’s eyes lit up as he took in the group.
“Yeah, I mean, cool! Let me go ask the bartender for a round. You’re the only ones in here, so that’s no big deal.” He practically hopped away, excited by his luck and Mirabelle’s attention. She tilted her head and smiled coyly.
He soon reappeared with bottles of beer for each of them, plopping down between Thea and Mirabelle. When Casey stood to go to the restroom, Thea used the sound of her chair to cover the noise of her popping the top off the vial. Quick as a fox, she dumped the powdered contents into her beer and gave it a swirl. Jonathan’s eyes were still on Mirabelle, who was telling a funny story about some people she had met on a bus. Thea then switched her bottle with Jonathan’s. When Mirabelle concluded, Jonathan reached for his beer. Thea was incredibly disturbed at how easy it was.
Thea raised her drink with a sexy wink. “Shall we go bottoms up? Maybe to sharing things?”
Team Banner watched with smiles on their faces as he finished the last of it.
Thirty minutes later, Jonathan Samper lay across their legs in the back seat of the car, his head on Thea’s lap. Mirabelle’s car hurtled forward on Highway 71, out toward Barnpiper Park: a thirty-three-acre plot of land that included playgrounds, camping sites, and a big patch of woods right at its center. Getting him there was easy: the drug rendered the taker compliant, incapable of resisting. It also produced a sort of amnesia, which was what made Rohypnol the drug of choice for men like Jonathan.
He was conscious, but only partly. He was quite attractive, with thick black hair combed back from a handsome face combined with strong eyebrows, flawless skin, and an earnest smile. Thea could see why women would fall so easily for him. Here on her lap he looked innocent, occasionally babbling on about this or that, but she knew he was anything but. In his drug-induced euphoric stupor, Jonathan was reaching up and touching Thea’s face every few minutes. She repeatedly slapped his hand away in disgust.