*** NEW AND IMPROVED ***
With her father missing, Shay will do anything to get him back, even if that means teaming up with a cruel gang leader and his band of psychotic men.
CHARACTER VIEWS DO NOT REPRESENT MY OWN.
***WARNING*** OFFENSIVE CON...
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SO COLD
VYACHESLAV DIDN'T WANT TO be a third wheel despite Cole insisting it wasn't a date, he left with his magazine and the blacked out SUV after leaving us at the kerb of Millie's café. I was grateful for his absence, and I fought a smile as Cole showed less restraint; disappointed, mouth tugged downwards. His gaze darted in my direction, briefly sitting before straying, and he turned away, at an angle, clearly restless in my company. "Ladies first," he pulled open the café door and gestured for me to walk in, observing the street opposite before strolling in after me. Wary as always.
The mother with the rotten and yellow teeth had the front of her dress tugged down, exposing veiny-green and pale droopy breasts and a long neck. My footsteps came to a slow stop and my brow furrowed in disbelief. She was breast-feeding a baby made out of plastic parts and a caved in nose. Her lips peeled back into a wide smile and she cooed. "Isn't he just a gorgeous thing? Always hungry!"
"Cover up, Pauline!" Cole barked angrily. "I've told you not to do this in public again. You know better to pull this shit."
She shot him the stink eye and tugged a flowery patterned material over her breasts with a lazy hand, muttering under her breath. "Maybe I wouldn't have to be forced to whore myself out if you weren't so late on delivering the crystals." She reached a long, thin hand to a camera mounted on top of a coffee cup that I hadn't noticed and tucked it away in the hallow pocket of her grey cardigan. Standing up, back curved out, she placed the baby in the pram and fell back on the chair, rocking it back and forth with hushes.
"You'll learn to ignore her," Cole touched my arm briefly to gather my attention and headed across the room for a table in a corner, half obscured by a fake, giant potted green plant. He waited until I slid in the seat opposite him before speaking. "Tell me all you know."
Millie appeared before I could say anything. She carried a tray and set down a mocha and black coffee and a complimentary plate of cookies. I almost forgave her as she apologised for the delay until I bit into a cookie and discovered it was raisin and not chocolate like I'd hoped. Face twisted into distaste, I washed down the taste with a large mouthful of the drink I'd ordered hours ago, wiped my top lip with a napkin and said. "Chris Pearce, an accountant, works at Heaven Inc. He lives at the edge of town, on Windsor Road. He belongs to the elusive Men's Club. Not that important but definitely someone I want to take out. Then there's a cop who works at the station downtown, fifteen minutes from here, goes by the name Rooster. His class is unknown. And finally, a technician at Oaktown college. Used to live here. I'm going to drive out tomorrow to see Seth for a movie and I'm going to swing by, see what I can find out by snooping about. And that's pretty much it. It's all I know."
"How do you know this?" he wrapped a hand around his coffee cup and waited for me to figure out a lie, gaze heavy-lidded and intense.
