Mezzanine

| 55 |

We parked on Ocean Avenue, three streets down from Madame Leclerc's shop—far enough away that the car wouldn't be noticeable, but close enough that if things went bad, we could make a run for it.

"Do you think she'll be there today?" Carter asked as we got out and climbed the stairs that led to the boardwalk.

"Probably," Damien said. "Even if she's not working, she lives there. It's not like she has much of a social life, so unless she's out getting groceries or something, she'll be home."

Dark clouds rolled in over the ocean as the wind whipped across the beach, spraying sand and salt through the air. I pulled my hood up to shield my face the best I could.

"What's the plan then?" Lola asked. "How are we going to get in if she's there?"

"The main entrance to her house is through the porch where she does readings," Damien began. "There's a small foyer that she let Tessa and me onto while we worked, but the door from there to the rest of the house was always locked. But...there's also a back door from the side alley."

"So we break in through there?" I asked.

"That's what I'm thinking." Damien nodded. "In order for this to work, we'll have to make sure she's out of the house and doesn't come back until we're done."

"So...we need a distraction," Lola said.

"Exactly." Damien stopped walking down the boardwalk and scooted off to the side, pausing next to a shop that had been boarded up for the winter. Lola, Carter and I stopped as well, joining him as he motioned us over.

"This is where it gets tricky," he lowered his voice, glancing at the group of people strolling past us along the boardwalk. Once they were out of earshot, he continued. "She'll recognize me the moment she sees me. And..." He looked at me. "We look enough alike that if she sees you, she might catch on that we're related."

Lola crossed her arms. "I guess that leaves Carter and me as the distractions."

Damien nodded. "Yeah. You and Carter distract her, and Jay and I will sneak in and find out everything we can about those symbols and the ritual."

Damn, Carter thought. I was looking forward to snooping around in her house.

"Sorry, man." I patted his shoulder. "We need you elsewhere."

"It's fine." He shrugged, and then he smiled. "I'll do what's needed for the team...but how do we pull off this distraction?"

"I have an idea," Lola said. "Remember when we first went to the psychic shop? Tessa was working, but she said if we wanted a reading from Madame Leclerc, she would come out to give us one?"

"Yeah," Carter said. "So what? We just walk up and ask for a reading?"

"Yup. A really, really long one." Lola winked.

"That could work," Damien said. "She's super proud of her readings and pretend psychic abilities, so if you act like you're impressed and keep asking questions, she'll keep answering them."

"It's a plan then," Carter said. "Let's do this!" He started to walk off toward the psychic shop.

"Wait," I called.

He froze in place, slowly turning around to face me. "What?" He tilted his head to the side.

"I..." I stalled out. This was happening too quickly. We were about to break into the house of a woman who had threatened to kill my brother if she saw him on her property again, and we'd barely even hashed out the basics of our plan.

"We need some sort of code," I finally said. "A way to know that you and Lola have Madame Leclerc's attention and that she's out of the house. Damien and I need to stay out of sight, so we can't just be watching you guys."