A gunshot ripped through the air, Beadie's body flinching at the sound.
But as she looked around, her eyes scanning the crowd around her, barely anyone was shaken by the sound. Almost like it was normal here, which disturbed her deeply.
"Next!" the guard in the front yelled, their long line moving forward a little.
Somehow, Alejandro was able to get her so far by pulling a few strings. Now she had a new identity and was ready to go to play waitress for the Mexican cartel, which wasn't how she expected her Thursday night to go.
The warm night wrapped around her like a blanket, her palms already sweating from the nerves. Subtly, Beadie pulled her red mini-dress lower, mentally cursing her team for forcing her into such revealing clothing.
But their intel said she had to dress up and look 'hot'. So she just did that, waiting for Graves' approval. But he barely glanced in her direction as he nodded, already busy planning out how to get her inside. The only approval she got was from the Los Vaqueros, Alejandro's team as they whistled when she walked by.
Even in high heels, Beadie was considered short between all these beautiful women, who all waited in line with her. All of them looked like models, some of them curvier or thinner, but beautiful nonetheless. But even their heavily applied make-up couldn't hide their worrisome expressions or their reddened eyes.
Her whole body buzzed with the need to at least talk to someone. Beadie loved to talk to other people, her extroverted soul craving some interaction, but then she remembered Ghost's advice. Don't speak unless you're spoken to. Don't let them know you understand them.
And from what she heard, everybody spoke Spanish here, some English words shouted by the guards. And that meant she had to keep to herself, which was a hard task. But this was her only chance, she couldn't blow it.
As she waited in the line, Beadie took in her environment one more time, trying to remember each entrance point and the positions of the guards. The building had multiple levels and it was beautiful, getting distracted by the beautiful supporting beams and the way everything was lighted just the right way. If it wasn't for the danger hanging above her head, she would've loved to explore this place.
After half an hour of lining up, she finally got closer to the entrance where two guards stood. Both of their faces were hidden by a black balaclava, assault rifles hanging from their shoulders. They were muscular, tall men and from their stance, it was obvious not to mess with them. Nervousness made her hands tremble slightly, watching as the tall brunette woman in the front walked and then stopped in front of them.
She had a nice body, but her face wasn't conventionally attractive per se. In Beadie's opinion she was still beautiful, her long brown hair reaching to her waist and long legs on display in her too-short skirt, her cheeks almost hanging out.
Then one of the guards shook his head and told her something the blonde woman didn't catch.
"P-please!" the woman begged in Spanish, her high voice catching the attention around them. "I need to go inside, I can't go back like this! I need money-"
The other guard on the left stepped forward and pointed the gun straight at the woman. Beadie let out a gasp, her eyes widening at the sight. The woman kept on pleading, clutching her hands together when two other guards came from the back, dragging the woman out of the line. Her desperate cries mixed with hurt and panic as the guards dragged her toward the woods.
They never saw the woman ever again.
With the previous scene pressing down on them, the next woman stepped forward, her legs wobbling slightly. She had gorgeous tan skin, long black curls, and an amazing emerald green dress enhancing her curves. Even Beadie couldn't stop herself from admiring her. She was jealous of her boobs.
The guard on the right (who seemed to be in charge of deciding who got to go inside) barely had to glance at her before he nodded. She smiled at the guards as she walked past them, the guard on the left looking after her shamelessly.
Beadie couldn't quite blame him, that woman was like a goddess.
"Next!"
That finally snapped her out of her thoughts, just to realize it was now her turn. Oh, fuck.
Beadie straightened her back and put a small smile on her face as she started walking forward, just as she practiced. Her steps were graceful, her hips swaying just the right amount to be seductive, her red-painted lips in a gentle smile. Her blonde curls bounced with every step, her fake confidence making her feel a little better about herself.
She stopped in the spot where she watched all the women before her stop, just a few feet away from the armed guards. The guard on the right let his eyes rake her body, the weight of her gaze making her uncomfortable but she couldn't let it show.
"Turn around."
Don't let them know you understand them.
Beadie furrowed her eyebrows, looking between the guards and silently asking for more context. The guard on the right let out an impatient sigh and gestured with his hand for her to turn around.
Slowly, Beadie did a 360, her heart beating loudly in her chest, her calm and collected energy slipping through her fingers like fine silk. They didn't spend so much time on one girl before. She must be doing something wrong.
But why were they so picky about waitresses? You had to look good enough for that job, fine, but she was waiting for one of them to ask her cup size at this point.
"Look at that ass," the guard on the left commented, his low voice almost melting together with the warm night. A gentle breeze lifted her hair slightly, the motion enough to distract them from the small frown on the blonde's face.
"And she's blonde, too. Little pale, though," the one on the right hummed. "Boss will be pleased."
Beadie kept her composure as she stared at them, blinking innocently and smiling dumbly like she had no clue about anything. Play dumb like they all expected you to be.
"Go," Right Guard spoke, his Mexican accent strong through his English words.
With a slightly bigger smile, she walked past them, making sure to sway her hips. She felt the weight of their gaze on her behind as she walked through the gate, her strapped high heels clicking against the pavement satisfyingly.
She got inside. Maybe I'm not that dumb after all.
Beadie followed the faint voices inside, climbing up the small stairs that lead to the monumental front door. She took a second to appreciate the details on the door and small porch before taking a deep breath and walking inside.
The interior looked a whole lot different from the exterior.
As she stepped inside, the first thing she noticed was the suffocating smell of vanilla and something else sweet mixing in the warm air. Then she had to blink a few times for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting inside. That's when she saw all the women that got through the security huddled inside, a grumpy-looking bald man looking down at them from the steps that lead upwards.
"Hurry up!" a man standing next to the main entrance sneered at the blonde woman. The tone alone was enough to make her obey, her heart beating erratically between her ribcage.
Her gut feeling told her to get out, but she had to push that feeling down. She had a job to do.
Even if everything inside her head screamed Get the hell out!
All the women were standing in a poorly furnished living room, with only a bigger couch in the middle, an armchair in the far corner next to the stairwell that lead upstairs, and a curtain on the left. Beadie's eyes idled on the deep maroon curtains, wondering what was behind it. She took a mental note to check it out once she got the chance to have some free time.
As the blonde woman stood in the back, she started studying the faces around her. Some of them were a little scared, some of them had their mascara a little smudged and their eyes red, while some just stared blankly at the wall ahead of them. In the dim lighting, they looked lifeless. Void of life yet still beautiful. Like dolls on display.
"Alright, chicas," the bald man in a vibrant shirt spoke up, his harsh voice making all whispers disappear in the room. A few other girls walked in the main door, then the two guards standing there closed the double doors after them.
Beadie felt her heart sink to her stomach, the doors closing echoing in her ears. That gut feeling she had when she got inside just got stronger with each second passing. As a self-soothing act, she hugged her arms around herself, blue eyes jumping back to the man looking down at them.
His smile creeped her out.
"Congratulations on getting inside for this year's party, mamas," the man clapped his hands in a celebrating way, but nobody seemed in the mood to mirror him. „Some of you already know the rules. One of them being the most important: you cannot go outside."
Panic rose inside her. If she can't go outside, she won't be able to meet up with one of her team members at that safe point they agreed on. The original plan was that she'll go there every night at midnight sharp, tell all the intel she could gather, and get back. But this task just got a lot more difficult.
"Spread the words about the other rules, I don't have time," the man waved in the air with his hand, a guard hurrying to his side. "These lovely men will tell you where you can and cannot go. Some of you know what happens if you disobey."
Beadie felt the fear radiate towards her from all the other women around her, and it made her fidgety. She shifted her weight on her legs, her curls brushing against her arms and her fingers finding one of the longer strands. She started curling it around her finger then smoothing it back out, and repeating the process a few times more. It was an odd self-soothing habit of hers, which did not seem to be working at the moment.
The man in the vibrant shirt then looked over them, a slight smile tugging at his lips like he was pleased by what he was looking at. Beadie never felt so vulnerable yet so unimportant in her life.
Then he said the words that plunged an ice-cold dagger straight into her heart.
"You now belong to El Sin Nombre. Welcome to La Casa de Placer."
The house of pleasure.
Whatever this was, this wasn't the waitress job their intel had promised. And Beadie now had no idea how to make this right.
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this is a shorter chapter but this leads up to the fun part
our girl just became a spy while slaying, im so proud of her