Chapter 7

Seven

" T his way!" I dove under the nearest table and crawled out the other side, Lucy right behind me.

"Hey!" A woman pushed out her chair and looked down at us. She was wearing jeans, pink sneakers, and a matching T-shirt that bragged about some sort of baking competition. "What the—" She paused, when she saw me, her eyes widening. "Mia? What are you doing down there?"

She knew my name? I stared at her for a second, trying to place her, but I came up with absolutely nothing. I was great with faces and names, but I was sure I'd never seen her before. Her eyes were a bright blue, which I would have remembered. She had a trail of stud earrings on both ears, and she had a tiny heart tattooed on her collarbone.

Things I would have noticed, right?

Lucy popped her head out. "Rachel!"

Ah… Rachel! Nope, still didn't trigger any memories.

Rachel's gaze shot to Lucy. "You're with Mia?"

Again? How did she know me? Her voice wasn't familiar. And was there disdain that Lucy was with me? Who was she dissing, me or Lucy?

Neither was okay with me.

"Where's Hattie?" Rachel asked. "Aren't the three of you always together?"

"She's around here somewhere," Lucy said, with admirable vagueness.

I didn't know who this Rachel gal was, but it was time to take control in defense of my girl Hattie, because I stood in defense of women, especially those I adored with all of my loyal little heart. "We're in a bit of a situation. Can you help us?"

Rachel's attention swiveled back to me. "Maybe. What do you need?"

Maybe? We were crawling on a sticky pub floor. Didn't girl code require that she be all in on helping us? Perhaps I didn't remember who she was because I'd intentionally blocked the memory of Rachel and her lack of female support from my mind.

At that moment, a big, burly man with glassy eyes bent down and stared at me. "Thought Rachel was down here a little long. Who are you?"

"It's Mia Murphy and Lucy Grande," Rachel said. "I went to high school with Lucy."

She knew my last name, too? What the fudge? I waved. "Hey, there," I said cheerfully, sporting my best girly smile. "You have great boots."

Burly Guy looked down at his muddy boots, then back at me. "You're Mia Murphy? You don't look like a drug dealer."

Of course. Right. The past that never dies. "I'm not. I put one in prison."

"So you could bring it to Bass Derby and ruin our town," Rachel said, an edge to her voice that went right through my smushy little heart. "We all know it. You and your demon cat."

My demon cat stared at her silently, his claws flexing in my stomach. Silent stalking King Tut was much more dangerous than growly King Tut. "No, kitty," I whispered. "No attacking."

He kept staring. He definitely sensed Rachel's hostility, and I appreciated his loyalty. But we didn't have time for him to unleash feline mayhem in the Ugly Man right now.

Lucy put her arm over my shoulder. "Mia's a great person. She's a hero."

At that moment, the demon cat in question twisted suddenly in my arms, trying to launch himself at Rachel. Unsuccessfully, because I was ready, but my stomach was definitely going to have bloody claw marks on it when I got home.

I was never sneaking him in anywhere again.

Lucy immediately took her arm off my shoulders and backed up slightly, which didn't really help with my reputation in this dicey moment.

Rachel's gaze narrowed. "That cat attacked the police chief."

"It was an accident." Not really. She was absolutely correct, but it had been heroic, so I was voting for King Tut.

"That cat attacked Chief Stone?" Burly Guy grinned. "Good kitty."

My gaze swiveled to him. Rachel might hate me, but we had a chance with him. "We need a favor," I told him.

Burly Guy raised his bushy brows. His beard was like a grizzly after a long winter, and his red flannel shirt was horrifyingly stereotypical. "I don't deal drugs."

I sighed. "Neither do I." Rachel wasn't about to give us any girl support, but this guy might be just the man we needed. "We're hiding from the cops," I whispered, taking a chance on the type of clientele that frequented the Ugly Man. "Help us."

Rachel kicked me in the knee. "Shut up. The cops are here? Where?"

Um, ow. They weren't in my kneecap, thanks so much.

Interest flickered in Burly Guy's eyes. "Why? Drugs?"

What the fudge? "No, because…" I had to think fast. What would Burly Guy think was a great reason? "We're innocent."

He nodded. "Yeah, I know how that goes. Damn cops judge everyone."

Guilt flickered through me. Was this the kind of betrayal that Hattie was talking about? Sending the Ugly Man customers after Devlin and Griselda so Hattie didn't go to prison for murder?

Yep, yep, that was what Hattie had been talking about. My moral compass was a complete lie. I was somewhat shattered, but I didn't have time to plunge into the depths of a personal identity crisis. I was about to betray two men who I liked, who were willing to risk their lives to save mine.

But hey, they were former black ops. It might even be fun for them. I tried not to feel guilty. "The guy at the end of the aisle in the blue T-shirt and sunglasses, and the one at the bar in a black bomber jacket and black sneakers."

They both sat up and looked around.

"Blue shirt is coming this way. I got this." Burly guy shot to his feet. "Drinks on the cops!" he shouted, pointing to the bar.

"Don't help Mia, Bert," Rachel snapped. She waved her arms to get Devlin and Griselda's attention. "Hello! Mia and Lucy are under here!"

Um…wow. That was brutal.

But she was too late, because the tavern had already burst into rousing cheers, and everyone jumped to their feet and surged away from the table, no doubt over to Griselda and Devlin.

If they had any brains, Griselda and Devlin would know that was my fault, especially if they'd seen Turbojet outside. I was going to pay for that, but right now, we had to go save Hattie. She'd had a head start going after Charles, and despite what she thought, she wouldn't have a chance in hand-to-hand combat with him.

Bert the Burly Guy leaned under the table, a smug grin on his face. "Favor given, favor owed."

Dear heavens. I didn't want to owe that man a favor. "Thank you!" I said brightly, not quite agreeing to sell my soul to him.

"You're amazing," Lucy said. "Thank you!"

"My pleasure. Chaos is my friend." Bert did have a twinkle in his eye, which made me think he might be my kind of guy after all.

Rachel stood up and walked away, and I had a bad feeling she was going to rat us out.

"Let's go, Lucy." We scrambled to our feet and raced through the crowded room, staying hunched over, ducking around people flooding to the bar to order drinks.

I caught a glimpse of Griselda getting back slaps and man hugs, and then we were through the swinging door and into the back hallway.