Peyton took a couple of minutes to calm herself, all these memories of the past were really catching up to her. She hated remembering but still needed to, it was such a double-edged sword. Her motto in life should be your damned if you do and you're damned if you don’t. After a couple of deep breaths and few words in an attempt to psyche herself up for what was to come.
Peyton decided to make sure the look she had so hastily put together was still holding up. Looking into the mirror in her visor she almost wanted to cry because the person staring back at was not Peyton. She was a hollow desperate replica of her worst nightmare. Peyton looked like Judy, and that almost gutted her.
Getting out of the Jeep she fixed the wedgie that had lodged itself in her butt crack and started walking. She laughed a little to herself, yeah now I really fit in how classy was that move. To get her courage up, she began to count her steps, paying close attention to the way the gravel crunched under her heels. The counting helped her focus because God knew she was pretty sure if she had to stay in the stripper heels she was wearing very long she would surely break an ankle.
Walking into the Bush Club Peyton looked around. The place was a typical seedy strip bar. The smoke was so thick it created a fog around the dim lights. It was still pretty early, so the crowd was at least pretty thin. A poor woman was on the stage she looked about as enthusiastic as a person about to get a root canal. Peyton watched her for a little bit. She would walk around the pole that hung in the middle of the stage, shake her butt a little and then bend over, rise and repeat. It was sad really. Peyton had a weird fascination with stripper's often watching YouTube videos of them performing on the pole. Some of them were awesome. The strength and talent it took to carry out some of the more complicated moves were astounding. Peyton even took a pole dancing exercise class and found she like it a lot but this woman wasn’t doing anything but showing the goods. No talent, form or anything. Peyton was kind of disappointed because this was the first real strip club she had ever been in and it was bad but then again why should she expect anything more from Frank Frost or her mother.
Taking her eyes off the dancer, Peyton looked around to find her mark. It took her a couple of sweeps around the dimly lit room to locate the man, but there in all his glory was Frank Frost. Sitting in the corner leering at the dancer on stage. His signature bottle of booze sitting in front of him and his beer chaser waiting by its side. Typical Frank. He wasn’t her worse “step-dad,” but the man always managed to give her the creeps. He was mean and treated Bastian like dirt which even lowered him further on Peyton’s scale. But right now, he was a means to an end. She needed information, and she was determined to get it.
Frank Frost was a big man in both height and width. Once his build was all muscles now, it looked as though it was all girth of the flabby kind. The years had not been kind to the man. Peyton could hardly believe he was the same person she remembered as a child. He was disheveled and dirty now, but Peyton knew it was him because of his eyes. Bastian had those same eyes. They were a weird combination of blue, green, gray and brown. Peyton had never seen eyes like that before meeting this man and Bastian. The color wasn’t the only unusual thing about them though because at times she could swear both men eyes emitted a glow. Whether it was a play of the light or something else, Peyton never knew. But those eyes Peyton would always recognize. His hair was stringy and oily, and his skin had a bit of a yellowish hue that Peyton could even see in the dim light. He also looked as though it had been a while since a bar of soap had touched any part of him and Peyton was grateful for the tiny bottle of hand sanitizer she placed in her Jeep. She might have to stop and get more before the night was through. Peyton was not looking forward to what was to come. She was going to have to get close, and she was not looking forward to it.
She was used to dealing with shit, Considering the fact that she cleaned out dog kennels three times a day her resistance was pretty high but if the man smelled anything like he looked then she was in trouble. Gagging while trying to press Daddy Dearest for information was not the image she wanted to portray. No, she needed to seduce the greasy man, channeling her mother Peyton sauntered over to the rotund man only tripping once on her way to high heels. Thankfully no one paid her any attention.
"Frank? Frank Frost? I thought that was you, remember me, Peyton Carlton? Judy’s little girl." Generally saying those words wouldn’t get Peyton a pleasant welcome but for some reason, Frank and her Mother always seemed to have a different type of relationship. He knew she was up to something and accepted it. They really were two peas in a pod.
Peyton thought she looked good, well as good as a person can looking trying for whorish with a little bit of desperation mix in. Her mother might not have taught her much she definitely gave her inspiration when trying to channel her and judging by the way her old step dad was looking at her licking his lips and ogling her cleavage she had accomplished her goal. Ew.
"Oh, hello there Peyton," Frank said never taking his eyes away from her boobs. "Judy’s little girl man you sure have grown up honey. Why don’t you sit down and I will buy you a drink for old time sakes?"
"Damn honey, you sure have grown up nice just like your Mama." The leach was drooling, and sweating did he honestly think he had a chance? Well, of course, he did that was what Peyton wanted him to think, after all, it was still beyond gross, but she would do anything to figure out what Judy was up to and how it could affect Bastian.
Adopting her best flirty look which consisted of a lot of blinking and pursed lips. Peyton placed her hand on Franks' shoulder bending down to give him a better view of her cleavage and said, in an icky sweet voice, “No, no why don’t you let me buy you a drink, what do you have there whiskey?”
The man’s eyes were transfixed right where Peyton had wanted them but couldn’t help the revulsion she was feeling now. This was wrong on so many levels. Taking a seat next to him, Peyton scooted closer and forced herself to rub his forearm then leaning in and whispered into his freakishly large ear, "how about I buy us a bottle to share for old time sakes of course?" adding a little bit of a giggle at the end of the sentence. Peyton was pretty sure when she moved away one of his ear hairs actually poked her nose. She was pleased to see that the shudder she felt go through her body in disgust was misinterpreted by him as interest on her part, and it seemed to entice the man more.
"Well that is mighty sweet of you Page, you know you were always my favorite step kid. Those no-good boys of mine wouldn’t buy me a glass of water if I were on fire the ungrateful bastards. Always wanted me a little girl, that is why I got with Judy you know. Little girls take care of their parents, but you’re not such a little girl, any more are you?"
Playing the part, Peyton used one of Judy’s signature moves and ran her hands down her body only to come back up and push her breast up into place. Looking away from Frank she motioned for the waitress and ordered the bottle.
Referring to her as Paige did not go unnoticed either, growing up this man never had time for her or Bastian unless he was pissed about something and then Bastian usually got the brunt of that attention, the fact that the man could not remember what her name was not surprising. She stayed out of Franks way anyway she could. Now that she had his full attention. The fact that his eye still hadn’t left her cleavage made her hope that she was at least going to get what she came for, answers.
Peyton needed information, and since he was already three sheets to the wind she knew the bottle she just ordered would help her get those answers. But she needed to start this little fact-finding mission ASAP and get what she needed from him while she could before he passed out. Which the bastard always did when he got too drunk. With a sickeningly sweet tone to her voice, she said" Oh I thought you only had one son, what was his name? I can never remember it. "Peyton could actually feel her brain cells dying as a result of just pretending to be the bubbled headed ditz she was trying to play. It sickened her but damn it needed to be done. If she had to lose a few brain cells
in the process what was the big deal, right?
"Yeah, I have four ungrateful bastards that won’t have anything to do with me. I don’t understand it I feed them got the old ladies to make sure they went to school with clean fucking clothes. But all they do is bitch, you didn’t love us you beat our asses, blah blah blah. Ungrateful that’s what they are if I would have left them with their no-good mother they would have been in worse shape. You know, that oldest one of mine he is the most ungrateful brat of them all. He makes real good bank and won’t even buy his daddy a beer can you believe that. Thinks he is better than me. That just ain’t right. You wouldn’t do that to your daddy would you Page?"
This man was the worst, Peyton knew why his kids didn’t have anything to do with him, and it wasn’t because he fed and clothed them. No, it was because he was a mean son of a bitch that beat on them every chance he got. She also knew that Bastian’s three brothers spent most of their childhoods with their mothers. So, this little conversation was going nowhere fast because Frank Frost was living in a fairy tale. Believing his untruth or trying to sell them just the same, this was familiar ground to Peyton, after all, it was also Judy’s MO.
"Nope Frankie, I just bought you a bottle. I’m sorry to hear about your boys that must hurt," she said leaning closer and patting him on should. Offering him sympathy she did not feel.
"Fuck no it doesn’t hurt I don’t need those bastards, but they should pay me back for all the money I had to spend on their worthless asses."
Frank seemed to faze in and out for a while and then the girl on stage caught his attention. After a few minutes, Peyton knew she needed to bring his attention back to their conversation, so she moved in closer and pressed her ample cleavage against his clammy arm. " Frankie, don’t you want to catch up with me?" she pouted drawing her lip out as far as it would go. She knew she looked all kinds of stupid but hey if it worked then going a step further she started drawing a circle on his greasy chest with her finger. All the while thinking to herself Ewww! Attempting to keep her mind off of this disgusting man. She focused on her hands, Peyton thought. Damn. I should have done something to my fingernails they look horrible. Like a person who actually used their hands to work for a living, nothing like the manicured long and painted nails Judy so often dawned.
"Here how about another drink." Pouring the amber liquid into his glass seemed to bring him back to the moment.
"Oh, hey Pacey, sorry, you know it must be my lucky week, I just saw your momma the other day. That Judy sure does know how to show a man a good time. Do you take after your momma?" He said with a wink, tipping his glass in her direction nearly spilling it onto the floor.
Still rubbing on the gross man, Peyton answered," Sure do Frankie, she taught me all her best moves, you know like mother like daughter. Where did you and Mom meet up? I haven’t seen her in a while oh look you need a refill."
"Oh, she came here looking for me wanted to know where one of my kids was, I told her he was up North somewhere that he was too good to talk to his daddy. Pacey why don’t we make this a proper reunion, give daddy a kiss for old time sakes. Never got to taste the goods back then you were just a little girl, but you’re not a little girl anymore. Come on give your step Daddy a big ole kiss."
Peyton actually threw up in her mouth a little bit. "Oh, Daddy she giggled I don’t know that wouldn’t be right she said playing coy. How about just a little one on the cheek. Did Mom say anything else? What has she been up to, I have meant to call, but you know how she is when she has a mark." Peyton then forced herself to kiss the smelly man on his enormous jowl, if she had been a second slower she would have been kissing his lips. The sly old dog turned when she came in for the kiss, yuck. Here Daddy why don’t I fill up your glass, man you must be thirsty.
"Hey Peyton," Frank said with a bit of venom in his voice, and I knew the gig was up. Playing this game was a mistake. He was better at it, and I was way out of my league. Peyton was just about to get up to leave when he said," I might be drunk but not that drunk little girl." Frank continued with his little revelation," I would have thought your Mama would have taught you better than that. Although she never too was all that bright."
"So here is how this going to go. You want to know what your Mama wanted with me, and I want to get off. You should already know everything in life comes with a price the question is are you willing to pay it?" Shoving back his chair Frank leaned back and started to undo his pants. " So be a good little girl and give Daddy a hand job or better yet give me a blow job and then I will tell you what that bitch wanted. If that is not your thing, then get the fuck out of here so I can enjoy the rest of my night and I will think about not telling you Mama that you were here the next time she comes crawling back go Good Ole Frank."
Shit could she do it could she give this man a hand job no way in hell she was giving him a blowjob. No, she really couldn’t she didn’t even think she would be able to find his penis under the rolls of fat on his stomach. He had really let himself go. She had one more play in her playbook, the one thing that always got Frank and her mom going.
"Frank since you were blunt with me I am going to be blunt with you, I’m not giving you a hand or blow job sorry, but it would just be too weird. Not to mention I’m pretty sure I would be scared for life after that little experience. What I am willing to do is pay you for the information I want."
The bastard had the nerve to laugh, honey you don’t have enough money to make this worth my while. I’m going to let you off the hook easy for old time sake, now go on home you are a cute little thing, but you are nothing like your momma. Let me give you some advice, though. The next time you want to get a guy to do what you want, flash a little tit or go for his junk. You aren’t good enough to play this game little girl time to go home with your tail between your legs. I just wanted to see how far you would go to get what you want. The whole act amused me for a bit now it just plain annoying. Now get I’ve got stuff to do."
Peyton slammed two thousand dollars on the table. She had more and knew he would want it right now she needed his attention and the bills certainly did that. Frank raised his eyebrow and said now you’re talking add another five and you’ve got a deal. Peyton pulled out another five hundred and put it on the table and thankfully he took the deal. She didn’t have any more cash on her.
Frank started talking, now all business. It seemed good old Mommy Dearest is in deep with some suits, Frank looked into her story because if anyone were going to make money off one of his kids, it would be him. Apparently, they wanted Sebastian, and his team’s location and they were willing to spend big money for the information. No good. He followed Judy to the suits and decided it wasn’t worth his while. More precisely the dudes were bad news. Frank wouldn’t say anything more so Peyton left, but before she could go, he said, “Listen I don’t like that bastard of mine, but you might want to warn him to watch his back, these guys are up to no good. Your momma is in over her head, I think she finally bit off more than she could chew. If she doesn’t get the information they want, you won’t be seeing her again."
Peyton said goodbye and left. The man might be scum, but she had to give him a little credit he wasn’t stupid, unlike Judy. What the hell was she involved with now? Peyton knew what her next step needed to be and that was to figure out who the suits were and she knew just how to do it, the CIA had the best facial recognition software out there it was time to play. Then she would call Bastian and tell him what was going on. Shit after she bought a little more time, now she needed to come up with the money her mom wanted. Good thing there was always a market for a good hacker.
Chapter 5
Peyton could have taken the money out of one of her accounts, but she didn’t want to. Paying Judy with her money felt wrong. Paying her with someone else's dirty money, on the other hand, didn’t cause Peyton the same kind of conflict. Especially if that person was a piece of shit just like her mother. Finding the job was easy. The job she ended up taking was for some businessm
an wanted information regarding a competitor of his. Basically, for blackmailing purposes. Peyton found the information quickly and forwarded it. Both men were shady and liked to play in dangerous areas she felt it was her job to teach them a little lesson. So, she set up a Trojan and forwarded the information on her employer and sent that information to the competitor. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. Turnabout is fair play, after all, she had what she had come for an easy $2500 to buy a little more time.
Peyton gave Judy the down payment on the agreed upon date. The bitch even gloated, but what was more important she thought she was sly. Still bringing up Bastian and continuing to make threats. Peyton played along not giving her any information. They set up their next meet date for one month and thankfully Judy was gone. Peyton knew she needed to get the hell out of dodge before that meeting, for now, she had at least bought a little time.
Peyton decided to bring a local dog breeder she had been working with on and off for a while on full-time as her assistant. Her name was Cathy, and she was retired military and had even worked with one of her dogs in the field. The lady impressed Peyton, and that was hard to do. Her love for the dogs rivaled Peyton’s. What Cathy didn’t know was that Peyton was planning on making the position a little more involved. If everything worked out, she planned on offering the business to Cathy altogether.
For the next couple of weeks Peyton’s admiration of the woman only increased, she knew now that she could leave her precious babies knowing Cathy would take care of them. She also knew she was making the right choice. After all of this stuff with her mother was done and over she planned to sit down with Cathy. She felt that she was the right person to leave everything Peyton had worked so hard to achieve too. It just felt like it was time. Even though she would be leaving a little part of herself behind, in the end, Peyton knew it was the right choice. She needed a change. She needed to live, and she was going to do her damnedest to figure out just how to do that. She didn’t want to look over her shoulder for her mother any longer that part of her life needed to be over. She would take Zeus, Hera, and Brut and retire, that was the plan.
Wyatt: NAC & The Holly Group (Alpha Team Book 3) Page 5
