The Misters: Books 1-5 Box Set

by JA Huss

  “Oh, it was a private commission. That’s the Tate Modern in London.”

  “Uh-huh.” I turn away from the art and look around nervously for the back door, ready to get the fuck out of here. “You should probably have that thing locked up. It has to be worth quite a bit.”

  “Oh, we have the best security,” Lauren says, wrapping her arm in mine to lead me towards the stairs. “We use ShrikeSafe. They are the best, I hear.”

  My heart is in full-on gallop mode when I hear the name Shrike come out of her mouth. And all I want to do right now is go grab my sister and get the hell away from this creepy chick.

  “Let me show you the upstairs. We absolutely adore Lily, Katya. I just want to let you know she’s a delight in every way. So smart, so pretty.” I don’t even have a chance to object to climbing the stairs with her, that’s how smooth her transition is.

  When we get to the top, she points to the line of bedrooms. There are a lot of bedrooms, and this house is definitely longer than it is wide, because it’s certainly not anything close to as small as it appeared from outside. “Only Michelle, Angie, and I live here at the moment. But I think Kelly is moving in next week. And we hope that Lily will move in as well.”

  “Hmmm,” I say, controlling all the feelings I have right now. “I really don’t think this is her cup of tea, you know? She likes her dorm.”

  “Oh, come on, Katya. We both know you don’t want her here. So stop pretending. I want us to be friends. If there’s something you don’t like about us, just say so. Maybe I can fix it.”

  “Yes, well, I don’t really know you ladies well enough not to like you. I just think that a… what is the Antimony Association? A club? A sorority? Whatever it is, I just don’t think it’s the right place for Lily.”

  “She has told me how much you despise the sisterhood.”

  Oh, good God. Can she be any more dramatic?

  “And I must say, I’m surprised. You are strong, and smart, and pretty. You have carved a place for yourself. And she tells me you did it alone. But why go it alone, Katya, when you don’t have to? Why not harness the support of other smart, pretty, and better-connected young ladies? Wouldn’t it have been much easier to get where you are if you had help?”

  I sigh, like I’m trying to be patient. “Look, Lauren. I get it. You’re all about helping others and everyone needs help some times. But I’m just not interested, OK? And I’d prefer if you left Lily out of it as well. We’ve worked really hard to get to this place and while it was tough going it alone, we like it that way.”

  Lauren is nodding her head. “I totally understand. Lily asked me to try to talk you into it, but I respect your decision. How about we just forget about it and go enjoy the festivities outside?”

  “Perfect,” I say. She doesn’t twine her arm in mine as we descend, but that’s A-OK with me. When we get back to the living room there’s even more people at the front door. The girl I recognize as Kelly is directing people to go around the side of the house to the back yard. But Lauren leads me further inside to a long dining room with a table that seats twelve, and then into the large commercial kitchen where there are about a dozen people busy cooking and setting up serving trays.

  “This is some brunch you’re having,” I say to Lauren as we pass through without a word to the caterers.

  “It really is. We only do this twice a year,” Lauren explains. “Once in the fall for Initiation Week. And once in the spring for Scholarship Week.”

  Yeah, I’m so done with these girls. Initiation Week? “And what does initiation consist of?”

  “Oh, they’re science fairs. Lily told you that, right? Everyone has an exhibit and they present them at the brunch. Her project is amazing. She’s been working on it for so long. Last month she was so afraid she wouldn’t get results worth publishing.”

  “Publishing?” I ask. “She thinks she’s going publish her science fair results?”

  “Katya, this is what I’ve been trying to tell you. We are no ordinary science organization. The Antimony ladies work with some of the best mentors in the country. The world, in some cases. Lily couldn’t afford to travel last semester, so I got Professor Albright from Cornell to come here.”

  “You what?”

  “And Lily didn’t disappoint. Albright loved her so much, she’s offered her internships in her lab at Cornell for both winter and summer break. Free of charge, of course,” Laurens adds, as if money was my biggest concern right now.

  I decide to just stop asking questions. Obviously Lauren knows more about what my sister has been up to than I do, so why pretend? Why make a fool of myself? And wasn’t that Lily’s warning to me? Don’t ask too many questions, Katya.

  Fine. Lauren stops at the double doors which presumably leads to the back yard, and turns to smile at me. “She’s really going places, Katya. And I hope you and I can be friends. We’re the same age, right? We really need to go out and have drinks in the near future.”

  “Sure,” I say, just to make her stop talking.

  I get a smile for my acquiescence and she opens both doors in a dramatic reveal.

  And the scene outside is absolutely drama. The yard, for one, is several lots long. There is a fence, but standing up here on the porch, I can see over it. And on the other side is a street.

  But that’s not the only dramatic thing happening in the Antimony back yard. There are tents. Seven of them, all made of a light-colored canvas. There are more than a dozen servers walking around with trays filled with tall fluted glasses and tiny little finger sandwiches. One of the tents is filled with musicians who look like they are just about ready to start playing. Not a band, like you’d see at most college parties. But a string quartet all dressed up in black and white. And the people. There has to be more than a hundred people here.

  I let out a breath.

  “It’s something, right?” Lauren says with a wide smile.

  “Yeah,” I say, trying to take it all in. “It sure is something.”

  “Oh, there’s Lily now. Come on, let’s go join the party, Katya.”

  I follow Lauren into the crowd. People part for us—her, I should say. Her minions playing up her role of benevolent queen to perfection. Everyone is dressed in fine clothing and I’m suddenly self-conscious about my choice of dress.

  I look like some kind of bohemian who came out of the alley compared to these people.

  “Hey,” Lily says, coming up to kiss Lauren on both cheeks. Are we European now? She speaks Russian? She greets people with cheek kisses?

  Where am I?

  “You look stunned,” Lily says to me, laughing.

  “Well,” I say, looking around. “You said small brunch. So obviously I was not expecting this.”

  “I know.” Lily giggles as she takes a sip of whatever is in those tall fluted glasses. “You’d never have come if I told you how big this was. But I’m so glad you’re here.” She twines her arm in mine in a sisterly gesture of love.

  I try my best to keep smiling.

  “Katya,” a girl says off to my right. I recognize her as Michelle from the coffee shop yesterday. “So glad you could make it. And I love those boots. You must love them too.” She laughs. “They look like you’ve been wearing them forever.”

  If that’s a dig at my outfit, or my money situation, or anything else, I don’t give her the satisfaction of being annoyed. I just smile and look her over. “White. You and Lily, both—”

  That’s when I realize they are all wearing the same dress. Lauren, Michelle, and another girl, who I think is Angie—one of the token thugs, as she referred to herself, from yesterday—are all wearing sleeveless white dresses with silver pins. Something I hadn’t noticed on Lily when she was at my house today.

  Right. Time to go.

  “Lily,” I say, looking down at her with my best unconcerned expression. “I have to go.”

  “Awww.” Lily pouts. “But the quartet hasn’t even played yet. And you didn’t have a finger sandwich.”
/>
  I pat her hand and widen my fake smile. “I’m afraid I can’t miss that appointment I told you about. But it was so lovely to meet you all.” I nod at each of the girls. “And I really do hope we can get that drink sometime, Lauren. Just let me know when you have time and I’ll clear my schedule.”

  “OK,” Lily says. “Do you want me to walk you out?”

  “No, no,” I say. “I can find my way. But don’t forget about me tomorrow. I’ll see you for coffee?”

  “Yup,” Lily says. “See you tomorrow.”

  I take deep, deep breaths as I find my way out of the back yard and walk down the street to where I parked my car. I smile at everyone bustling along on the sidewalk. Even if they are not dressed for the party. Everyone.

  But when I am safely inside the privacy of my car, I let the panic take over. I stick my head between my legs for a full three minutes as I get my hyperventilation under control.

  I’m going to be late to the meeting and I don’t care. I need one more trip to my secret phone. “Please, Mariel,” I whisper to myself. “Get here soon.”

  Nothing about this is right.

  Everything about this is wrong.

  I feel like I’ve missed something very important. Like it’s about to slap me in the face and I will never see it coming because it’s too damn late.

  I start car, the panic coming back, and put it in gear. Speed away from this house. This place that is so clearly murky. So clearly manipulative. So well-funded, and perfect, and just out of reach to everyone but a chosen few.

  How could my sister miss that? How, after all the things I’ve told her about? After all the things I’ve warned her about?

  I know how. But I don’t even allow myself to think the words. I won’t.

  I won’t, I won’t, I won’t.

  But I will make a promise to them right now. If the Antimony Association thinks they can steal my sister away with pretty parties filled with poisoned promises…

  Well. Then let it be a surprise when their world comes crumbling down from all directions.

  Chapter Thirty-Five - OLIVER

  “That was a joke, right?” I ask Pax, who is still grinning like the mysterious guy he is.

  “Look,” Pax says, crossing his arms and leaning back on the server cabinet. “Liam called me and made an offer.”

  “You’re not killing West. I don’t care how much of a dick he is, he’s still one of us.”

  “Give me a break, Shrike. Of course I’m not going to kill him. But I can fake it long enough to get the answers we need.”

  “How? You don’t think that guy wants proof?”

  “Are there more of these dark web marketplaces? Or is this the only one?”

  “Of course there’s more.”

  “Then let’s find one.”

  “Pax—”

  “Just listen to me, OK? If everything is for sale—and clearly it is, since you’re selling some deeply disturbing shit on this site—”

  “It’s not my site. How many times do I have to tell you that?”

  “—then we can buy a reporter, don’t you think?”

  “Why would we want to buy a reporter?”

  “To give us proof. What if we buy a reporter, we stage a murder scene, and then we get that reporter to put it on the news? I could show Liam the proof and he will hand over the answers.”

  “I don’t like it. And I don’t think we can buy a reporter, Pax.”

  “Sure we can. The media is corrupt as fuck these days. We can dangle money in front of them, send them pictures, they put it on the air, and we do our business. As soon as we get what we need, they retract. I think this is how it’s done, Oliver. I don’t even think they will blink. They don’t have to know we’re lying. We just send them the info, they air it as an anonymous social media photo, and bam. We’re golden.”

  I think about it. Look for the pitfalls. But really, he has a point. There are all kinds of things that go viral these days that get picked up by the media.

  “And then what?” I ask.

  Pax smiles because he knows I’m in. “I don’t know yet. I guess it depends on what the girls have planned.”

  A faint banging comes from the other side of the door. I can just barely make out West yelling upstairs. “He knows we’re down here.”

  Pax looks at his watch. “We gotta get this shit started anyway. I’d like to have Weston dead by the end of the night, if we can swing it.”

  I just look at him. “Do not say that outside this room, you understand? And I’m not on board yet. Not until West agrees. So go upstairs and get him and bring him down here so we can talk.”

  I turn away before I can see his reaction, but I am all too familiar with Paxton Vance’s bulldozer attitude once he makes a plan. I have no doubt Weston Conrad will be dead by tonight.

  A few seconds later footsteps thump down the stairs and then West, appears, followed by Mac, Nolan, and then Pax.

  “Did you lock it up?” I ask him.

  Pax shoots me a look closely related to the one I missed a few minutes ago. What do you take me for? this one asks.

  “What’s this all about?” Mac asks, leaning up against the wall, arms crossed.

  “Mr. Mysterious has a plan to discuss.”

  “What kind of plan?” Nolan asks, narrowing his eyes. He’s always been a suspicious fuck. Not that I blame him.

  “Remember when I told you Liam called me and asked me to finish the job?”

  “The job?” Mac asks. “You mean the one where he was paying you to set up West and then kill him?”

  “Hey,” Pax says. “That last plan worked like a charm. I saved your ass.” Pax and West glare at each other. “You should be thanking me, Corporate. Because I’ve just had a stroke of brilliance.”

  West doesn’t look convinced. “Is that so?”

  “Well, what is it?” Mac asks.

  Nolan laughs. “He’s gonna kill him probably.”

  “Ding, ding, ding,” Pax says, his smile so big he looks like a crazed psychopath. Did I really consent to my sister dating this guy? What the fuck was I thinking? “Yes! Hahahaha.” He laughs. Then his face goes dead serious. “Not really, you assholes. West,” he says, looking at him. “You know I might not like you much, but I’ve always had your back. And I’m sorry about this, buddy, but they want you dead. If I kill you, Liam will talk. We need answers, brother. So take one for the team, OK?”

  I put my hands up to stop the uproar. Then place two fingers on my tongue and whistle shrilly to shut them up. “Stop,” I say. Nolan is tugging West off Pax and Mac is pushing Pax into a corner to keep them from fighting.

  “Knock it off, you dicks. It’s a fucking figure of speech, Weston. For fuck’s sake. Don’t you know him well enough by now? He’s just trying to piss you off.”

  West pushes Nolan off him and straightens his shirt. “Well, excuse the fuck out of me,” he says, breathing hard and pointing a finger at Pax, “for not thinking any of this shit is funny. I’ve got way too much on my mind to deal with his childish bullshit.”

  “I have to side with Weston on this,” Mac says. “Knock it off, Pax. And just explain the goddamned plan.”

  “OK, let me fill you in on a few things Oliver just updated me on,” Pax says, looking at me for permission.

  I nod. What’s the point in hiding it now? This shit is happening. There is no way what’s going on with my site on the dark web will be secret once this is all over. I know it. I’m being set up. We’re all being set up.

  Pax explains the plan to fake-kill West and hire a reporter in the dark market to air it. Make it go viral. Everyone is pretty quiet while he lays out the plan, but once he’s done, they are nothing but questions.

  “Where will we take this picture?” West asks.

  “How will we make it believable?” Nolan adds.

  “What if Liam doesn’t believe it? What if he wants a finger? Or a baby toe?”

  “A baby toe?” Pax says, making a face at Mac. “Were
you watching The Big Lebowski before you got here?” Pax shakes his head as Nolan huffs out a laugh. “Fucking toe. No one wants a stupid baby toe for proof.”

  “Whatever,” Mac says. “You get what I’m saying. I don’t think he’ll believe it unless he sees a dead body.”

  “And we’re not gonna have a dead body,” West says.

  “But we will have the next best thing,” Pax says, beaming a huge smile at me. “Oliver’s cousin-friend, Sparrow Flynn, owns the Fort Collins Theater, right?”

  “So?” I say. “We’re not getting her involved. Believe me, she is so strait-laced, it will never stay secret. She will tell every one of my relatives before the sun goes down. My dad will come over.” I shake my head, just picturing it. “And my mother will overreact and start pulling out guns. No. We can’t use Sparrow.”

  “What if she doesn’t know?” Pax says. “There’s a huge ZombieFest this weekend for Halloween, right? And she runs the new haunted house in town?”

  “Yeah? So?” I say again.

  “Cindy said it’s pretty hardcore. Like they have professional makeup artists for the blood and gore.”

  “Oh, fuck, yeah,” Nolan says. “That’s genius, Mysterious.”

  Pax looks proud of himself. “Why, thank you, Romantic. I do my best. So all you gotta do, my little matchmaker friend,” Pax says, clapping me on the back, “is tell her West is going to a costume party tonight down in Denver and needs help. Make the rest of that lie up for me, will you? You’re good at that.”

  I ignore his insult and think it over as I scratch the hair on my chin. “Sparrow,” I finally say, “has West painted up like he took a bullet to the head. Then we take the picture, buy a reporter from the dark market, and have him leak it.”

  “Exactly,” Pax says.

  “Tell me again why we think people are gonna care enough about this one murder to show it on TV?” Mac asks.

  “Because it’s Weston Conrad,” Pax says. “The Misters are back, gentlemen. And as much as people would like to say they’re not interested in our debauchery, they are. So let’s give them the headline they’ve been waiting a decade for.”