Three Tequilas (Althea Rose 3)

by Tricia O'Malley

  “Can you enlighten us as to what we’re up against?”

  Nicola paused for a moment and then turned to look out at the horizon, where the disc of the sun was becoming visible.

  “Let’s just say this – be happy we hired you first.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Another day of diving with no results had Nicola practically spitting nails by the time we got back to the dock.

  “Listen, honey, we’re doing the best we can. We’re staying at depth to the absolute limits of our air time. I’m taking hundreds of pictures for you to comb through. We’re trying our hardest. If you want a larger or faster sweep, hire more divers.”

  Nicola looked like she was going to snap at me, but then she pressed her lips together and nodded once.

  “I understand. Thank you for your time. I know you are both excellent divers.”

  Well, you could have pushed me over with a feather, hearing nice words come from her mouth. Her boss must have lit into her on the phone earlier, as she’d been nothing but pleasant all day.

  We didn’t get any more information out of her – but she was pleasant nonetheless.

  “Thanks for leading us headlong into mortal danger. At least we’re being well-compensated for it,” I said, and smiled brightly at her. My inner bitch was dialed way up today.

  “Yes, well, let’s hope nothing overmuch comes of all this. I’ll speak to Quetz this evening. Hopefully we’ll be able to drill down to more specific coordinates. It’s obvious we’re missing something,” Nicola said, distress crossing her pretty face for a moment.

  “It’s a big ocean, lady,” I said.

  “I’m aware. I’ll be back first thing in the morning.” Nicola clipped down the dock at a fast pace, already pulling her phone from her pack.

  “Well, that was quite the payday,” Trace said, looking up from his phone. He held it up in the air for a second. “Just checked my bank, funds were already wired in.”

  “Someone’s got deep pockets,” I observed.

  “And we’re just tiny minnows swimming in a big pond,” Trace said.

  “I’m really struggling with how Nicola fits into all this,” I admitted. “I’m quite certain she’s involved – deeply – but I don’t know how. I mean, do you think she’s capable of killing her own uncle?”

  “I think anyone’s capable of anything.”

  It might have been the most honest statement I’d heard in a long time. Because isn’t that the truth of it? You think you know someone – then they up and bring their sister to town and suddenly break up with you.

  But I digress.

  “Soooo, I learned something interesting last night,” I said, looking around for a moment and then bending down so the side of the boat concealed my face. Who knew if I was being watched?

  “Do tell,” Trace said. He came over to sit by me on the bench with his back to the dock, effectively blocking me from view.

  “There are two stones. Not one. And once united, whoooo boy. Do we have major powers going on,” I said, then filled him on the rest of what Miss Elva had told me.

  “Oh, well, sure. Why wouldn’t there be two stones? I mean, we might as well add more to our plate. They’ve only been lost for like four hundred years, but sure, we’ll find them both this week. No problem,” Trace said dryly.

  I laughed at him. “I love you.”

  Trace pulled off his sunglasses and met my eyes. All of a sudden it became a bit difficult to breathe, as my chest seemed to be tightening under his scrutiny.

  “I like those words coming from your mouth,” Trace said softly.

  “I was just teasing around,” I said, feeling awkward and flushed under his gaze.

  “Even so. I like them,” Trace said again, leaning forward until his lips were hovering just an inch above mine. “Tell me to stop.”

  “I…” My brain froze. Did I want him to stop? I was so confused, stressed, and emotionally worn out from this week that I didn’t know what I thought or wanted.

  Trace took that as a yes, and slid his lips over mine in a kiss that seared its way down to my belly. I felt stunned by the power of it – like he was branding me – before I got my wits about me and pulled back, gasping for air.

  “Stop,” I gasped.

  “Oops,” Trace said, an easy grin sliding over his face as he put his sunglasses back on – concealing his eyes from me.

  “I can’t. Let’s just get through this expedition. I need to see where I stand with Cash. There’s just…it’s a lot, okay? Can we just focus on finding these stupid stones? Then maybe we can take an exotic naked vacation somewhere with all our money.”

  Whoops. Did I say that last part out loud?

  Trace’s wide smile confirmed that indeed I had.

  “Wipe that smile off your face. I’m flustered. You got my hormones going. Just – just let it be for now.”

  “I’ll let it be,” Trace said, standing up and stretching. “For now.”

  I’d be lying if I said a little frisson of excitement didn’t work its way through me at his words.

  Down, girl, I cautioned myself and breathed deeply. We had much bigger problems at hand.

  “I’m going to stop by the store to check in with Luna, stop by Miss Elva’s –hopefully she has more info – and then head home to do more research.”

  “Tomorrow’s Friday.”

  “It is.”

  “We didn’t contract to dive on the weekends – though I suspect they’ll push for it. But we’ll see. What would you say to some night diving this weekend?”

  “You want us to search on our own?”

  “I took a look at the map you gave me, as well as the information on the weather patterns. It rings true. I think we should check it out.”

  “And you think this should be done at night?”

  “Two rival groups are hunting for this. When would you suggest we do it?”

  “At night, with the running lights off,” I sighed. Night diving was one of the absolute coolest – and scariest – things I’ve ever done.

  Predators hunt at night, after all.

  “Stay in touch. I’ll be on edge until this is over,” Trace said, reaching over to squeeze my hand.

  “You too,” I said.

  I mean, what was the big deal? We had two godstones embodying inordinate amounts of power to find before either of two rival parties – perhaps both willing to kill – found them first.

  Nope, no big deal at all.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The Luna Rose Potions & Tarot shop typically stayed open until six or seven at night. We were flexible on the time – much to the annoyance of uptight mainlanders who wanted hard and fast store hours.

  I needed some Luna time. I’d called Miss Elva and she was happy to keep Hank longer for me. I really needed to decompress and catch Luna up on all the drama of this week.

  Including that kiss.

  Damn that man for getting into my head again. It wasn’t fair – he’d never put a move on me before Cash had come into the picture. Now suddenly I had a hot man in my life and Trace was sniffing around like he couldn’t get enough of me. It was enough to mess with any girl’s mind.

  “Luna?” I called, pushing my way into the store. The lights were still on, but the shop looked empty.

  “Yes? Oh, hey,” Luna said, popping her head out from the back room. “I’m just changing into a date night outfit.”

  “Oh, you’ve got a date? Damn, I wanted to catch up with you,” I said, trailing my finger over a table of hand-wrapped soaps.

  “Mathias has been working long hours, and he finally had a night free. He scored us some tickets to a show or something in Miami, so I’ve got to jet,” Luna said, coming through the door, tugging the hem of her skirt down.

  “Heyooo, check out that hottie,” I exclaimed.

  She’d paired a black leather pencil skirt with a shimmery sleeveless blouse the color of moonlight. It was demure, yet powerfully sexy at the same time.

&nbs
p; “You like? It’s a little different for me,” Luna admitted, laughing as she did a twirl.

  “I do like it. It’s like you’re letting your naughty side out a bit.” I smiled at her.

  “Or Mathias is,” Luna laughed.

  “He’s good for you. I’m really happy for you.” And I was, I truly was. Luna was my best friend and she deserved all the happiness in the world.

  “And here I am being a shitty friend, chattering about my boyfriend while you’re in the middle of a breakup,” Luna said, instantly contrite. She walked over and folded me into her arms.

  “It’s okay. Honest, it is. I want you to be happy,” I whispered into her shoulder.

  “I know you do. But I want you to be happy, too. Should we put a spell on Cash? Something that makes him break out and put on forty pounds?”

  I laughed and pulled back from her, using my knuckles to wipe a tear away.

  “No. Not yet, at least. Let’s just see what this break does for us. Either we’ll miss each other enough to work it out, or we’ll be done. Then I’ll have to deal with Trace.”

  “Is he still moving in on you?” Luna asked as she picked up her purse.

  “He kissed me today.”

  Luna stopped on her way to the door and swiveled slowly.

  “Hold up. Rewind. Explain.”

  A horn honked from outside, and Luna glanced quickly out the window and back to me. I knew she wanted to hear about Trace, but she was also late for her date.

  “Go. Please. You have fun. The gossip will wait.”

  “This is juicy gossip, though.”

  “I haven’t even started on the expedition. Let me just say, when all this is done? You, Miss Elva, Beau, and I are taking a vacation somewhere fancy. My treat.”

  Luna hooted and shot her fist in the air. “I’m down. I love you. Be safe. Text me. Don’t go too long without checking in with someone. Stay behind the wards at your house. Carry a knife.”

  “Yes, Mom.” I laughed at her and waved her off as I headed towards my side of the shop. I wanted to grab a protection amulet my mother had sent me from some exotic country or another. It had been on my mind all day, and I was determined to wear it until this godstone stuff was figured out.

  I was rifling around in my drawers when my psychic senses started tingling. Whirling around, I grabbed the closest thing to me – a ritual knife. Holding it tightly in my hand, I held my breath and listened.

  “Miss Rose, I’d like to request an appointment.”

  I shivered at the voice – a staccato rasp of evil.

  “I’m not taking appointments this week,” I called out. I shifted, trying to see past my privacy screen and into Luna’s shop.

  Rookie move over here – leaving the door of Luna’s shop unlocked. I should have learned by now not to do such stupid shit.

  “Oh, but you’ll take my appointment.”

  A gun appeared in the doorway.

  “By all means. Have a seat.”

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  When were people going to learn that they’d never get a good reading if I was under duress? I almost shook my head in annoyance.

  But something made me realize that this had nothing to do with a reading, and everything to do with the godstones.

  Perhaps it was the large Aztec snake tattooed on the throat of the man who stepped through my doorway. Nice placement, if you were into neck tattoos.

  My hand clenched around the ritual knife, and he kept the gun trained on me.

  “You let go of the knife. I put the gun down. We’ll have ourselves a nice talk, eh?” The man’s dark brown eyes held mine – and never once did he blink. At easily six feet tall and two hundred pounds or so, he was packing just as much punch as his gun was. His hair was shaved down to just a dark fuzz covering his large head, and he wore a black fitted t-shirt, jeans, and Converse high tops.

  Aside from the gun in his hand, he looked like your average everyday tatted-up Mexican-gang type dude. And I was only guessing Mexican by his accent, though there seemed to be a faintly different inflection threading through his words.

  I let go of the knife and nodded at the chair in front of me.

  “Please, be my guest.”

  He smiled at me, and in that moment, I recognized his power. They say the most dangerous leaders are always the most charismatic. With one flash of his blindingly white teeth, he’d shown a charm that I’m sure had sent more than a few women flocking to him.

  Some woman just can’t resist the bad boys.

  “Nice tattoo. Thanks for spray painting it on my fence. You must have thought I needed some help decorating,” I said, deciding to go on the offense.

  “I’m sorry if we got off to a bad start.” He flashed his charming smile again. “I hope I didn’t ruin your fence.”

  “Oh, it’s not ruined. I painted over it the same day. Like you were never even there,” I said, taunting him a bit. When I saw the spark in his eye, I knew I’d found one of his weaknesses.

  Ego.

  This man wanted to be idolized.

  “Maybe we can start again. My name is Tlaloc.”

  One word. Apparently he thought I would have heard of him, because he was watching me closely, as if he expected to see some kind of reaction.

  “Hmm, like Tupac?”

  Annoyance flashed in his eyes again. I was getting good at this game. Hopefully not so good that I wound up getting shot.

  “Something like that. It is a great and powerful Aztec name. The name of a warrior. A sorcerer. A god.”

  “Gee whiz, that’s a lot of job descriptions you got going on there,” I said, picking up and shuffling my tarot cards. “Is that what you’ve come to see me for? Advice on your career path? I’d go with being a god if I were you. You’ll be able to get away with sooo much more than normal people.”

  Tlaloc slammed the hand holding the gun down on the table, making my crystal ball fall off its holder and go rolling. I lunged forward and caught it with one hand – conscious that the gun followed my every move.

  “So disrespectful for someone who is but a mere mortal.”

  “Is that what you’re trying to tell me, then – that you’re a god? You want me to bow down?”

  Tlaloc’s gaze skimmed my chest before returning to meet my eyes. The charming smile was back.

  “I wouldn’t mind seeing you on your knees.”

  Ew.

  “Tlaloc, why don’t you cut the bullshit and tell me what you want?”

  Tlaloc eased back in the chair, resting one foot on his knee. I stared at his Converse sneakers. Do gods wear Converse? He might want to up his style game if he wanted to convince people he really was a god.

  “I’m just here to chat. Among friends, you see,” Tlaloc said.

  “Friendly is holding a gun to my face?”

  “I didn’t shoot it, did I?”

  Apparently that’s how a god showed he was your friend. By not shooting you in the face. I wondered how many people he’d convinced of his godhood, and just what level of crazy I was dealing with here.

  “Thanks,” I said dryly. “Seems like you couldn’t show the Professor the same courtesy.”

  “The professor was a loose end. I don’t like loose ends. He tried to work with too many sides – get what I’m saying?”

  “So killing him was the answer?”

  Tlaloc shrugged and looked around.

  “Nice shop,” Tlaloc commented, the subject closed. I looked over at Herman and the panda, sitting on the leopard-print chair.

  “Yes, I like it,” I agreed with him.

  “You’ve been diving a lot lately,” Tlaloc continued, raising an eyebrow at me.

  “Aside from this business, I also run an underwater photography website. It’s one of my passions,” I said primly.

  “Taking lots of photographs this week?”

  “Always,” I said with a smile and he smiled back at me.

  We were all just friends here, right?

  “Find anythi
ng…interesting to photograph this week?”

  “Oh, you mean El Serpiente? No, I didn’t.”

  His eyes widened at my words, and he jumped from his chair to leap across the table and grab my throat in one large hand. I screeched, then clawed at his hand as he began to squeeze tighter, cutting off my air.

  “Do. Not. Say. That. Name.”

  I nodded as best I could with his hand clutched around my throat. He squeezed once more, making me squeak in protest, before easing his hand away from my throat. He stood over me, and looked down at me with a kind smile on his face.

  “You’ll do well to remember that I am the true ruler. Those stones are from my bloodline and are meant to return to their rightful owner. Nobody speaks their names but me.”

  “That’s fine. But could you calm down with all the attacking me? I don’t know anything about these stones, so there’s no way I could have known not to say their names out loud,” I said, trying to act huffy, but in all reality trying to keep him from seeing how much he had shaken me.

  “Fair enough, Hermosa.” Tlaloc ran his hand down my face and I shivered. He stepped back, but didn’t sit. Instead he paced my small shop, his gun in hand.

  “How much?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “How much money do I have to offer you for the stones?”

  “I don’t have the stones, Tlaloc.” At least that I could answer honestly.

  “I’ll triple what they are offering you.” I could read from his energy that he was being dead serious.

  “That’s going to come in at close to half a mil, then,” I said, raising an eyebrow at him.

  “Done.” He smiled at me, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. He tossed it on the table, and I picked it up. On one side was the same Aztec snake I’d seen too many times already. On the other was a phone number.

  “You’ve got a business card?”

  “Don’t be cute. That number is for you alone. I switch my other phones daily.”

  “Ah.” There really wasn’t much more to say to that.

  “You’ll call, if you find them, or are close.”

  Now here’s the thing – when someone is holding a gun on you, you’ll pretty much say anything to get them to leave you alone. Right?