Chapter 1
Sophie’s come to this bar every Friday night for the last three weeks. She blends into the crowd and barely sips on one drink in the four hours she usually spends there.
She watches her. Closely but inconspicuously. She engages with the patrons, at least the ones who approach her. She doesn’t sit at the bar. It's too close. She remains in one of the dimly lit booths along the back wall. She’s only there for recon. No interaction. Simply observe. That was her mission.
Her target was Ryan Wilder. She was about 5’3 with curls that framed her face and a smile that could brighten the dreariest of Gotham’s days. She never wore a shirt that covered her abs and seemed to have a never ending supply of flannels. She appeared to be a great conversationalist and much sought after bartender. She didn’t know why the woman was being targeted by one of Gotham’s elite but she also wasn’t on the list of need-to-know.
Friday nights were their busiest nights which is why Sophie chose this night from the start. Enough people to keep a low profile. Her gaze was pulled from her target as another patron approached her shyly inquiring if she was there with anyone. The woman seemed nice and pretty, but she wasn’t there for entertainment. Not yet at least.
After politely letting her down easy, her eyes scanned the bar area. Her target was missing. No longer mixing drinks or pouring beers or smiling and chatting with drunk customers. Damnit.
She glanced at her watch and finished her drink. The woman’s shift had finished while she was busy talking. She shrugged on her leather jacket and stood to take a seat at the bar. When her recon time was over, she could engage in extracurricular activities.
The bartender she’d come to know as Reagan poured her an old fashioned with a flirtatious smile as she usually did. That’s what they do. They smile and flirt and Reagan teases Sophie about getting her turn when she takes home yet another lucky woman from the bar.
Reagan disappeared into the storage room to change a keg while Sophie entertained her soon-to-be latest conquest.
A thought came to her mind as one of the bartenders, she assumed Reagan, placed a tower of crates that held clean glasses in front of her.
“Reagan, question for you.”
The bartender appeared to the side of the crates and was definitely not Reagan. “Well, I’m clearly not Reagan, but I could try to answer your question.” Sophie opened her mouth to speak, couldn’t find her words and closed her mouth before she said something stupid. The bartender and target of her mission smiled and tilted her head, eyebrows raised slightly, waiting for a question.
“Uh…you think the DJ takes requests?” Sophie was quick on her feet. A good liar. Part of her training and the reason why she was hand selected for this job by a very wealthy and powerful client.
What she didn’t take into consideration were the woman’s eyes and smile directed at her, causing a familiar warmth in her chest and cheeks when she offered a flirtatious response. “I’m sure Kate would take one look at you and make an exception.” She watched her as her eyes casually roamed her body from what she could see of her torso over the bar to her head, finishing with that dazzling smile she’d seen patrons swoon over. Now she most certainly understood the effects.
She nodded and smiled politely before throwing some cash on the bar and making her exit with the woman whose name she couldn’t quite remember. Something with an A.
The distraction and flavor of the week would be much needed to calm her anxiety. Telling the Jada Jet she’d blown her cover so soon was not a conversation she was looking forward to having.