Chapter 21

My fingers fidgeted uneasily against the seat.

Meliodas drove to the event and Ban rode up front, leaving me alone in the back with my thoughts. The two's idle chatter did little to relieve my nerves.

I shifted the dark wig on my head, hoping it would stay in place for the duration of the event - would someone recognize me? There was a reason Meliodas and I weren't going in ourselves. Would the wwig be enough to fool anyone who'd been at the last party? The sin boss seemed more than convinced it would, otherwise we wouldn't be posing as wait staff.

I wasn't so sure.

I focused on the two in the front seat as much as I could in an attempt to distract myself.

I still couldn't believe they thought this was a good idea.

Having half the Sins and a cop infiltrating a charity event thrown by the mayor's wife? It almost seemed like a suicide mission. We were bound to be caught. Between my clumsiness, Ban's drunkenness and King's sheepishness, we were all but screwed. My only hope rested in Diane's ability to hold conversations and, sadly, Meliodas' ability to make sure we all stayed on task.

Hence my nervousness.

Suddenly, I couldn't focus on the chatter from the front seat any longer - I was lost to my own thoughts as I turned to stare at the city passing my window in a blur of lights and undefinable faces as people made their way around the streets.

"Well, from what I gathered, the person Melascula was speaking to in the recordings is the one she was having an affair with."

My conversation with King popped back into my head and I frowned at my own reflection and the unfamiliar short brown locks framing my face.

He seemed so positive that the man the Mayor's wife was speaking to was involved in all of this. Did that mean he had connections to the Commandments? What made him so sure? In my haste to get what info I could on our goal tonight, not once did I think to ask. Surely, there was more to the recordings that would make him think that. Not just anyone would be involved.

Not for the first time did I find myself skeptical of the whole thing. It just seemed so far fetched. A ghost story. But, it was also hard to argue with the evidence I'd seen to back it up - no matter how little evidence there actually was.

I sighed, finding my nerves settled enough that I'd stopped fidgeting. A start. Not enough to convince anyone of anything, but a start.

Just in time too.

"We're here," Meliodas spoke and I pressed close to my window to get a look at the towering hotel we'd begun to circle. It was a real ritzy place. At least a couple hundred a night for a "cheaper" room. Certainly not the kind of place I found myself at very often, if at all.

"Damn rich people…" Ban muttered with a distasteful shake of his head as he too careened to get a look at the building before we drove down into a parking garage. Apparently I wasn't the only one.

Meliodas took each turn of the spiraling turns, taking us further down into the belly of the structure.

"Staff parking is down here, but I'm going to drop you both off and leave the van somewhere inconspicuous." The blonde, who was now sporting jet-black hair said as he came to a stop at a loading dock in the lowest level of the attached hotel parking garage.

"Don't leave it somewhere I can't find it." Ban grumbled as he climbed out of the van first, and I followed suit, pulling open the sliding back door, then shutting it behind me.

I took a breath, eyeing the staff entrance and Ban's retreating form speculatively, mindlessly twirling the ends of the shoulder-length brown hair of my wig. Now wasn't the time for jitters and uncertainty. But I couldn't shake the feeling that we weren't prepared.

"Hey."

I jumped at the voice behind me, turning to see Meliodas resting his arm out of the van's window, "Everything will be fine. Promise." His lip pulled up in a reassuring grin, "Better hurry and catch-up to Ban or he'll leave you behind." He nodded to the man who was waiting impatiently at the entrance door, shooting me a rather irritated scowl.

I had a million questions - why we needed to come pretending as staff? Where was he going? What were we hoping to accomplish? But I could tell this wasn't the time. Instead, I offered Meliodas a half smile in appreciation for the pep talk before running after Ban, following him into the building without another moment's hesitation.

Even this entrance, so far away from what guests would see, had pleasant decor and the smell of cleanliness and hospitality. Like you had to be a certain class just to be able to work here. Training I'm not entirely sure I'd gotten in my time working at the bar.

"Keep your head down and blend in." Ban instructed as we quickly made our way down the service hall. "There's gonna be a ton of people here - as long as you don't do anything to stupid, ya won't run inta' any problems, Got it?"

I nodded without a word, focused on trying to keep up with his long strides.

Right. Head down, blend in. Easy enough.

We walked past others wearing the same uniform as us. All of whom were rushing around, going this way and that - too focused on their own jobs to pay any mind to us as we reached the end of the hall and called the service elevator that would take us to the main floor.

We entered the small cabin, and I felt myself relax as we crossed our first hurdle.

"Hold the door!" Someone shouted, and I cursed to myself as Ban and I were joined by another young waiter who just barely managed to run through the closing doors.

Head down, blend in…

I had distanced myself from Ban in the opposite corner of the elevator, hoping that it wouldn't be too conspicuous. It was better if no one thought we were together, right?

That didn't stop the young man from glancing over his shoulder at me, then at Ban curiously, "Haven't seen you two before." He commented

I swallowed, but Ban chuckled dryly, "Yeah, we're replacements. The company had some last minute call-outs and asked if we could fill in."

The man nodded at his explanation, "It's a big gig. Can't imagine anyone wanting to bail on it."

Ban shrugged, "If I didn't need the dough so bad, I'd be home drinkin'." He chuckled and the other fist-bumped him.

"I know that's right." He agreed, turning his attention to the elevator doors as a bell rang and they slid open to his floor, "Catch ya later," he called, before the doors closed and Ban and I were left alone once more.

A sigh of relief escaped me.

"Ya know~ freezing up ain't blending in."

I had nothing to say to my defense - I'm the first to admit, I've never been the best improvisor. The nerves certainly didn't help.

It didn't take long for us to get to our desired floor. The moment the doors slid open, the elevator was filled with the noise and chaos of the servers and cooks rushing back and forth.

"Blend in." Ban offered with a stern look before making his way out to meld into the crowd.

How someone as tall as he was could disappear from sight so fast was beyond me.

Blend in. Blend in. You can do this.

I slapped my cheeks, then hurried out of the elevator and into the crowd.

Standing in the middle of the hall isn't blending in… I could almost feel Ban shaking his head at me. I had to do something.

I'm a waitress. Be a waitress. I repeated those words like a mantra, looking around for something to do.

Immediately, I eyed a freshly plated array of horderves on a cart along the wall and saw my ticket into the main banquet room. Quickly, I picked up the plate before anyone else could and made my way out of the service area and down a long corridor, following other wait staff on their way to serve food.

The main event room was larger than I had expected. Tables lining the area around what was most likely a dance floor. Currently, it was being used for networking as no one seemed interested in dancing. A band had made their home on the stage across the room, and they swayed together with the light tones of soft jazz filling in as white noise.

There were quite a few faces I recognized as I made my way slowly through the crowd. Faces I'd seen on TV and editorials in gossip magazines. Some of the bigwigs, one-percenters, and celebrities of the country making an appearance like this was some sort of Hollywood debut.

This was not the kind of people I was used to being around.

Keep your head down.

I lowered my head, slightly, allowing for the foreign brown hair to hide my eyes as the scanned the crowd, offering horderves to people softly as I passed them.

I couldn't help but seek out Diane and King in the crowd. A flash of red and then grey and I found the two of them mingling easily with a couple much older than them. I blinked in surprise at the confident aura the two of them gave off, like they did this every weekend. Not even phased by the fact that they were probably talking to a couple who made more in a month than they would in a lifetime.

I'm actually relieved to see them integrating so well. Guess I was worried for nothing, I thought as I attempted to return to my own task for the night. Not that I really knew what that was. All I had been instructed to do was keep my head down and blend in. And so far, I was the only one not really blending in.

A second later, just before I could wander away, a loud shout of, "Dorothy!" pierced the air around the couple behind me.

Spinning around, I was just in time to see a tall slender blonde woman wrap her arms around Diane.

"It's been too long, darling! And Henry," she smiled at him, offering her hand. King took it and gently kissed her knuckles before wrapping his arm around Diane's waist. "You're looking just as dashing as ever. Gray and navy really are your colors, they just make your eyes pop. And Dorothy you are just stunning!"

"You're too kind, as always, Mrs. Harris," King replied politely.

"Oh please, Henry, I've told you, call me Victoria." The woman fluttered her eyes at him.

"Where is Timothy?" Diane pushed herself a little closer to King, resting a hand on his chest.

The woman's smile dipped slightly, "he should be around here somewhere." Victoria glanced around the room and then waved at someone. A tall good looking man with dark hair and dark eyes approached them. "Look who I found, Tim, dear."

"Mr. and Mrs. Jones, what a pleasure." He shook King's hand and then kissed Diane's. "We've missed you these past few months. What were you up to?"

I felt myself stiffen, thinking of something to direct the attention away from them - maybe dropping the serving platter would distract everyone. Not needed, it seemed, as King came up with an immediate response.

"Sold off some of the smaller companies I had under my belt for a lot more than I'd originally thought they'd sell for. The Mrs. thought we should take some time to travel." He answered loftily without missing a beat as he gazed at Diane affectionately.

"Oh it was amazing!" Diane gushed with a large smile. "Henry spoils me," she giggled, placing a soft kiss against his cheek. To my surprise, King didn't so much as blink. Anytime Diane initiated physical contact of any kind back at the Boar Hat, he always seemed so flustered.

It's like he's a different person.

I'd misjudged King's abilities here… Who else was I misjudging?

"Better get back to work," someone whispered, nudging me gently in passing, making me jump slightly.

My eyes flickered in the voice's direction, barely catching a glimpse of green eyes boring into me before they disappeared in the crowd. The darker hair threw me for a moment but there was no mistaking those eyes. Meliodas, of course.

Where the hell had he come from?

I shook my head, attempting to get my thoughts back on track. King and Diane obviously didn't need my help.

"Well I don't blame him for wanting to indulge a beauty such as yourself," I heard the man, Tim, speak.

I forced myself to leave, firmly ignoring the need to listen further. I had to trust that King and Diane could handle this. My 'skills' were needed elsewhere.

What seemed like hours passed as I waited on people who would barely look me in the eye. A fact that both relieved and pissed me off at the same time.

I was invisible to these people. Which meant that I'd been privy to a few conversations probably never meant for my ears. Gossip mostly - rumors of who was sleeping with who and who was stabbing who in the back these days. A few comments of the ever changing industry. Nothing to write home about, though. Which, I assumed, was my point here. To blend in and collect any nuggets of information that I could.

"I've heard there's a new facilitator on the circuit."

My ears burned as I caught the low whispers, and I did my best to not look suspicious as I suddenly came to a stop.

Facilitator? Circuit?

Those were terms I knew. I'd been trained in the many slang languages of gangs - these terms were prominent in human trafficking. A facilitator was a support structure - industries, companies, or individuals that helped to enable, support, or facilitate human trafficking. A circuit referred to a series of cities among which prostituted people are moved.

Now this was a conversation I needed to listen into.

I was about to back track my steps when the tray balancing precariously in my hand nearly fell to the ground as someone suddenly grabbed my arm and yanked me along, "C'mon," they urged under their breath before I had a chance to shout, and immediately I knew it was Ban.

I looked back to the crowd I was being led away from anxiously, but I allowed him to lead me out of the room without fuss to keep from drawing any undue attention. I didn't even give myself a chance to look around for the others. I just kept my head down, eyes on Ban's long strides.

Once we were out of the main party room, though, I dared to look up.

"Where are we going?" I whispered, trying to stay quiet, itching to tell him - or anyone for that matter, about the conversation I'd begun to overhear. The large hall of the hotel echoed with our quick footsteps - there was no telling how far it would carry our voices.

"Just shut up and follow me." He snapped back under his breath. It was obvious he was in a rush. Just where the hell were we going?

My answer came when he darted into the next room we came upon. It was another large, empty banquet room. Empty stacked chairs and tables lined up against a red velvet retractable partition wall that separated this room from another.

"Wh-" I didn't even get a full word out before Ban turned with a finger over his mouth and a glare that demanded my silence. I watched as he quickly made his way to the partition, moving like a ghost as he did.

"What is this? You said I had an urgent phone call."

A woman's voice had me quietly rushing to the partition next to Ban, careful not to touch it, in fear that any sway of the wall would alert the woman and whoever she was addressing to our presence.

"Yeah, well, convenient lie to get you away from your security detail."

Meliodas?

There was no mistake. I would recognize that cocky tone anywhere. But for some reason it seemed… colder… than usual. Like he was going out of his way to add bite to his words.

There was a short silence on the other side and Ban and I held our breaths as we waited.

"Oh? And what was so important that you needed to do that?" The woman sounded terse - annoyed. Certainly not like anyone who'd been lured into a private room with a stranger.

I didn't need to see who was in the room with the sin boss - I already knew. This was why we were here. But I hadn't expected Meliodas to corner the Mayor's wife like this. I thought that's why King and Diane had come. What the hell was going on? What had I missed while wandering through the crowd?

"Commandments."

I was surprised when that one word echoed in the room adjacent to ours in his voice. That's all he said. A single word that gave away everything we'd uncovered thus far. Wasn't this giving the woman too much? My gaze shifted to Ban and I watched a series of expressions cross his face - none of which I could read.

"I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about." The mayor's wife, Melascula, responded after a moment, unconvincingly. Even without seeing her face, I could tell she was lying. The question was, how much did she actually know?

"You can cut the act, Madam Mayor. I'm on a rather tight schedule," Meliodas' coldness sent icy chills down my spine as he paused threateningly. Like King before, Meliodas seemed like a completely different person. Or is this the real Meliodas… some inner voice asked.

"So, then, if you could give me the answers I'm looking for, we can both be on our way."

Another long pause. What exactly was he doing in there that could keep a woman like Melascula - who seemed so confident before - in the same room, despite her personal security being just a shout away? Did Meliodas bring a weapon with him?

Melascula remained quiet for some time, and Meliodas spoke up in her stead. "Of course, you could make this difficult and I could go public with your secrets. You know… the money laundering? And of course, the affair..."

This time, the Mayor's wife erupted angrily, "This is ridiculous! I will not stand by while you threaten me with baseless accusations-!"

But her shout suddenly cut off with the sound of shuffling paper. "Not so baseless, actually." I could practically hear the cocky, menacing grin pulling at the corner of his lips, "I have the proof right here. So, what will it be?"

Proof? He has proof?! As in PHYSICAL PROOF? My eyes darted to Ban once more, but his stoic stare gave nothing away.

Just what were the sins still hiding from me?! I thought that King hadn't had much luck finding anything solid to pin on her. Just the calls.

ANOTHER long pause - this was getting unbearable.

Then suddenly… the atmosphere changed completely. Even on the other side of the partition, we could feel it, as Melascula's tone changed for pleading, "You don't understand… I - I'm being blackmailed!"

"I don't really care how you got involved. I just want to know the information you have. Why are the Commandments using you?" There's obvious disdain in his voice, despite her pleas. Why was he being so cold?

"I… I can't…" She sounded so torn.

"Can't, or won't?"

"I told you! I'm being blackmailed! If I… If I tell you, they'll-"

"They'll what?" The blonde challenged arrogantly, and the temperature plummeted further, "Because I'm pretty sure it's not nearly as bad as the hell I'll put you through for lying to me."

My gut twisted as I listened on - quitely staying my hand.

I hated this. So much. It went against everything I had vowed when becoming an officer.

But my brain told me to stay put. This was a common interrogation tactic. I should have been used to it. But something felt so wrong about this...

"You got yourself into this mess, Madame Mayor. That's not really my problem. But, you can do the one decent thing you've done since your husband ran for office."

The tension rose again as the two quieted. Their breaths were the only indication they were still there on the other side.

"What are they using you for?" Meliodas asked again, no nonsense. No more chances.

Infuriating silence.

Then… "Funding." Her voice was small - meek even. Almost too low to hear on this side of the wall. "I've… I've been syphoning off money from my husband's campaign and some of my more profitable charities and wiring it to an offshore account." She half mumbled.

"Why?"

Melascula took a deep breath, "T-they… made a major scandal go away… and helped fund my husband's campaign for office. I don't-"

Ban's suddenly knocking on the wall, making Melascula's words cut off. I stared at him, wide eyed and mortified. What the hell are you doing? I wanted to scream at him.

The next thing I knew he was dragging me out of the room, without hearing the consequences of his interruption. Once we are out I hissed, "Ban, what-"

"Not yet," he gruffed at me, dragging me through the hall.

We didn't go back to the party. Instead, Ban lead me through multiple paths and bursting through a exit door that led to a series of stairs. I nearly tumbled down them as Ban dragged me along three or four more floors, then out into a new corridor and a door that had us outside in the garage on a floor we hadn't come in on. Not once had he let go of the vice grip he had on my arm. Almost as if he thought I'd run back as soon as he let go.

A couple of vehicles made their residence on this level of the garage, but most notably was the van parked so that it was hidden behind a series of beams.

A minute later, after nearly sprinting across the garage, he shoved me in the front seat of the van. Wordlessly, he entered the driver's seat and tore out of the parking spot, spinning us around with a squeal of the tires, and zooming up a series of slopes back up towards the entrance.

"Wait, what about-"

Ban silenced me with a sharp glare. "Not yet." He insisted once again.

I gritted my teeth to keep from retorting. My eyes stared out the window, my fingers fiddling with the leather underneath me to keep myself occupied.

We're at the back of the building, two floors away from the main entrance when a flash of black caught my eye a second before the back door was thrown open. The figure threw themselves in the van. Meliodas.

"Go." He commanded harshly.

Ban stepped on the gas, peeling out of the parking garage before Meliodas could even close the van's back door. Through which I had caught a glimpse of a couple of figures running out of the building in dark suites, supposedly chasing after Meliodas, before the door finally closed.

I twisted in my seat so I could see both of them. "Will one of you please tell-"

"Not yet." They both responded.

It took all I had in me not to retaliate physically. But I bit my tongue, crossed my arms and sat silently in the front seat, waiting for us to get back to the Boar Hat.

I yanked my wig off the moment I walked through the Bar's door, ignoring the pain of bobby-pins ripping hair from my head.

The other two were not far behind me and I whirled on them, "Can I speak now?!" I growled angrily, receiving confused glances from both of them - like my outburst was completely unexpected.

"Yeah, of course." Meliodas shrugged and I almost lost it in the face of his shift to nonchalance.

"What the actual fuck was that?" I growled, pointing to the door like it was where we'd crossed the line into general chaos and nonsense. I had so many questions and they came out crammed into a single angry sentence.

"That, Princess, is how we get shit done." Ban answered for his boss - who was the object of my rage-filled glare. A glare he seemed unsure of yet completely unphased by.

I turned my rage towards Ban, "THAT was blackmail. If your goal was to make your only REAL lead shut her mouth and make yourselves an even bigger target of the police, congrats - that's exactly what you've done."

"I thought you wanted information. That's what we got."

"No, what you've done is confirmed there is money being laundered by the Mayor's wife. And even if we DID have evidence of that - which we don't - with the lawyers her husband has, she'd never see a day of jail time."

I expected someone to argue. I expected yelling. What I got was Meliodas' 'all-knowing' grin, "Oh ye of little faith." He patted my shoulder as he passed me and went behind the bar to pour a couple mugs of beer, "It's adorable that you think we honestly didn't consider any of that."

Ban took one of the offered beers, taking a seat at the bar as if this were any other conversation - both of them as easy going as ever, leaving me to stand on my own, staring wide eyed in this revelation.

"We've been watching the Mayor and his wife for some time now, remember?" His brow raised, as if to remind me of our time in the mayor's home, and our kiss. A memory I refused to let him distract me with.

"The one thing we do know about Melascula - she doesn't shut down. She's too confident in the protection her husband can provide her. More likely, she's going to tell the commandments that someone is on to them. That someone out there has evidence of the things they're doing."

There was a twinkle of something in his emerald eyes as he looked from me, down to his own mug - a spark of something that reminded me of subdued bloodlust, "And when they start making noise… We'll know." His tone was so… sure. Like he was reading the future moves of a chess game he was in complete control of.

I watched the confident man behind the counter finally turn his gaze up to me, pushing one of the other mugs towards an empty seat - an invitation for me to sit.

A familiar sense of dread washed over me as I realized how much of a stranger he still was to me. There was so much about him and the lengths he and his group would go to that I still didn't know. About how much of all of this he'd anticipated and played close to the vest - and how much of the real Meliodas I actually knew.

I'd come to know a man who was kind and charming when he wasn't being an ass. A man who genuinely cared about the people around him - with something of a hero complex.

But, now for the second time, I'd seen a much darker, much more calculating side of him. Someone who knew how to play hardball with people I could only dream of taking on. Someone who knew how to poke and prod at all the right buttons to get others to do what he wanted.

Which is the real you, Meliodas?

The knight or the mastermind?

Dom: *Blows celebratory horn* GUESS WHAT GUYS! Today is the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of DON'T TRUST ME! I can't believe it's been a year already!

Luv: I know! *starts pulling out tissues to wipe away a few stray tears* To think our baby is a year old already! *blows nose*

Dom: *Eyes her co-writer with raised brow* We'd like to thank you all for making this last year so amazing and for supporting DTM!

Luv: Reading each and every one of your reviews always makes us all tingly and giddy!

Dom: *Shivers excitedly* Oh, yes. Very much so!

Luv: We'd give you all the chapters right off the bat if we could but well…. Life and what not thinks it's important or something. *rolls eyes.*

Dom: Sigh… adulting sucks.

Luv: Anywho, on to the preview! Next time on DTM: After a night of thrills and espionage, Elizabeth is happy to be back to her normal routine at the bar - except, things turn anything but ordinary when a new face makes an appearance at the bar and causes a commotion. Just who is this girl who seems to have such a profound effect on both Ban and King?

Dom: Thanks again, everyone, and as always - we'll see you next chapter!