Disclaimer: Same as always
A/N: I'm trying to get this story done quickly while the inspiration flows. I hope it doesn't fade before we get to the good stuff. And I suspect it's only about half-done, maybe a little more.
Eleven: Jealous
When Carl and Marcos arrived, she'd already gone through a few Big Macs. They suggested finding a hotel close to the Dollar Inn, get a room so they could watch the parking lot. As soon as they were in private, Marcos began to rant about how they should call the police, and both Xanny and Carl had to go through all the reasons why that was a bad idea. They had to be more subtle to get Augusta away.
Then Marcos' cel-phone rang. Luckily, the room was a suite, so he could go into the bedroom for some privacy. As soon as he was behind a closed door, Xanny leaned toward Carl.
"What couldn't you tell me before?"
"You aren't going to like it," Carl said.
"Why not? This is a case, Carl, not a personal-"
"Augusta is sleeping with one of the Geckos."
She stopped, her mouth half-open. "You are shitting me," she said when her voice returned.
"Would I shit a turd like you?" he asked. "There was sperm all over the couch."
"All over?"
"All over. Whatever they were doing I doubt sleeping had a lot to do with it."
"That's ridiculous," Xanny said with a shake of her head. "How do you know it's her? I mean, neither Seth nor Ritchie are above sleeping with a prostitute. Maybe she just left before the action started."
"A prostitute with pale blonde hair?"
"It's possible."
"You're jealous."
"That's not possible."
"Well, it's also not possible that she was sleeping with Ritchie. She's still alive."
Xanny pulled away, steaming. She didn't know who to be angrier at, Seth for doing something like that, or Augusta for being stupid enough to go along with it. And she'd pegged her twin sister for having a brain!
"You sure you're not jealous?" Carl asked, a tone of seriousness in his voice.
"That's just stupid!" Xanny snapped. "Why would they do that? There's no reason to do something like that! It just makes everything so much more complicated. He has to know by now that she isn't me."
"Maybe that's WHY he slept with her."
She glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I don't know, I'm talking out my ass."
"At least you admit it." Xanny got up and went to the window. She'd shed the leather jacket and had on only a thin black shirt underneath. The evening was getting cooler and she was starting to get a chill.
"Does Marcos know?" Xanny asked suddenly.
"I didn't tell him. I figured it was for her to do."
"Good move. Bloody hell."
"Any suggestions on how to trip them up?" Carl asked, a vain attempt at a subject switch.
"Depends on your ideas," she said.
"I need to think about it a little more," he said. "I should have something solid by tonight."
"Okay." A pause. "Carl, I think I want to try and make contact with her."
"Who?"
"Augusta."
He blinked. "Excuse me?"
"I think she needs to be reminded of the situation that she's in."
Carl stood up. "Xanny, that's a bad idea. You could blow this whole operation."
She turned to him. "Don't you trust me, Carl?"
"I trust you usually. But I think this new development has rattled your brain."
"It's not because of that, Carl. Well, it is because of that, but it's not a jealousy thing. We have to know where Augusta stands. If she doesn't want to be rescued, we may as well just call the police and go home."
Carl stared at her, then sighed deeply. "Okay, fine. What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to sit here and wait for them to come out. See that restaurant?" She pointed across the parking lot. "It's close. Seth won't be able to resist. He's been eating junk food for a few days now and it's getting to him. I checked their menu---they serve steak. He'll want to go eat. Maybe Ritchie will go with him. That will leave Augusta alone."
"What if she goes with them?"
"Doesn't matter. Either way, I'll get a chance to talk to her." She sat down in a chair, which she had to pull closer to the window. "We just have to wait."
%%%%%%%%%%
And so Xanny waited. And waited. Finally, just after dark completely came, she saw two figures come out of the room. The spot of bright gold had to be Augusta, and the tall dark stick was obviously Seth. Ritchie was not with them. Xanny had been trying not to think, the entire time she'd been watching, but now, the curiosity was sparked and she couldn't put the flame out.
Ritchie wasn't going with them. So maybe they still thought Augusta was Xanny. Or at least, Ritchie did. Seth obviously wasn't telling, if he knew. Then again, why was she so obsessed about the idea of their mistaking Augusta's identity?
Was Carl right? Was she jealous?
She waited for them to disappear inside the diner. Then, she carefully made her way across the street, noting where they were sitting through the large glass windows. Seth was facing the door---that was totally like him. This was going to be a problem.
She avoided the lit parking lot, in case he should look outside, but no, his eyes kept traveling to the door. He was a lot more in focus this time, than when she'd seen him coming out of the woods. She went around the building, saw a window. A rather large window. When she pulled herself up, she saw it lead into a bathroom. No urinals, it had to be a ladies room. She slid the window open---the assistance of a large, broken branch was necessary, as the window obviously had not been opened in a good while and was partly rusted closed. She managed to get it wide enough to slip herself through.
The bathroom was empty. She pulled the window shut behind her with nearly as much effort. Just as it was about to close, she heard a snap. Something had caught in the sill, and push as she might, she couldn't get the window back open again.
Bloody hell.
There was someone coming in to the bathroom. Xanny went over to the sink, casually washed her hands of the dirt and grime from her climb. A woman came in, used the bathroom, and Xanny took the moment to slip her head out the window, see what she could see.
The woman flushed, came out, gave her an odd look. Washed her hands, left. Xanny washed her hands again during it all, primped herself in the mirror, anything to look normal. Obviously the woman had better things to do because she left without comment. Xanny stuck her head out the door again.
Augusta was coming around the corner. Xanny backed away, pulled the other two bathroom stall doors shut, and slid into the third one, hitching herself up with both feet on the toilet. She put up the seat, knowing that the porcelain rim was a lot more level than the plastic covering. She pulled the door open as wide as she could without exposing herself, knowing psychologically people always went for the first open door. The door opened, Augusta walked in---at least, she hoped it was Augusta.
Xanny waited. The woman strode right toward the stall. The second she pushed the door all the way open, Xanny grabbed her arm and yanked. Balancing herself on one foot, she slammed the stall shut with the other, using her arms to stifle Augusta's startled shriek, as well as turn her around so she could see who she was being kidnapped by.
"Xanny," Augusta breathed.
"Augusta," Xanny replied. "Nice to meet you."
Then the door to the ladies room came open again, this time with a bang. Augusta whirled around, merely by instinct. Seth's voice flooded over them.
"Augusta? You okay?"
The sound of his voice...she hadn't heard it in years. Xanny closed her eyes, willing her heartbeat to return to normal. She did not still have feelings for Seth...and if she did, who in the hell could blame her? But she was not jealous.
"Fine," Augusta said, sounding absolutely normal. "I just thought I saw a rat, that's all."
"Oh." He sounded skeptical, but they could both hear him withdrawing. "All right. Hurry up, five minutes."
"Yeah, yeah," Augusta said, this time not having to force the frustration into her voice. She looked over her shoulder at Xanny. "So, are you here to rescue me?" she whispered.
Xanny nearly scowled at her. "Depends. Do you want to be rescued?"
"I'm dying to know how you knew where we were holed up, but I don't think I have enough time to hear the story. Are you one of the good guys or bad guys?"
"Good guys." Xanny drew a breath. "Did your Aunt Anette ever tell you a story about a missing twin?"
Augusta scowled. She'd heard the story a dozen times growing up, but once her parents had died, all talk of it had died as well. Then, as she looked into Xanny's face, she suddenly knew---intuition told her she was looking at her twin.
"Wow," Augusta said. Xanny nodded, as if reading her mind.
"Pretty wild, huh? But no, I can't exactly rescue you, yet. I'm working for your fiancée, Marcos Ferarre." There was a twisted look on Xanny's face. "Anything you want me to tell him for you?"
The guilt tinted her cheeks pink. "Don't tell him," she whispered. "How did you know?"
"There are stains on the couch, according to the police detectives. But nobody has told Marcos yet."
"Marcos? He lets you call him by his first name?"
"I know, it's a privilege. Listen, you can't tell Seth you and I met here."
"Oh, hell, you think? I'd be in as much trouble as you."
"How good of an actress are you?"
"Better at some times than others."
"Yeah, I heard your fit in the woods earlier today."
Another blush. "You heard that?"
"Same thing happened to me after my first time with Ritchie at the wheel. Although I'll admit the circumstances were a little different."
"He knows I'm not you."
Xanny cocked an eyebrow. "We doing a mind-reading thing now?"
"Aren't twins supposed to be psychic?" Augusta gave her a little smile. Xanny couldn't help but smile back. She had just met the woman, and it was like they'd known each other all their lives.
"Listen," Augusta said, "I really do have to pee."
Xanny gingerly stepped off the toilet and put the seat down. "If Seth comes back in, I'm going to have to stand on you," Xanny warned her. "Make it fast."
"So why are you here, if not to rescue me?" Augusta asked, as she did as nature intended.
"To make sure things are okay. So it was Seth you slept with, then?"
"Yeah." A distinctly guilty look. "I'm sorry about that, I don't know what came over me."
"Well, I do." A quirky grin, which Augusta actually returned. "Keep playing along. Seth likes to make friends with his hostages, it makes them more manageable. Although I'd say you're a little past friends...just don't piss him off."
"I figured that," Augusta said as she flushed. Xanny returned to her perch on the porcelain lip. "So what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to report back to my boss, let him know you're okay and relatively undamaged. You're going to go back out there and make like nothing has happened. Just keep an eye out for me---I'll be around."
Augusta nodded, a bit confused. "All right." She slipped out of the stall. "Nice meeting you," she whispered.
Xanny couldn't help but grin as Augusta went back outside, and heard Seth say, "Any more rats?"
"Not a one," Augusta replied.
%%%%%%%%%%
Xanny slipped out the back door of the restaurant, unnoticed by any of the patrons, and only by a few of the staff, who really could have cared less. This place was run by the bored and the doomed, people whose existence had been tragically altered by the fact that they were in a low economic grouping. Xanny watched their faces as she walked by, feeling rather fortunate. She was nearly one of them, except for Carl's mercy. She reminded herself to thank him, later.
As she returned to her hotel room, new thoughts began to sparkle up inside of her. What was going to happen when all of this was over? Was she going to live in that big mansion with her twin sister and her handsome husband? Was she going to be rich now? Did she even need to work for Carl anymore? The thought of leaving the man was a bit depressing. For all his sometimes-sleazy appearance and trains of thought, the man had the kind of genuineness that was rarely found in people, a rockbed of honesty in his chest that she'd been leaning on for a while. He was practically the closest thing she had to family---and now all of that was changing.
She slipped inside the room. Marcos was sitting on the couch, looking for all the world as if he were sulking. She pulled off her leather jacket, put it on the back of a nearby chair. "Where's Carl?" she asked.
"Taking a nap," Marcos grumbled.
Xanny sat down next to him. "You okay?"
He let out a deep sigh. "I shouldn't have come."
"What makes you say that? Not that I don't agree with you, I just want to know what tipped you off." She smoothed the words over with a smile, but it didn't work. Marcos shook his head, doubly melancholy.
"I'm not any use to you two. You're doing your jobs and I'm a dragging ball and chain." Then he looked pained. "Besides, I'm not even sure Augusta wants us to rescue her."
Almost subconsciously, Xanny patted down her sides, a brief gesture. Surely he hadn't planted one of those disposable listening devices on her? "What in the world would make you say that?"
Marcos sighed deeply again, looked away. It was a long time before he spoke again, but Xanny waited, her patience having been perfected over years in a prison cell. "You know, I've known Xanny for six, almost seven years. We've been engaged for the last two. And sometimes, I just don't think I know a thing about her."
Xanny considered his words. "Marcos," she said, gently, "you know, I know a thing or two about psychology, even though I never went to school. In jail, reading is one of the few luxuries you really have. And you could just be feeling really out of your element. I mean, this isn't a business deal or a negotiation---not yet, anyway---and you are awfully close to the situation. You could just be seeing things in a distorted way."
He turned and looked at her. "I feel like I know more about you than I know about her."
Xanny shrugged, smiled. "I'm an open book," she said. "Not much effort in that."
"I know you like to ride motorcycles," Marcos went on, a slightly distant look on his face, even as his eyes stayed on hers. "I know that you like to change your hair color regularly. I know that you went through a deep, personal conversion, I don't know how spiritual, but you made a major change in your life, and yet somehow you still managed to stay yourself. I know you're strong. And I know that you like to scramble your ham and eggs together for breakfast."
They both chuckled. Xanny patted his arm, casually. "Don't get yourself all upset about this, Marcos. You're partly transferring, since I look so much like Augusta. When this is all over, things will go back to normal. Or at least close to it. Really, I promise."
He sighed, troubled again. He looked away, back at her, a nervous gesture. He was a far cry from the sophisticated man she'd met in his office a few days ago. She wondered if she liked him better like this---vulnerable. Seth had never allowed himself to be vulnerable, even when he was intimate.
"I love how honest you are," Marcos said. "How realistic. I like how you act like everything is under control, even if it isn't." He gave her a little smile. "I guess I've known so many control freaks in my life, it's nice to meet someone who isn't."
"Is Augusta a control freak?" Xanny asked.
Marcos shrugged. "Sometimes, about some things. She puts up such a front---always acting a part, I don't know when she drops it sometimes. I mean it, Xanny. I honestly feel like she's this entire other person that I don't know. And that entire other person is the girl that the Geckos are keeping hostage right now."
He was obsessing on the fact that Augusta was with the Geckos. Changing the subject would not work. Xanny searched her mind for a way to distract him, came up with nothing.
"Would you tell me..." he began, then trailed off, as if he knew what he was about to ask was not appropriate.
"Tell you what?" she prompted.
"I don't want to invade your privacy."
Xanny smirked. "If all goes well, Marcos, I'm going to become your sister-in-law. We shouldn't have any secrets. Go ahead, ask me. The worst I can say is that I won't tell you."
He still seemed reluctant. "How long did were you and Seth...together?"
"Officially? About six years. He'd just gotten out of an ugly divorce, was seriously on the rebound, really starting to make his name as a thief. I guess I was good therapy for a while---I had no self-respect then, I was just floating from one little con to another, scraping by. He was...exciting. I got caught up. For a while, it was just a physical relationship, with business on the side. Then we started to get attached to each other and became a more permanent thing. But he made it very clear he wasn't ever going to marry me. I was fine with that, I just wanted to stay with him." She paused. "It was a lot of mindgames, during those six years. It was really bad toward the end. I sometimes worry that's the reason I got out, because I was just so pissed."
"So you hate him?"
"No," she said softly. "I knew him too well to hate him. I understood him, even better after we separated. He just is who he is. Although he chooses a lot of it, embraces it, relishes it at times. He always has to have his 'shit together,' as he would say. Always. I guess if I'd been married to his wife, I'd feel the same." She shrugged. "Mostly I just feel sorry for him."
"Why?"
"Because he's stuck with his own misery and he can't see it," Xanny replied. "I mean, he's in total denial about Ritchie, and the man is the only family he has. One day that's going to go all to hell and I definitely am glad I won't be around to see it. When that happens...I don't know. Either Seth will snap, or he'll realize that he can change. Like I did." She gave him a little smile.
"Were you really so evil?" Marcos asked, turning to her. Now that the subject had transitioned to her, he seemed a little less tense. She decided to let it continue.
"I was angry," she said. "I don't think I was malicious. I was just...empty. I had nothing inside, all the devils had their way with me. But don't be fooled for a minute---I can hold my own in a fight. In fact, I think prison toughened me up more than running with the Geckos. Seth was always doing the fighting when I was with them, and in prison I had to defend myself. I'm much better at it now."
"I'd like to know...will you tell me...what happened, the day you two parted ways?"
"It's a long story. You sure you wanna hear it?"
"Yeah."
"Truth is a lot strange than fiction, I'm warning you," she added.
"Xanny," Marcos said with a smiling that was actually admiring, "anyone who knows herself as well as you do, I'd listen to you talk all night."
A/N: I'm trying to get this story done quickly while the inspiration flows. I hope it doesn't fade before we get to the good stuff. And I suspect it's only about half-done, maybe a little more.
Eleven: Jealous
When Carl and Marcos arrived, she'd already gone through a few Big Macs. They suggested finding a hotel close to the Dollar Inn, get a room so they could watch the parking lot. As soon as they were in private, Marcos began to rant about how they should call the police, and both Xanny and Carl had to go through all the reasons why that was a bad idea. They had to be more subtle to get Augusta away.
Then Marcos' cel-phone rang. Luckily, the room was a suite, so he could go into the bedroom for some privacy. As soon as he was behind a closed door, Xanny leaned toward Carl.
"What couldn't you tell me before?"
"You aren't going to like it," Carl said.
"Why not? This is a case, Carl, not a personal-"
"Augusta is sleeping with one of the Geckos."
She stopped, her mouth half-open. "You are shitting me," she said when her voice returned.
"Would I shit a turd like you?" he asked. "There was sperm all over the couch."
"All over?"
"All over. Whatever they were doing I doubt sleeping had a lot to do with it."
"That's ridiculous," Xanny said with a shake of her head. "How do you know it's her? I mean, neither Seth nor Ritchie are above sleeping with a prostitute. Maybe she just left before the action started."
"A prostitute with pale blonde hair?"
"It's possible."
"You're jealous."
"That's not possible."
"Well, it's also not possible that she was sleeping with Ritchie. She's still alive."
Xanny pulled away, steaming. She didn't know who to be angrier at, Seth for doing something like that, or Augusta for being stupid enough to go along with it. And she'd pegged her twin sister for having a brain!
"You sure you're not jealous?" Carl asked, a tone of seriousness in his voice.
"That's just stupid!" Xanny snapped. "Why would they do that? There's no reason to do something like that! It just makes everything so much more complicated. He has to know by now that she isn't me."
"Maybe that's WHY he slept with her."
She glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I don't know, I'm talking out my ass."
"At least you admit it." Xanny got up and went to the window. She'd shed the leather jacket and had on only a thin black shirt underneath. The evening was getting cooler and she was starting to get a chill.
"Does Marcos know?" Xanny asked suddenly.
"I didn't tell him. I figured it was for her to do."
"Good move. Bloody hell."
"Any suggestions on how to trip them up?" Carl asked, a vain attempt at a subject switch.
"Depends on your ideas," she said.
"I need to think about it a little more," he said. "I should have something solid by tonight."
"Okay." A pause. "Carl, I think I want to try and make contact with her."
"Who?"
"Augusta."
He blinked. "Excuse me?"
"I think she needs to be reminded of the situation that she's in."
Carl stood up. "Xanny, that's a bad idea. You could blow this whole operation."
She turned to him. "Don't you trust me, Carl?"
"I trust you usually. But I think this new development has rattled your brain."
"It's not because of that, Carl. Well, it is because of that, but it's not a jealousy thing. We have to know where Augusta stands. If she doesn't want to be rescued, we may as well just call the police and go home."
Carl stared at her, then sighed deeply. "Okay, fine. What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to sit here and wait for them to come out. See that restaurant?" She pointed across the parking lot. "It's close. Seth won't be able to resist. He's been eating junk food for a few days now and it's getting to him. I checked their menu---they serve steak. He'll want to go eat. Maybe Ritchie will go with him. That will leave Augusta alone."
"What if she goes with them?"
"Doesn't matter. Either way, I'll get a chance to talk to her." She sat down in a chair, which she had to pull closer to the window. "We just have to wait."
%%%%%%%%%%
And so Xanny waited. And waited. Finally, just after dark completely came, she saw two figures come out of the room. The spot of bright gold had to be Augusta, and the tall dark stick was obviously Seth. Ritchie was not with them. Xanny had been trying not to think, the entire time she'd been watching, but now, the curiosity was sparked and she couldn't put the flame out.
Ritchie wasn't going with them. So maybe they still thought Augusta was Xanny. Or at least, Ritchie did. Seth obviously wasn't telling, if he knew. Then again, why was she so obsessed about the idea of their mistaking Augusta's identity?
Was Carl right? Was she jealous?
She waited for them to disappear inside the diner. Then, she carefully made her way across the street, noting where they were sitting through the large glass windows. Seth was facing the door---that was totally like him. This was going to be a problem.
She avoided the lit parking lot, in case he should look outside, but no, his eyes kept traveling to the door. He was a lot more in focus this time, than when she'd seen him coming out of the woods. She went around the building, saw a window. A rather large window. When she pulled herself up, she saw it lead into a bathroom. No urinals, it had to be a ladies room. She slid the window open---the assistance of a large, broken branch was necessary, as the window obviously had not been opened in a good while and was partly rusted closed. She managed to get it wide enough to slip herself through.
The bathroom was empty. She pulled the window shut behind her with nearly as much effort. Just as it was about to close, she heard a snap. Something had caught in the sill, and push as she might, she couldn't get the window back open again.
Bloody hell.
There was someone coming in to the bathroom. Xanny went over to the sink, casually washed her hands of the dirt and grime from her climb. A woman came in, used the bathroom, and Xanny took the moment to slip her head out the window, see what she could see.
The woman flushed, came out, gave her an odd look. Washed her hands, left. Xanny washed her hands again during it all, primped herself in the mirror, anything to look normal. Obviously the woman had better things to do because she left without comment. Xanny stuck her head out the door again.
Augusta was coming around the corner. Xanny backed away, pulled the other two bathroom stall doors shut, and slid into the third one, hitching herself up with both feet on the toilet. She put up the seat, knowing that the porcelain rim was a lot more level than the plastic covering. She pulled the door open as wide as she could without exposing herself, knowing psychologically people always went for the first open door. The door opened, Augusta walked in---at least, she hoped it was Augusta.
Xanny waited. The woman strode right toward the stall. The second she pushed the door all the way open, Xanny grabbed her arm and yanked. Balancing herself on one foot, she slammed the stall shut with the other, using her arms to stifle Augusta's startled shriek, as well as turn her around so she could see who she was being kidnapped by.
"Xanny," Augusta breathed.
"Augusta," Xanny replied. "Nice to meet you."
Then the door to the ladies room came open again, this time with a bang. Augusta whirled around, merely by instinct. Seth's voice flooded over them.
"Augusta? You okay?"
The sound of his voice...she hadn't heard it in years. Xanny closed her eyes, willing her heartbeat to return to normal. She did not still have feelings for Seth...and if she did, who in the hell could blame her? But she was not jealous.
"Fine," Augusta said, sounding absolutely normal. "I just thought I saw a rat, that's all."
"Oh." He sounded skeptical, but they could both hear him withdrawing. "All right. Hurry up, five minutes."
"Yeah, yeah," Augusta said, this time not having to force the frustration into her voice. She looked over her shoulder at Xanny. "So, are you here to rescue me?" she whispered.
Xanny nearly scowled at her. "Depends. Do you want to be rescued?"
"I'm dying to know how you knew where we were holed up, but I don't think I have enough time to hear the story. Are you one of the good guys or bad guys?"
"Good guys." Xanny drew a breath. "Did your Aunt Anette ever tell you a story about a missing twin?"
Augusta scowled. She'd heard the story a dozen times growing up, but once her parents had died, all talk of it had died as well. Then, as she looked into Xanny's face, she suddenly knew---intuition told her she was looking at her twin.
"Wow," Augusta said. Xanny nodded, as if reading her mind.
"Pretty wild, huh? But no, I can't exactly rescue you, yet. I'm working for your fiancée, Marcos Ferarre." There was a twisted look on Xanny's face. "Anything you want me to tell him for you?"
The guilt tinted her cheeks pink. "Don't tell him," she whispered. "How did you know?"
"There are stains on the couch, according to the police detectives. But nobody has told Marcos yet."
"Marcos? He lets you call him by his first name?"
"I know, it's a privilege. Listen, you can't tell Seth you and I met here."
"Oh, hell, you think? I'd be in as much trouble as you."
"How good of an actress are you?"
"Better at some times than others."
"Yeah, I heard your fit in the woods earlier today."
Another blush. "You heard that?"
"Same thing happened to me after my first time with Ritchie at the wheel. Although I'll admit the circumstances were a little different."
"He knows I'm not you."
Xanny cocked an eyebrow. "We doing a mind-reading thing now?"
"Aren't twins supposed to be psychic?" Augusta gave her a little smile. Xanny couldn't help but smile back. She had just met the woman, and it was like they'd known each other all their lives.
"Listen," Augusta said, "I really do have to pee."
Xanny gingerly stepped off the toilet and put the seat down. "If Seth comes back in, I'm going to have to stand on you," Xanny warned her. "Make it fast."
"So why are you here, if not to rescue me?" Augusta asked, as she did as nature intended.
"To make sure things are okay. So it was Seth you slept with, then?"
"Yeah." A distinctly guilty look. "I'm sorry about that, I don't know what came over me."
"Well, I do." A quirky grin, which Augusta actually returned. "Keep playing along. Seth likes to make friends with his hostages, it makes them more manageable. Although I'd say you're a little past friends...just don't piss him off."
"I figured that," Augusta said as she flushed. Xanny returned to her perch on the porcelain lip. "So what are you going to do?"
"I'm going to report back to my boss, let him know you're okay and relatively undamaged. You're going to go back out there and make like nothing has happened. Just keep an eye out for me---I'll be around."
Augusta nodded, a bit confused. "All right." She slipped out of the stall. "Nice meeting you," she whispered.
Xanny couldn't help but grin as Augusta went back outside, and heard Seth say, "Any more rats?"
"Not a one," Augusta replied.
%%%%%%%%%%
Xanny slipped out the back door of the restaurant, unnoticed by any of the patrons, and only by a few of the staff, who really could have cared less. This place was run by the bored and the doomed, people whose existence had been tragically altered by the fact that they were in a low economic grouping. Xanny watched their faces as she walked by, feeling rather fortunate. She was nearly one of them, except for Carl's mercy. She reminded herself to thank him, later.
As she returned to her hotel room, new thoughts began to sparkle up inside of her. What was going to happen when all of this was over? Was she going to live in that big mansion with her twin sister and her handsome husband? Was she going to be rich now? Did she even need to work for Carl anymore? The thought of leaving the man was a bit depressing. For all his sometimes-sleazy appearance and trains of thought, the man had the kind of genuineness that was rarely found in people, a rockbed of honesty in his chest that she'd been leaning on for a while. He was practically the closest thing she had to family---and now all of that was changing.
She slipped inside the room. Marcos was sitting on the couch, looking for all the world as if he were sulking. She pulled off her leather jacket, put it on the back of a nearby chair. "Where's Carl?" she asked.
"Taking a nap," Marcos grumbled.
Xanny sat down next to him. "You okay?"
He let out a deep sigh. "I shouldn't have come."
"What makes you say that? Not that I don't agree with you, I just want to know what tipped you off." She smoothed the words over with a smile, but it didn't work. Marcos shook his head, doubly melancholy.
"I'm not any use to you two. You're doing your jobs and I'm a dragging ball and chain." Then he looked pained. "Besides, I'm not even sure Augusta wants us to rescue her."
Almost subconsciously, Xanny patted down her sides, a brief gesture. Surely he hadn't planted one of those disposable listening devices on her? "What in the world would make you say that?"
Marcos sighed deeply again, looked away. It was a long time before he spoke again, but Xanny waited, her patience having been perfected over years in a prison cell. "You know, I've known Xanny for six, almost seven years. We've been engaged for the last two. And sometimes, I just don't think I know a thing about her."
Xanny considered his words. "Marcos," she said, gently, "you know, I know a thing or two about psychology, even though I never went to school. In jail, reading is one of the few luxuries you really have. And you could just be feeling really out of your element. I mean, this isn't a business deal or a negotiation---not yet, anyway---and you are awfully close to the situation. You could just be seeing things in a distorted way."
He turned and looked at her. "I feel like I know more about you than I know about her."
Xanny shrugged, smiled. "I'm an open book," she said. "Not much effort in that."
"I know you like to ride motorcycles," Marcos went on, a slightly distant look on his face, even as his eyes stayed on hers. "I know that you like to change your hair color regularly. I know that you went through a deep, personal conversion, I don't know how spiritual, but you made a major change in your life, and yet somehow you still managed to stay yourself. I know you're strong. And I know that you like to scramble your ham and eggs together for breakfast."
They both chuckled. Xanny patted his arm, casually. "Don't get yourself all upset about this, Marcos. You're partly transferring, since I look so much like Augusta. When this is all over, things will go back to normal. Or at least close to it. Really, I promise."
He sighed, troubled again. He looked away, back at her, a nervous gesture. He was a far cry from the sophisticated man she'd met in his office a few days ago. She wondered if she liked him better like this---vulnerable. Seth had never allowed himself to be vulnerable, even when he was intimate.
"I love how honest you are," Marcos said. "How realistic. I like how you act like everything is under control, even if it isn't." He gave her a little smile. "I guess I've known so many control freaks in my life, it's nice to meet someone who isn't."
"Is Augusta a control freak?" Xanny asked.
Marcos shrugged. "Sometimes, about some things. She puts up such a front---always acting a part, I don't know when she drops it sometimes. I mean it, Xanny. I honestly feel like she's this entire other person that I don't know. And that entire other person is the girl that the Geckos are keeping hostage right now."
He was obsessing on the fact that Augusta was with the Geckos. Changing the subject would not work. Xanny searched her mind for a way to distract him, came up with nothing.
"Would you tell me..." he began, then trailed off, as if he knew what he was about to ask was not appropriate.
"Tell you what?" she prompted.
"I don't want to invade your privacy."
Xanny smirked. "If all goes well, Marcos, I'm going to become your sister-in-law. We shouldn't have any secrets. Go ahead, ask me. The worst I can say is that I won't tell you."
He still seemed reluctant. "How long did were you and Seth...together?"
"Officially? About six years. He'd just gotten out of an ugly divorce, was seriously on the rebound, really starting to make his name as a thief. I guess I was good therapy for a while---I had no self-respect then, I was just floating from one little con to another, scraping by. He was...exciting. I got caught up. For a while, it was just a physical relationship, with business on the side. Then we started to get attached to each other and became a more permanent thing. But he made it very clear he wasn't ever going to marry me. I was fine with that, I just wanted to stay with him." She paused. "It was a lot of mindgames, during those six years. It was really bad toward the end. I sometimes worry that's the reason I got out, because I was just so pissed."
"So you hate him?"
"No," she said softly. "I knew him too well to hate him. I understood him, even better after we separated. He just is who he is. Although he chooses a lot of it, embraces it, relishes it at times. He always has to have his 'shit together,' as he would say. Always. I guess if I'd been married to his wife, I'd feel the same." She shrugged. "Mostly I just feel sorry for him."
"Why?"
"Because he's stuck with his own misery and he can't see it," Xanny replied. "I mean, he's in total denial about Ritchie, and the man is the only family he has. One day that's going to go all to hell and I definitely am glad I won't be around to see it. When that happens...I don't know. Either Seth will snap, or he'll realize that he can change. Like I did." She gave him a little smile.
"Were you really so evil?" Marcos asked, turning to her. Now that the subject had transitioned to her, he seemed a little less tense. She decided to let it continue.
"I was angry," she said. "I don't think I was malicious. I was just...empty. I had nothing inside, all the devils had their way with me. But don't be fooled for a minute---I can hold my own in a fight. In fact, I think prison toughened me up more than running with the Geckos. Seth was always doing the fighting when I was with them, and in prison I had to defend myself. I'm much better at it now."
"I'd like to know...will you tell me...what happened, the day you two parted ways?"
"It's a long story. You sure you wanna hear it?"
"Yeah."
"Truth is a lot strange than fiction, I'm warning you," she added.
"Xanny," Marcos said with a smiling that was actually admiring, "anyone who knows herself as well as you do, I'd listen to you talk all night."