Two days after their meeting with Clarke in the Flying Cow, Nat left to see about membership in the Black Boar. Standing outside alone, she checked that her earpiece was out of sight, feeling slightly nervous at being alone with murderous people but at least feeling some safety knowing that Sands and maybe Clarke could hear what was going on. She knocked on the door, surprised when it opened almost before she'd finished knocking. A pale faced man peered through the gap.
"Can I 'elp ye?"
"Erm… I'm here to ask if I could possibly gain membership to the Black Boar," Nat replied hopefully. The door opened a bit more as the man stared harder at her face.
"Who are ye? I ain't seen ye roun' 'ere before."
"I'm new in town," she said quickly. "I've only been here a week and I heard that this club is reopening and…" The man raised an eyebrow. She continued. "Could I talk to Mr. Carlo please?"
"Mr. Carlo's busy. 'e is in a meeting," he snapped.
"Oh," she said, thinking fast. "Well, could you please tell him I dropped in and get him to call me when he isn't in a meeting?"
"I don't think…" He stopped suddenly and Nat jumped as a tanned hand appeared on his shoulder. The door opened wide and the pale faced man withdrew his face from the door. Standing in front of Nat now was a dark haired smiling man, obviously Mexican. He was average height and skinny but Nat wasn't naïve enough to believe that this made him harmless. She immediately knew him to be Pablo Carlo.
"What can I do for you, Miss?" His voice was highly accented.
"Err…would I be able to join the Black Boar?"
His grin widened considerably and Nat was sure she saw his black eyes flicker down her body. "Of course, Miss, it would be a pleasure to have such a…pretty lady join for the reopening. Why don't you come in?" She nodded and followed him into the dark building.
This room was obviously the hallway although you could probably fit a small house into it. A large table stood in the centre and the walls were lined with paintings. The pale faced man was nowhere to be seen. There were three other rooms leading off and Nat was led through the one opposite. As she stepped through the doorway, what met her eyes made her gasp.
She was standing in a huge dance club with a dance floor and stage at the front and a massive bar at the back. The room reached up to the roof, with balconies beneath the glass top. The lighting was dim and blue and Nat had to blink several times to let her eyes adjust. Carlo led her down a small set of stairs down to a table by the dance floor. Opening the jacket of his suit, he took out a pen and a sheet of paper.
"What's your name, darling?" he said to her chest, more than to her.
"Natalie," she replied, deciding to use her alias. "Natalie Parkinson."
He smiled. "Your name is very beautiful." He turned to gaze at her intently and she began to feel uncomfortable when he refused to turn away. Bloody hell. No one had creeped her out just by looking at her since she was a kid. Eventually he turned back to his paper and asked her a few more details.
"You are welcome any time you like, Miss Parkinson. Is there anything you would like to ask?"
"Yes. Is there any fee I should pay?"
"There should be," he nodded. "But I think I can let you off that one. Seeing as it would be…such a pleasure to have you here." She backed up slightly as he stepped closer, grinning, almost maliciously. She felt her back against the wall. Oh my god, what's happening? She screamed in her mind. She forced herself to look at anything, anything but those dark endless eyes. They reminded her of Sheldon's but without any warmth. With a look so cold it could probably freeze you to death. She couldn't look, in case that happened to her.
"I have to go now," her voice sounded miles away. She knew she was being stupid. Men had come onto her before and she managed to keep her cool. She held her breath, watching as he reached out to brush his fingers down her cheek. "Bye," she said hurriedly and almost sprinted out of the door.
Outside in the bright sun, she leaned against the wall and took a deep breath, letting the warmth of the day seep back into her. She closed her eyes. What the hell was all that about? She checked her watch. She'd been in there for half an hour and that was more than enough for her. She dreaded going back. Right now, all she wanted was to be as far away from that club as possible.
She returned to the hotel and Sands opened the door for her before she even had a chance to find her key.
"You're back? You alright?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she said, startled. "Is everything okay?"
"Yeah, it is now, how did it go?"
"He is one hell of a creep, Shel, I almost began to think we were dealing with vampires or something." She heard him chuckle and smiled, moving towards the fridge to get a drink, only finding nothing but tequila and a few limes. She rolled her eyes, deciding to settle for a glass of tequila.
"So what's the plan now?" she asked Sands. She watched as he sat in the chair by the balcony, facing the sound of her voice.
"You make a connection with Carlo, find out what you can."
"Urgh, great, it's really not the most pleasant of places to go, I can tell you," Nat shuddered.
"Nothing much else to do until Clarke contacts us again," Sands paused. "Shit, this case is fucked up. We hardly have anything to work with."
"We'll get there in the end. We always do."
He nodded but didn't reply. Nat knew he liked to be active, to be in doing what he knew how to do best. He wasn't the type to sit around and wait In the meantime, however, they had a lot to catch up on.