CHAPTER SEVEN
"Yep," Toby replied, staring down at his cell. "That's Happy's butt."
"That's way more than I ever wanted to see of her," said Sly, averting his eyes.
"You and me both, kid." Cabe shook his head as he walked back over to the couch and his book.
Toby's fingers flew over his keypad. 'How high are you?'
'As a kite Doc,' came the reply a few minutes later. Then a third photo appeared of Happy kissing a hot looking black haired woman. Both women looked disheveled and the mechanic had red lipstick prints all over her face and neck.
Oh, shit. 'Happy honey as much as I enjoy lesbian porn I really don't want to see my girlfriend as one of the participants,' he typed out before hitting send.
'Liar.' Dammit, she knew him too well. Still, it was disconcerting to see the woman he loved kissing anyone else of any gender. And where the hell were Walter and Paige? Why weren't they at what looked like an after concert party in a hotel suite? Or if they were there, why weren't they doing something about Happy's self-destructive behavior? More than a little pissed, he fired off a text to Walter.
'Hey 197 where the hell are you? Need to do something about Happy before she does something she regrets.'
"Who's it from?" Paige asked as Walter's phone chirped as they sat in a booth at the diner, each with a half-eaten breakfast special in front of them. She stabbed a piece of pancake with her fork.
"Toby," he replied tersely. "He's worried about Happy."
"We can't interfere." Stuffing the food into her mouth, she chewed before speaking again. "Tell him that."
Several moments passed after Walter send his reply to the shrink before he received another notification. "He's sent a picture of her. It appears things have gotten out of hand since we've left." He showed his cell to Paige.
"Oh, my. . ." Walter had to repress a smile as Paige's eyes grew wide. Happy and Anya were no longer sitting on Akim's lap, but were now making out on a couch, both women shirtless but still wearing their bras. The mechanic's eyes appeared glassy and he wondered how much marijuana she'd smoked or if she'd ingested some of the other drugs available as well.
"Damn, we need to do something," Paige conceded. She tipped her head as she gave him an assessing look. "You're not surprised."
Walter sighed as he shook his head. "Happy was involved with a woman when I first met her. It ended. . .badly. She swore off both women and men for long time."
"Until Toby," Paige said with a smile.
"Until Toby," he confirmed with a nod. "Ready?" He stood up and tossed a couple of twenties onto the table.
She slid out of the booth. "As I'll ever be." She reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze.
Walter closed his eyes for a moment, relishing the contact. Something had changed between them in the last few days. He didn't want to question it, didn't want to get his hopes up. . . But if the outcome of working on this case brought him and Paige closer together. . . Well, it would be worth all the crap he was having to deal with from the rest of the crew.
He glanced over at her and she smiled shyly at him. But she didn't let go of his hand.
ooooo
Things had indeed gotten out of control when Walter pushed his way back inside the hotel suite. On the ride up in the elevator, he'd had suggested they enter separately, and Paige had agreed. Now he wasn't sure he wanted to her to step foot in the place at all.
Half-naked writhing bodies covered every flat and some not so flat surfaces. Quite a few people had passed out, or at least he hoped that was the case. As stoically as he could, he scanned the suite for any signs of Happy.
He heard the door open behind him as he finally found the mechanic lying unconscious on a leather sofa, under the black-haired back up singer, who was also out like a light. It took all his resolve not to turn around when Paige gasped.
Sighing wearily, he moved forward, planning to rescue his friend when his progress came to a screeching halt when a woman pressed herself against him.
"Hi, I'm Zalina," she introduced herself, her words slurred as she grabbed his ass. She must be the other singer, the one Paige had warned him about. He had to admit her countenance was symmetrically pleasing. But there was something about her eyes that was off-putting. Even if he wasn't in love with Paige, he would have steered clear of this woman.
He averted his face for a moment as the alcohol fumes emitting from her filled his nose. She grasped his head with both hands and pulled him toward her before kissing him full on the lips. She stuffed her tongue into his mouth and he pushed her away as he gagged. She didn't seem to notice as she snaked her arms around his neck. "Let's fuck." She mumbled her invitation into his ear then bit its lobe none too gently.
"Uh, no-no th-thanks," he stammered, trying to politely extricate himself from her unwanted advances.
Paige had no such qualms. After searching the room and seeing no sign of Yuri, she made her way over to the sofa. She was nearly there when Zalina attached herself to Walter like a leech. Rage boiled up inside her and politeness was the last thing on her mind as she shoved the woman away from the genius with all her might. The singer must have been more wasted than she seemed because she fell like a load of bricks to the floor, narrowly missing hitting her head on an end table. Paige felt bad for about a second.
"Come on," she said to a stunned and red-faced Walter. "Let's grab Happy and get out of here."
"O-Okay." Working in tandem, they pulled the mechanic out from under her stoned friend. Paige found her discarded t-shirt and yanked it over Happy's head before Walter lifted her by the shoulders. Grabbing her legs, Paige helped him navigate their way to the door.
Once they were out in the hallway, they set the mechanic on her feet, still hanging onto her as she slumped toward the floor. "Where are we going to do with her?" Walter asked. "The bus. . ."
"My room's on the floor above," Paige stated. "She can sleep it off there."
"Good idea." Together they half-carried, half-dragged Happy toward the elevator. "We're leaving at ten," Walter added as they waited for the car to reach them.
"I'll make sure she's sober and ready to go by then. We fly out at two." She was not looking forward to being alone with the rest of the band members. And she especially wasn't looking forward to being away from Walter for so long. At least he'd be safe from Zalina for most of the day. She couldn't shake the image of the other woman kissing Walter from her head and jealousy surged through her again. He'd been so shocked. . .and disgusted, thank God, obviously not enjoying it at all.
It was then she noticed he was frowning at her and she quickly flashed him a reassuring smile. He grinned back at her. "Uh. . ." Anything he might have said was interrupted by the arrival of the elevator.
Fifteen minutes later, after leading an uncooperative Happy upstairs and through several hallways, she was stretched out on the extra bed in Paige's room, snoring indelicately. Walter got out his phone and sent a text to Toby, informing the shrink the mechanic was okay - stoned - but okay.
'You need to keep a better watch on her big brain.' He showed Toby's reply to Paige, who rolled her eyes, before he sent a response.
'Happy's a big girl and if she wants to party we can't interfere.'
'You ass.'
Walter was about to type out his own insult when Paige snatched the cell out of his hands and sent a message of her own. 'Toby this is Paige. The situation is under control. Go check on Ralph then get your own ass to bed.'
'Is going to bed what you and 197 will be doing?' The psychiatrist's taunting text caused Walter's face to burn and he peeked over at Paige, whose cheeks were glowing pink. Then looking as stern as she could, the liaison took a picture of herself which she immediately sent.
'Ok ok Ralph's fine. Good night.'
Paige handed his phone back to him. "Uh, I, um. . .should go," he suggested. Damn Toby anyway, for putting the idea of staying the night with Paige into his head. Now it was all he could think about.
"You could stay if you want," she said as if the shrink had planted the seed in her mind too. "There's another bed. . . I can share with Happy. . ." She gazed up at him, biting her lip in a way that always drove him crazy.
Closing his eyes and inhaling deeply, he summoned what was left of his willpower and common sense. "I-I better n-not," he said. "It might look suspicious if the three of us are seen together too much. I-I'd better g-go."
"Okay, that makes sense." She sounded cheerful, but he could read the disappointment on her face. "I'll have her ready by ten."
"Good." He still hadn't made a move to actually depart. Paige stepped toward him with a breathtaking smile until she was so close he could hear her heart beating. At least he thought it was hers. It could have been his, since it was trying to pound its way out of his chest.
"Good night, Walter," she murmured, bringing up one of her hands to cup his cheek. Then she leaned in and lightly kissed him on the lips before stepping back.
"Uh. . . G-G-Good n-night."
Thankfully the roadies' bus was mostly deserted when he climbed inside, with only a handful of the others settling down for the night. He sat down in the seat where he'd tossed and turned the night before, reliving the jolt of desire that had surged through his body when Paige's mouth had touched his, certain sleep would elude him once again.
ooooo
A very irritated sunglasses wearing Happy stepped onto the bus five minutes before they were scheduled to leave for San Diego the next morning.
"Good morning." Walter could barely keep a straight face as his friend shot him a look he was glad wasn't lethal.
"Shut the hell up, noob." She plopped down in the seat opposite him. "I suppose you're bright eyed and bushy tailed this morning."
"Well, I'm not hungover, if that's what you mean."
"God damn prude." She winced at the volume of her own voice. "And please tell me you didn't stay with Paige last night."
"I didn't. I slept here." Surprisingly, he'd fallen asleep long enough to conjure up some extremely stimulating dreams starring the liaison. "Why do you ask?"
"She woke me up a couple times, moaning and calling out your name. I thought you two were getting busy on the other bed." She slid down her glasses to stare at him. "Not only would it have probably blown the investigation, I should have known you wouldn't have the balls."
"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked indignantly.
"It means you've been drooling over her since before Tim left but you haven't done anything about it." Pushing the dark lenses back over her eyes, she slouched down in her seat. "And as much fun it would be to talk about your non-existent love life, I'm going to go back to sleep. Good night, noob."
Walter just grunted, lost in his own thoughts as the mechanic leaned her head against the bus window. Had Paige really been having erotic dreams about him, like the ones he'd had about her? Or had Happy been so wasted, she'd been imaging things?
But Happy was right, he didn't have the 'balls' to make the first move. He'd already been rejected once in favor of Tim. It had to be Paige's decision if she wanted to be with him. And lately. . . He took a deep breath. Lately it seemed as if she did want to be with him. Hoping he wasn't reading too much into her recent behavior, like the kiss she'd given him last night, he stretched out on his seat and followed Happy's example as the bus pulled out into traffic.
ooooo
Paige watched as the bus pulled away from the curb, an ache deep in her chest. It would be at least six hours before she saw him again. Saw them again, she scolded herself, knowing she would be worried about Happy too. But her concern about the mechanic wasn't as near as strong as her anxiety about being away from Walter.
Then pain exploded at the back of her head as someone yanked her hair, snapping her neck backward. "Ow! What the hell?" She spun around, gritting her teeth as hairs were pulled from her scalp.
Both Zalina and Anya were standing there, the blonde singer smugly holding a fist full of honey-colored strands. "Good morning, bitch," the other woman sneered.
Anya moved closer and Paige could see she was pissed. "I said Happy was mine, bitch." She pushed on the liaison's right shoulder. "How dare you sleep with her first?"
"I didn't. It wasn't like that," Paige began to explain. "I was worried about her being so out of it. . .and she's the only female roadie. . .and. . ."
"Shut up." The dark haired woman turned to Zalina and shook her head. "What a bunch of shit. You stole her away from me and you're going to pay, bitch." With that, she twirled around and stalked back to the front desk.
"And that was you last night, wasn't it." Zalina confronted her next. "You're the slut who pushed me away from the new meat, weren't you? You probably want him too, you fucking bitch." Her eyes looked Paige up and down and obviously found her lacking if her expression was anything to go by. "You want to fuck someone so bad, go fuck Yuri. He'll fuck anything."
The blonde curled her lip as she moved back. With an animosity she didn't know she was capable of, Paige retorted, "Well, he's fucked you, hasn't he?"
She had to bite her lip to keep from smiling in satisfaction as the other woman's jaw dropped and her mouth gaped open. "I'm going to kick your ass, bitch," Zalina hissed before spinning and following the other singer.
Great, she thought as her smugness wore off. She'd managed to tick off two of the people she had to work closely with. God, no matter how exhilarating it was to be around Walter away from the prying eyes at the garage, they needed to step up their efforts to catch the gun smugglers. She didn't know how much more of this she could take.