"I'm telling you Mel, those two are complete suckers," Bee whispered to me.

I eyed the two guys huddled in a booth in the corner of the bar. "I don't know. The one pouring over that journal looks pretty smart."

"Yeah, but the other one has eyed every girl that walked past him. If we can get him, we'll have them." Bee's eyes glinted devilishly.

"Fine. We need the cash," I said.

Bee flipped her curly red hair over her shoulders and adjusted her top. "Ready."

I rolled my eyes and slipped off my barstool. Bee strutted over to the pool table with her chest puffed out like a peacock. This is where she excelled; this was her time to shine. 

We each grabbed a pool cue. Instead of racking the pool balls in the appropriate order—which we've both known since we were about five years old—Bee started tossing the balls in however she wanted, ensuring that the eight ball was at the peak of the triangle. While I lined up the cue ball how I wanted, the guy from the booth approached the table.

"Ladies," he said with a grin. "Interested in a friendly bet?"

"Oh, I don't know." Bee slid up to him. "We haven't really played much. I don't think we'd be much competition."

"Dean," a voice said from behind me. When I turned, the other guy from the booth was there. Even though he was nearly a foot taller than me and they both had healing wounds on their faces, I didn't feel nervous. There was something gentle and sad about this other guy. "You heard her. It wouldn't be fair."

"Well, we could give them a few pointers first." Dean inched even closer to Bee.

Poor thing. Bee is a grandmaster at this game. He will never win no matter how good he thinks he is.

"What do you think Mel?" Bee looked at me and I watched Dean's eyes quickly scan her body.

"I think we have some spare change. Even if we lose, it'll be worth the lesson, right?" I started to play my own character.

Bee turned back to Dean with a large smile. "We're good for $200. What kind of bet did you have in mind?"

Dean pursed his lips. "I think we could match $200."

"Great." Bee turned back to Dean. "Money first then lessons."

After the other guy and I had placed the money on the side of the table to prove we were good for it, Dean and Bee got right to work with the lessons. He wrapped his arm around her, and she nestled in close to his body.

"I'm Sam," the other guy said. "I apologize for my brother's behavior."

"Melanie," I pointed to myself. "Don't worry about it. Bianca likes it more than you know."

Sam chuckled. "So, uh, what are you looking for help with?"

"Um..." I leaned over the table with my cue, clearly gripping it wrong. "I have a lot of trouble with stability. I whiff a lot."

"You'll want to slide this hand back." Sam wrapped his warm hand around my left hand on the back of the cue. As soon as our skin made contact, there was something strange that happened. I felt like we were connected for the briefest moment. When he had my hand where he wanted it, he let go and the feeling left. "How does that feel?"

I cleared my throat. "Better. I think there's still something wrong with my front hand. Watch me take a shot." When I slid the cue past my front hand, I made sure it stuttered and stuck a bit. 

"They have some powder over there." Sam's face was a light pink shade. I wondered if he felt it, too. "Just put some of that on your hand and you should be good."

"Thanks." I smiled, trying to remember what Bee and I were doing.

The guys were kind enough to let us break, which was their first mistake. Bee and I ran the table only letting them get a handful of shots in. 

"I don't know how we would've done without your lessons." Bee smirked as she counted the money.

"You played us," Dean furrowed his brow. 

"Sorry boys," Bee pouted. "You were just such easy targets."

"Come on, Bee. Let's go." I refused to make eye contact with Sam, while I grabbed Bee's arm and ushered her away from the table. "I'm sorry."

I settled our bill and marched out to the parking lot. 

"What the hell is the matter with you?" Bee asked as we climbed into our teal 1969 Plymouth Roadrunner. "I think I could've got them to double or nothing the next round."

The engine roared to life as I turned the key. "I just want to get far away from here."

Bee placed her hand on my shoulder. "Did he do something to you? I'll go rip his throat out."

"No." I shook my head as I backed out of the spot. "Nothing like that."

"Then what's going on? You're acting so strange. I know the hustle isn't your thing, but you've never acted this badly." Bee chuckled. "If I didn't know better, I'd say you were scared."

"There's something strange about Sam," I said, pulling onto the main road and driving off into the night. "And I don't want to stick around to find out what it is."

"Okay," Bee gave me a skeptical look. "We'll get our assignment and head out first thing in the morning."

*****

"Mom!" I woke up with a scream, covered in cold sweat. The first light of dawn streamed through the window. Next to me, Bee snored gently. I laid the knife I was clutching to my chest down on the side table. I must've picked it up instinctively.

I padded over to the sink and filled one of the plastic cups in the motel bathroom with cold water. Trying to calm myself down, I scanned the dark room behind me. There was an empty bottle of tequila and another one with a quarter gone. That one was lying on its side.

At least she put the cork in it this time.

Knowing that anything short of a slap in the face wouldn't wake Bee up, I quickly changed and went for a jog. I stumbled upon a gym and went inside for a quick workout. I didn't realize how much pent-up anxiety I had until I noticed the front desk assistant staring me down at the punching bag. I smiled weakly and moved on to another exercise.

The crisp autumn air cooled my skin as I stepped out of the gym. The sun was fully above the horizon, so I headed back to the motel. Bee was exactly where she was when I left. She twitched her nose as I entered and shifted around. Soon, snores were rumbling out of her again. After a quick shower, I was out the door again in search of some breakfast. 

It was nearly nine-thirty when I got back to the motel with a large cup of coffee, and some sausage and eggs for Bee. I set her breakfast on the table by the door and walked over to the bed. 

"Come on, Bee." I shook her shoulder and took two steps back. Bee barely stopped snoring.

I marched to the bathroom to fill up the cup again. I took my spot out of arms' length and tossed the water at her. As soon as the water hit her body, Bee sat straight up and started swinging. When she calmed down, Bee shot daggers at me.

"Why did you do that?" Bee asked.

"I couldn't get you to wake up after your bender last night. Do you realize how unsafe that is? I left twice and you didn't even budge. With what we do, you could be dead in a minute." I glared back. "Be happy I didn't go for your face."

"What time is it?" Bee rubbed her eyes.

"It's a quarter to ten. We need to get going. Hop in the shower. I've got breakfast for you." I started packing up the few things I still had around the motel.

"Why'd you let me sleep this long? They're gonna be pissed." Bee flew out of bed. 

I sighed. "Just get around Bee."

We were out the door before a quarter past ten. Bee was quiet on the way to our meeting spot, which I didn't mind. I couldn't get Sam out of my head. After everything we've done and seen, why was he so shocking to me? What was that strange feeling? I needed to get answers and I prayed it wasn't something sinister.

~

A/N: The photo with this chapter is what Mel (brunette) and Bee (ginger) look like!