Chapter 5: Storm Brewing

Graham hesitated to scan the nearby groups before he ed the short line by the drink and snack table. He knew this wasn’t his scene and kept expecting somebody to point that out. The uncomfortable guest learned quickly that holding a cup and sipping from it occasionally drew less attention than standing around doing nothing. While they waited, the Pink Elephant in front of him turned around to check out his outfit.

“Wow, that’s a bright costume,” the girl commented.

“Um, yours stands out almost as much,” Graham responded, gesturing at the fluffy pink elephant bottom she wore. Up top, the girl’s face was mostly hidden by the large pink trunk that ran down from her nose and the long pink ears.

“Yeah, Jacqueline made us wear circus-themed costumes,” the JV cheerleader revealed, motioning over at her teammates.

Graham nodded as the Pink Elephant took her turn, filling two blue Solo cups with blueberry punch. Surveying a portion of the younger squad, he noticed a trapeze artist, a fire eater, and a ventriloquist. The people-watcher nodded at the latter. He assumed that her costume with its accompanying dummy didn’t go over very well with the appearance-obsessed varsity captain.

When his turn came, Graham filled his red Solo cup with fruit punch for the second time. Although roughly a third of the party-goers carried clear cups filled with beer, more than half preferred the various punch flavors. Inexperienced at parties, he assumed they worried about driving home or facing their parents when they got back.

Stepping away from the table, Graham paused to consider his options. Wondering about Elliot’s whereabouts, the crime hobbyist realized they should’ve formed a plan for who to watch and where. It’s highly unlikely that the thief is hanging around Mercedes’s party. Or is that the perfect cover? Hmm, I need to find Elliot before a decision is made, but we should keep an eye on the mansion. At least one of us should watch the basement’s sliding door from out here.

“Fire eater, huh? That’s cool. You know, this wrist can shoot flames from it,” a mechanized voice divulged.

“Can it really?” Trapeze Artist asked, sounding dubious.

Graham doubted it could, but the Din Djarin armor looked expensive. If it wasn’t a prop replica, then it came close. If anything, the person underneath the helmet had money or took their cosplaying seriously. The Mandalorian armor’s shiny silver surface also looked well-maintained or brand new.

“Depends on how flexible you can be. Part of Halloween is pretending the fantasy is real. I’m down if you want to swing around on me, and I’m sure I have something dangerous for your friend to eat instead of fire.”

“Ohmigawd!” Ventriloquist squealed.

“I know! Just how cocky are you?” Fire Eater asked.

“Big and thick, honey,” the Mandalorian shot back, posing with his hands on his hips and his pelvis thrust forward.

“We gotta find our friends,” Trapeze Artist said.

“Yeah, you probably need help to handle me,” Din Djarin remarked.

“No, we need them to see the biggest bullshitter ever!” Ventriloquist laughed.

Since he planned to check the guest house, Graham followed the trio while they laughed and speculated over the horrible flirt’s identity. It sounds like the girls had a pretty good idea, even if they didn’t say the name. The three-bedroom guest house sat off the oversized pool deck, opposite the pool house. Nestled inside a cleared pocket of the woods, Graham split from the cheerleaders as they headed in through the front door.

When Brielle escorted him around the party earlier, Graham had heard that Mr. Raddatz had a makeshift dance floor built over the guest house’s patio, off the sliding-door entrance to the kitchen. Stopping to survey the dancers, he noted a DJ booth near the back of the dance floor. The music wasn’t as loud as he expected, but that might be due to the adult partying happening nearby in the mansion.

Although he didn’t think Elliot would be dancing, his thrown-together investigative partner for the night still scanned the dance floor for him. Instead, he found multiple couples in matching costumes shaking their bodies to the beat. A jolly, stomach-padded Santa Claus watched with a drooling mouth as a slutty Mrs. Claus shook her ample breasts in his face. A white-clad Princess Leia and a sexy R2-D2 formed a sandwich with Chewbacca in the middle, who groped Leia’s ass while Graham assumed another hand did the same to Artoo behind him. Finally, Graham spotted Peter Pan and Tinker Bell just beyond a bent-over Flapper, who twerked her ass into a Prohibition-Era gangster.

While Linus had Kayla’s butt grinding into his groin, it didn’t look as extreme compared to the gangster and his gun moll. If anything, the more eye-catching sight came from the petite yet busty brunette, who kept pulling the top of her dress up to avoid an inadvertent flash. After a quick thought about waiting for them to finish, Graham decided to check the guest house first before asking Kayla if she knew where Elliot went.

The party-shy high school senior also felt nervous when Simone Altice, decked out as a very sexy Cleopatra, acknowledged him with a wave. Luckily, the dark-skinned soccer star’s best friend didn’t spot him, too, as they moved their bodies practically on top of one another. Hyper swimmer Reese Kersey had selected a cowgirl look for tonight. A tight, skimpy leather vest initially seemed to be all she wore on her upper body, until Graham caught a glimpse of a black bra strap. Super-short jeans, almost like Daisy Dukes, and knee-high boots completed the look. While wondering how Reese could dance in those boots, he noticed a gun belt at her waist with what looked like transparent green and pink squirt guns in the holsters. Of course, the requisite large hat finished off the costume.

“Yeehaw!” Reese shouted, spinning Simone around to slap her toned ass three times.

With that as his signal to leave, Graham moved over to the same door that the JV trio had entered a few minutes ago. As he did, he noticed a guy in a skeleton costume walk out of the dark woods. Dressed in a black getup with white bones, it looked similar to the skeleton look from The Karate Kid and Cobra Kai. Mulling over why the guy seemed to be adjusting his pants, Graham barely had time to react before the door whipped open and Wolverine stepped out.

“Bro, I gotta piss. Some fucker is puking in the can on the first floor. And the upstairs bathroom is meeting central for a ton of cheerleaders. I thought their glares might melt me,” Wolverine complained.

"Shit, do what I just did. Take a leak behind a tree," Skeleton suggested. "Just be careful. I saw a couple of other guys doing the same. Don't walk into a stream.

“Eww, not funny, dude.”

Once Wolverine jumped off the small porch, Graham opened the door. As he entered, he overheard, “Hey, wasn’t that–” before the door shut behind him. The comment slightly concerned the less sociable guest, who didn’t want people to see him in his awful pumpkin costume. Yet, with their masks on and the music in the background, Graham couldn’t discern their identities from their voices.

Once inside the guest house, Graham discovered that it had an open floor plan on the ground level. The kitchen sat to his left, with the sliding door leading to the dance floor, and a living room lay to his right. The aforementioned bathroom seemed to be in the corner beside the kitchen. Immediately, the bookworm felt uncomfortable.

Multiple couples made out or groped each other on the sofas and armchairs. In the center of the living room, a coffee table had been moved to make room for a dozen people to dance to the music drifting in through the open door. Still, Graham scanned the kissing pairs for Elliot. Unsure who might be whom, he only recognized classmates without masks or Antonio, as Daredevil, with his tongue down Barbie’s throat.

Turning toward the kitchen, Graham moved to stand beside the island that separated the room from the living space, where he finally noticed the hovering haze of smoke on the brighter side. Thankfully, he spotted Diego and Bash, but they stood drinking in the opposite kitchen corner, watching something go down in the center. Focusing on the commotion, Graham saw Batman arguing with Catwoman and Batgirl. Already intrigued, since Batgirl hadn’t been on the guest list for the younger party, he stepped forward to eavesdrop.

“C’mon, Red, don’t say that. I can see you got my kind of curves. Let’s drop our utility belts and find out how compatible we can be for this special night,” Batman suggested, moving close enough to reach out for his fellow caped crusader’s hip. “Oww! What the hell?”

The group in the kitchen reacted with surprise, then chuckled as Batgirl slammed a Batarang down on her counterpart’s hand. Nearby, Catwoman held out a hand for a fistbump.

“Do you expect to bed me without a wining and dining?” Batgirl questioned in a dialect that sounded Northeastern, if not from New York.

“Shit, I’m not proposing. I’m trying to fuck you,” Batman shot back. Off to the side, Quirke, aka Lex Luthor, snickered. Next, the Dark Knight turned to face the slinky jewel thief in her black bodysuit. “I guess you’ll have to do, Rosado.”

“Me? I thought you didn’t like brown people, Travers?” Carmen challenged.

As catcalls in agreement or against Tucker Traver’s views rang around the room, Graham shook his head. Rich, arrogant, and entitled, Tucker’s clique all considered themselves the alpha males around the school. He’d built a following over the years, especially among middle-class students who wanted to be wealthy like his family someday. Usually able to buy whatever he wanted, Tucker’s ego expanded dramatically after he somehow won the class presidency last month. The handsome, light-brown-haired guy was also one of Graham’s biggest bullies over the years.

“I thought I heard some bullshit about not mixing races,” Diego called out. “It’s funny how you didn’t run on that.”

“I heard that shit, too. But I also heard some coded language during his fake campaign,” Bash stated, walking over to stand in front of Tucker. “Why don’t you say it to my face?”

“I’m fine being at the same party or fucking Rosdao. I’m just not going to marry or knock up the help,” Tucker declared while sneering. “Wait, I’m cool if the dirty slut wants to mix fluids with Red while I watch. That’s what bitches like them are for.”

A hard shove sent Travers backward, but Bash’s fist didn’t land against Tucker’s mouth as desired. Instead, Quirke jumped forward to protect his leader by taking the punch to his cheek. Immediately, the arrogant rich brat started cackling.

“I bet your coach won’t be happy that you punched your teammate, Basham, not before next week’s playoff game. You won’t get a decent scholarship offer, if any, if you’re suspended for the game,” Tucker mocked.

Despite Tucker’s popularity with certain crowds, the threat against the even more popular football team shook up the makeout sessions in the living room. Wiping his bloody lip, Quirke saw the potential danger and whistled for backup.

The guest house boiled with tension as it appeared a fight might break out. Then, out of nowhere, Batgirl’s cape flared out the sides before she threw something at the floor. Immediately, black smoke rose from the floor until it filled the entire kitchen.

Shouts and screams rang out around the kitchen as people coughed. Someone yelled out, “Fire!” before others, such as Bash, denied that a fire had broken out. Still, people nearly stampeded one another as they flocked to the two doors. Others on the far side of the living room opened windows to escape the black smoke. Graham felt somebody grab his arm while he moved to exit through the front door. Bodies jostled into him, but he and the person clinging to him managed to get outside.

“What happened?” Karsten asked, running up to Graham.

“Travers nearly started a brawl, but that chick dressed as Batgirl threw smoke bombs at the floor,” Carmen responded, revealing herself as the person who held onto Graham. “Thanks for the assist, Higbee.”

“Wait, seriously? She had smoke bombs in her utility belt?” Karsten asked, regretting even more his decision not to pick Batman.

“Yes, she had smoke fucking bombs!” Catwoman confirmed.

“And it was awesome!” Bash proclaimed, coming over with Diego to them.

“It was wild,” Elliot’s best friend described. “And it looks like she vanished.”

“She did?” Graham queried, but everyone ignored him.

“Wow, I knew that southern belle had something going on. Besides being pretty,” Karsten remarked.

“How do you know that she’s pretty? Did you see her without the mask?” Carmen inquired before another thought hit her. “Wait, why do you think she’s from the South?”

“She had that accent,” Karsten replied.

“Nah, I think her accent sounded like it was from Boston,” Diego speculated.

“Nope. That’s not a Boston accent, more like NYC. Boston is way more obvious,” Bash argued.

“Holy shit! What happened, Carm?” Reese questioned, hurrying over with Simone.

Not too far away, Graham spotted Nellie Lampley, dressed as Little Bo Peep, rushing over to listen, her shepherd’s crook pointed toward the chatty girls. Although he didn’t want to deal with the nosy gossip, the crime expert noted she could be helpful. With the girls occupied and more people coming over, Karsten motioned for his friends to step back slightly. Antonio ed in, complaining that the black smoke had ruined his hook-up.

“Don’t worry about that,” the quarterback dressed as Superman interrupted. “I just happened to be over by the mansion, and you’ll never believe who I saw. Like never in a million years. how Keever told us that…Highbee! Dude, what the hell?”

“What?” Graham replied, then realized Karsten hadn’t noticed him until now.

“How could you two keep that from us? How?!”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Deigo asked.

“ how your buddy teased us about a cavegirl–”

“Candy, the Cavegirl,” Graham emphasized.

“Yeah, that one!” Karsten exclaimed.

“So, who is it? Spit it out,” Bash ordered.

“It’s Skylar Cloud from Power Prep!” Superman nearly screamed.

“The actress?” Antonio double-checked.

“No, she’s really Karate Kitten in real life. Of course, the actress!”

“No, fucking way! She looked incredible on that show,” Bash recalled. “That little uniform of hers…”

“She still looks amazing,” Karsten revealed.

“Where is she? Let’s go!” Bash declared.

“Hang on,” Diego ordered, grabbing his friend’s arm. “Think this through. Do you really want to rush over and embarrass yourself like some fanboy? You've got to act smooth, so that–”

“I am a fanboy for Skylar Cloud!” She’s so hot,” Bash groaned. “That face, that ass, and those tits…Damn!”

“Is she by herself?” Antonio asked.

“Keever said–Higbee, what other celebrities did you see inside the mansion?” Bash inquired. “Any of her castmates? Maybe from that fantasy movie where–”

“Is Adora Rose here?” Diego questioned, suddenly interested.

“I don’t know,” Graham itted, shrugging. Then, as the football players prepared to crash the adult party, the bookworm asked about Elliot.

“Sorry, I haven’t seen him in a while,” Diego itted.

---

“Did you know that there is a quiet, private art studio over in that corner? Would you like to see it?”

“But I thought you were going to show us the hot tub and shower in the master suite?” Raggedy Ann reminded Din Djarin.

“Yeah, you said it could fit up to six people inside,” Zombie School Girl pointed out.

“The shower or the hot tub?” Goldilocks asked, sounding like an airhead.

Inside his helmet, the Mandalorian smiled. The three girls appeared tipsy and down to let loose at the big party. Now, he just needed to herd all three of them to the art studio. Inside the small structure, dreams would come true.

“There isn’t a shower or hot tub over there. However, there are portraits and other artworks. Wouldn’t it be fun if I took your pictures? You could model your costumes for me.”

“Wow, like a real model?” the airhead repeated.

“Hey, I might even have some connect–”

“Macon!” a voice roared from the other side of the pool.

“Whoa, who is that? Is she a princess or something?” Goldilocks asked.

“I don't know. Why is she staring at us?” Zombie School Girl asked.

“Macon, you better look at me when I’m talking!”

The fantasy foursome and plenty of others turned to watch their hostess march around the pool. Always high-strung and bitchy, most of the party-goers shrugged at yet another blowup. But those who recognized the other name knew this could get good.

“Look at me, you little shit!” the furious heiress screamed, approaching the foursome.

“I’m sorry, ma’am, you must have me confused with another person,” the mechanized voice responded.

“Don’t give me that crap. Dad said you were dressed as Boba Fett,” Mercedes recounted, grabbing his arm. “And then I ed. People have already complained about an obnoxious Boba Fett coping feels.”

“Boba Fett?! How did Dad get that wrong…Dammit!” Mercedes’s younger brother swore, realizing he’d given away his identity.

“Um, what’s going on now?” Raggedy Ann questioned.

“What’s going on is that loverboy here is only a soph…Hold on,” Mercedes said, her eyes narrowing as she studied the three girls. “No, no, no! Aren’t you…How the hell did freshmen get into my party?”

“Your party? No, we got invited by the host. He asked us personally last week to attend,” Zombie School Girl revealed, snootily.

“Freshmen are not allowed at my parties. They can't behave properly,” the red-haired Marie Antoinette proclaimed. “Wait, did you lie to Mom about your costume indecision? I bet you wanted options so that I wouldn’t know what you wore tonight.”

Raggedy Ann and her zombie friend disputed the claim, repeating that the party host had personally invited them.

“Do you mean this liar?”

“Oww! Stop, that hurts, Cede!” Macon yelled, struggling as his older sister ripped his helmet off

“Macon!” Raggedly Ann cried.

“You were in disguise,” Goldilocks cheered in awe, then hiccuped.

“You’re in so much trouble, brat. You know what? I’m grounding you. Yep, you’re grounded,” Mercedes announced.

“You can’t ground me! Only Mom and Dad can do–”

“You invited freshmen to my party? Whoa! These better be the only ones, right? Right?!” Mercedes challenged. A sibling staredown commenced until a hiccup sounded, drawing the irate redhead’s attention. Giving the trio a closer look, her eyes widened in realization. “Oh. My. Gawd! You got them drunk?”

“What? No!” Macon denied.

“Where did you steal this liquor? From my party or Dad’s?”

“Nowhere! They’ve only been drinking the punch,” Macon insisted.

“Yeah, fruit punch,” Goldilocks agreed before hiccuping a third time.

“No…No…You can’t be that stupid. You just can’t be. Please tell me that you didn’t spike the punch tonight of all nights. Macon, do you know how much worse–”

“I didn’t spike the fricking punch, I’m not a moron!”

All around them, the people within earshot, which included numerous party guests, looked down at the red or blue cups. Some poured the remains of their cups onto the grass, while others shrugged and took another drink.

Searching the area, Mercedes located the snack and drink table. Storming over, she picked up the ladle, scooped some into the red fruit punch, and took a sip. Immediately, she spat it out.

“Who…Did…This?” the redhead growled, slowly turning to scan the crowd. “Who put booze in the—Illig!”

Freddie Illig, a notorious and frequent prankster, froze and slowly backed away. Despite his mummy costume covering his face, every senior at the party knew that he had spiked their drinks. It’s what Freddie did. Recognizing that Mercedes’s usual anger looked more murderous tonight, Freddie threw up his hands.

“You are dead.”

“Hey, I just put a little in there to liven up the party.”

“A little? You must have put a gallon in the bowl! I’m going to strangle you with your own costume. Got that?”

“No, I swear. I only poured a pint into it. I did! Check that garbage for the bottle! Yeah, check it. I just poured it in there not even ten minutes ago,” Freddie insisted.

Reaching inside, Mercedes rummaged around. She found the bottle that matched Freddie’s claim, but continued looking for more. There has to be at least a liter or two in here. Eventually, she gave up without discovering anything more. However, she demanded to know where the rest went.

The only problem? Freddie had taken off, running into the forest. Frustrated and looking for something else to scream at, Mercedes turned to find her brother. But Macon had vanished too. Several people pointed out where he went. At once, a sinister smile formed as the redhead figured out where her younger brother ran off to hide.

---

Elliot felt as if he’d entered a dream. One moment, he’d been feeling upset about his ex-girlfriend chasing after yet another classmate. Then, three sexy and somewhat promiscuous classmates had dragged him inside the cabana before they lowered the flaps. Despite his protests, they managed to make him compliant.

A romantic, the young man found the whole situation wrong. Elliot would rather find a girlfriend than play the field or try to arrange a foursome with three of his scorching hot classmates. Yet Elliot couldn't deny their desires for long. Not when Pomona displayed a set of impressive mind-influencing devices called her hand and her mouth, which were both currently wrapped around his dick. And any words against this treatment had long been drowned by Isannah’s C-cups, which he sucked on before alternating with Val’s larger D-cups.

Elliot could only marvel at how rapidly he went from being against this behavior to loving it while feeling drunk on lust. It had been so, so long since he’d had the opportunity to play with a breast or the pleasure of having his dick sucked. If he’d been able to think properly, Elliot would’ve placed the last time for either event as over seven months ago, back in April, when he and Haylee had enjoyed their spring break at home.

“Who wants the first ride?” Valeria asked, putting her nipple away from Elliot’s mouth. Smirking, the buxom brunette knew she’d fulfilled her goal of being a naughty witch tonight.

“Shouldn’t we take those bandages off first?” Isannah queried.

“I wouldn’t mind seeing his face,” Pomona itted, letting Elliot’s dick leave her mouth for barely two seconds before she resumed her sucking.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Val challenged. “Isn’t it sexier to imagine and guess whose big cock is pumping into us? Is he hot or ugly? Is he a senior or not? Is he someone’s boyfriend?”

“That does sound enticing,” Psylocke agreed, pulling her mouth off the mystery man’s magic stick again.

“Oh, hell, why not? I guess it’s sort of a reverse blindfold,” Cupid remarked, shrugging. Then, she looked over at Hermione Granger. “You sure you don’t want to do your usual titfuck first?”

“Damn, I almost forgot. Good call!” the Hogwarts ho responded, high-fiving her friend. Sliding down their mystery man’s body, Valeria felt him tense when her nude breasts met his naked cock. The skin-on-skin feeling caused them both to moan.

“Come out, Macon. I know you’re in…Oh, sorry,” a voice sounded from the flap of the cabana.

“Do you mind—Hey, great party, girl!” Valeria greeted, waving at their host, whom she almost yelled at.

“Damn, you found a big—What the fuck?!” Mercedes bellowed, recognizing the costume. “Is everyone trying to send me to an early grave?”

“What?” Pomona questioned. While not entirely shocked to hear Mercedes screaming, she didn’t know why this time.

“Oh, shit,” Elliot mumbled, sitting up on the daybed.

“Uh-oh,” Isannah sounded, glancing at Val, who mouthed, “No way.”

“Um, what’s wrong, Cede?” Pomona asked, sliding off the daybed to stand up.

“That two-timing son of a bitch is what’s wrong!”

“Ah, hell,” Elliot groaned, pulling his pants back up.

“Fuck,” Valeria mouthed back at Isannah before addressing their hostess and friend. “Shit! We’re sorry. We didn’t know he was your date for tonight. Crap, I guess his cock makes sense now.”

“Eww! No, I’m not dating or fucking Keever. He’s here to help me with a problem,” Mercedes revealed as the guy in question jumped off the bed.

“Kee…ver?” Valeria repeated slowly, sounding shocked.

“Elliot? Wow!” Pomona exclaimed, realizing that the nice guy from several classes had been secretly packing a weapon all this time.

“This makes no sense. Why would Haylee…” Isannah trailed off as Mercedes slapped Elliot’s chest.

“Get moving, buster!” the ginger ordered. “All hell is breaking loose. I have to deal with my perverted brother, Illig’s pranks, and potentially half my party is drunk, and, oh right, a fucking thief named the Seeper! I am not in the mood for your crap, Keever. Wait, where’s Higbee?”

“Graham is here, at the party?” Isannah questioned while Mercedes shoved Elliot out of the cabana.

“I think something happened, and we entered the Upside Down,” Pomona suggested, earning questioning looks from her friends. “Hey, it could happen. It’s Halloween.”

Outside the cabana, Elliot felt relieved he had chosen a costume that covered his face as he and Mercedes emerged into the gaze of probably fifty people. Turning to look over his shoulder, he told the spoiled rich girl not to make a scene.

“Me? Oh, you'd better think before trying to set up a foursome on my watch. Got that?” Mercedes’s comment prompted the watching crowd to raise its volume, with multiple questions. Recognizing that, she lowered her voice. “What is it with horny boys and foursomes tonight? When does a threesome not suffice? Those are only for winners. But if you catch this thief, then I’ll set you up with a threesome. Understand?”

Despite his face coverings, Mercedes could see Elliot’s shock. Misunderstanding the expression she couldn’t read, she added, “Don’t get your dreams out of whack. I will not be part of it. Now, there’s Higbee. The two of you need to do your job. I need to find Mullen. His job is to kick a mummy out of his party. A pint, my ass. That punch tastes like eighty percent liquor or more.”

Wait, when did I turn into a private eye for hire? I don’t deserve any of this, Elliot told himself, watching Graham rush over.

“Damn, we could hear Mercedes screaming from the other side. What happened?”

“I have no clue. Something about her brother, Freddie Illig, and a security guard named Mullen. Why did something happen with you?” Elliot inquired.

“First, did Mercedes send you the guest list for her parents’ party yet?”

“No, she didn’t…Wait, let me check.”

Checking his message, Elliot discovered that the bossy girl had sent over the other list. Hearing this, Graham directed him to look for Batgirl. Recalling that they’d noticed that costume before, Elliot searched until he told Graham that Batgirl wasn’t listed.

In response, Graham filled Elliot in on what he’d missed. He mentioned the various accents, that nobody seemed to know her, and the smoke bombs. The latter and who she used them on impressed Elliot.

“Look, I think we need to start focusing on the adult party inside the mansion. Maybe we can alternate or–”

“I’ll take the first turn with the adult party,” Elliot said, eager to get away from their friends and classmates. “What are you–”

“I want to see what I can find out about Batgirl. After that, I’ll keep an eye on the outside of the adult party, especially the lower outside entrance to the basement. Any suspects are more likely to be inside the older party anyway,” Graham pointed out.

Parting ways, Elliot felt relieved to get away from his ex, the cabana trio, and Mercedes. Walking past the tennis courts, the inexperienced detective wondered whether they should check the showroom or the underground garage next to the vault. Shaking off the idea, Elliot realized the security team would likely monitor those two points more than any.

A chorus of hellos snapped Elliot out of his musings. Looking up and over, he spotted several of the Disney Princesses waving warmly at him. If Mercedes had been serious about setting me up with two women, that group would be high up on my list. I mean, isn’t a threesome more of a fling or one-night stand? I imagine seeing the others the next day might be awkward.

Opening the door to the rear foyer, Elliot hesitated after what he saw and heard. Mr. Raddatz speed-walked across the foyer and asked Wilton, the butler, what he needed. Leaning partially inside the door, the high school student eavesdropped on the conversation.

“I believe we may have a situation, sir,” the seventy-ish-year-old butler informed his employer. “Mr. Brask has made demands that would feel out of place on a normal night.”

“And tonight isn’t a normal night, huh?”

“Indeed, it is not, sir.”

“Well, tell me about his demands on the way over there,” Mal said.

Hoping he hadn’t been noticed, Elliot waited nearly ten seconds before following the two men to the billiards room.