WE JOINED MAX, Tony and the three women. I’d been reluctant—I couldn’t see them welcoming a younger woman—but Jaz had insisted it’d be okay. He was right. I came with my own guy, so I wasn’t competition. Having Max and Tony introduce them to friends seemed to waylay any suspicions that they were being played. And when I acted as if they were my age, it confirmed that the money they’d spent trying to look twenty again had worked.

We hung out with them for a couple of drinks. The guys had this down to a science. They took turns offering to buy a round, gathered orders, then returned with virgin versions for us and real drinks for the ladies, probably double strength.

The drunker the women got, the easier it was to pick up their negative thoughts. Once I had a few, I invited Jaz onto the dance floor. He took me to a corner partly obscured by a pillar, and where no one would notice we were doing more talking than dancing.

“So,” he said, eyes glittering. “Could you pick up all their dirty little secrets?”

I laughed. “It doesn’t quite work like that. I catch the chaotic thoughts—anything that might have negative connotations. Anger, sadness, jealousy…But it has to be an active thought. I can’t hunt through their brains looking for secrets.”

“Okay, okay. So’d you get something?”

He looked like a kid waiting for a present. I played it out, savoring his reaction.

“Two of the three are married,” I said.

“Can I guess? Definitely the brunette—”

“Bzzz. Sorry. Divorced, and having a rough time of it.”

“But she’s the only one with a wedding band line.”

“I suspect that’s because the other two are more aware of theirs, and used tanner. The blond in blue is nervous. She didn’t want to come along and she thinks she saw the daughter of a friend on the dance floor. The one in the red dress, Michelle, is definitely out to paint the town and get some revenge. Hubby is away for the week at a conference, and she knows he’s taken his mistress with him.”

When I finished, he was silent.

“If you don’t believe me—”

“No, shit, I believe you. I’m just…speechless.” He shook his head. “Holy shit. Now that’s a power. Guy is going to love this.”

“But there’s nothing there we can use, unless it’s blackmailing the husband over the mistress, but if the wife already knows…”

“Too complicated. Guy likes the short-term con and I think I know where he’ll want us to go with this. Head back to Max and Tony. Tell them I’m in the john. I’ll talk to Bianca.”