I Dare You {Reed900 Fic} (Has Been Revamped)

Chapter 6

The group split up, Gavin and Conan heading for the bar. The bar was actually much larger than expected, the room turned out to be a highly decorated ballroom. The bar was a lie, only being at the entrance of the room. Gavin sighed, he wasn't really a fan of "ballroom dancing". But at least he still had the bar.

"Jesus Christ, how much money do you have if you waste it on a ballroom." Gavin thought out loud, looking around at the interior of the room. Still kind of disappointed.

"The Ainsworth Mansion was originally owned by Scott Ainsworth and his wife Mary. They owned a highly profitable oil company until they sold it back in 1998. When they died they passed the house down to their son. Their son later sold it to an unnamed buyer in 2023." Conan told Gavin.

Gavin let out a small whistle, "Didn't expect to receive an entire history lesson there tin can."

Conan didn't respond, though a small smile stretched across his face. He couldn't help but be amused by Gavin's behavior. The pair walked over to an abandoned stretch of wall. Putting space between them and other guests.

"So what's the plan in here, dipshit?" Gavin asked, tilting his head up so he could look up at Conan's face.

"For the best results, we should cover as much ground as we can. I'll go and circle around the ballroom and attempt to eavesdrop on conversations. You should go to the bar and do the same. If we're lucky someone may just come up to us." Conan explained, analyzing the space.

Gavin nodded in approval, "Sounds decent enough." They both stepped away from the wall. Conan began roaming around the ballroom, observing and blending into the crowd. He looked like he belonged in this atmosphere. Gavin, on the other hand, strolled over to the bar, taking an empty seat. He turned to the bartender who was putting away abandoned drinks that had been left out by the previous guests.

"How much for a rum and coke?" Gavin asked the bartender, reaching for his billfold in his back pocket.

"All drinks are on the house, sir." The bartender politely responded.

Gavin slipped the billfold back into his pocket, "Oh, they are. Okay then, I'll have a rum and coke"

The bartender made his drink quickly. It wasn't much more than a minute before the bartender slid the drink to the detective. "Here you are, sir."

Gavin thanked him and turned away from the bar, facing the rest of the room, leaning against the bar counter. He glanced around the room as he took a sip of his drink. He noticed that the room was actually only around half full, with groups of people scattered around, simply chatting. Jazz ballads were softly playing in the background. Gavin could see some people swaying to the music and even he was tapping his feet to the beat of the song. The detective began listening in on conversations happening around him. He sat there for a while just listening, yet, he didn't hear anything suspicious. Just some stuff about people he never met and cars.

Gavin began looking around the room to see where Conan had gone. He eventually found him standing with a group of two older men, who seemed to be in their fifties. Gavin couldn't hear what they were saying, but the older men seemed to be smiling and were using very exaggerated hand gestures to portray their story.

Gavin looked away and sighed, sure, they may have only been there for about a half an hour, but nothing here seemed too suspicious. Just some paranoid rich people having a good time drinking and chatting with new or familiar faces. He took another sip from his glass, grimacing as he did so, he never really liked these types of drinks. "There has to be something here, why else would there be all this secrecy?" Gavin asked himself. He was still going to keep an eye out, there must be a reason for this.