Page 66 of Her Selfless Warrior (Omega Sky)
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“Feel like gambling on Saturday?”Lark asked when Amy picked up her phone.
“Uhm, no.”
Lark smiled. She knew that answer was coming. Amy was quite the little prude when it came to almost everything. It came down to growing up with a raging alcoholic drug-addicted, mother.
“Okay then, how about dressing up and letting me buy you an overpriced soda at an upscale nightclub where you might meet an attractive man?”
Amy snorted. “You already told me we’re going to a casino, I’m not going to be meeting a man that I’m going to be interested in.”
“Yeah, but you’ll have fun looking them over and making up their backgrounds and why they’re at the bar and if they’re cheating on their wives. You love that kind of thing.”
Amy didn’t answer.
“Please?”
“Why are you going to a casino? Is this for one of your stories?”
“Kind of. One of my sources has gone missing. I’m tracking down her half-sister. I’ve managed to convince—i.e. bribe—the restaurant operations manager to find out if they had a Dawn T working at the casino. He explained that there was a Dawn Tanner who would be working on Saturday. I’m hoping that she’ll know where Candy is.”
“What in the hell did you bribe him with? A new car, or a spin around one of their luxury suites?”
“I admit that when I passed over the five hundred dollars that I might have flirted a bit, but I did not promise him sex. He was a little guy and I wasn’t interested.”
“Oh my God. Oh my God. Hell yes, I’ll go with you. And do you know why? Because you are going to tell me every teeny tiny fucking detail about your date with the Navy SEAL. But my guess is, there was absolutely nothing teeny tiny about him.”
“I was planning on telling you.”
“Planning, shmanning. Not good enough. It’s been over two weeks and I’ve heard nothing. It goes against the best friend code.”
Lark looked down at her phone, then walked over to the mini-bar in her hotel room and grabbed a Toblerone from the basket. She needed chocolate before getting into this conversation. She tore it open and opted for the bed instead of the desk.
“Lark, are you still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here,” she said with her mouth full.
Amy laughed. “What are you eating?”
“Toblerone.”
“Toblerone? That means you’re in a hotel. Where are you?” Amy asked.
Lark swallowed her bite of chocolate. “I’m at the Marriott here in Baltimore.”
“Is that where your source lives?”
“Yeah. It’s also where the defense contractor is headquartered. I just got in from New York yesterday, otherwise, I would have called you.”
“Youcouldhave called before then and told me if you slept with a SEAL.”
“And Iwouldhave called you if I slept with a SEAL.”
“Dammit, Lark, I was counting on you.” Amy sighed dramatically. “Do you realize how sad our lives are? Do you?”
Lark took another huge bite out of the candy bar. “Yes,” she mumbled. “Yes, I do.”
“Well, your life isn’t that sad. Your life is exciting. You get to traipse all over the world and act like Nancy Drew checking out stories. I’m the one who manages a rundown little restaurant here in D.C..”
