I looked down at my hands again. The idea of using her as bait made me nervous in ways I didn’t know how to express. It felt like it was uncaring, even though she was the one that volunteered for the position.
“When?” I finally asked.
“I need to talk to Arthur about it, and I know he won’t be
particularly happy with the plan either.”
“I don’t want to be there when you tell him,” I said,
managing a small smile.
“I make the most sense. I’m trained to watch out for
myself, and I’m less intimidating than anyone else. It’s one of the reasons I
was so good at my job. No one thought a short, thin, blonde could possibly do the things I did.”
“The first time I met you I could not figure out how you
would be helpful,” I admitted.
“Most people feel that way,” she said smiling brightly.
“So I lean into it and use it to my advantage.”
I wrung my hands together. I knew she was trying to
lighten my mood. Somehow, her Arthur, and Onyx could flip in and out of
business mode on a dime. Times like this they could be completely carefree and
almost happy. Onyx had tried to explain it to me several times, but I still
couldn’t really understand it.
“How could poor, little ol’ me be capable of something so
terrible,” she said, ramping up her already heavy southern drawl and fanning
herself with her hand.
That got a genuine smile out of me. It was way too
dramatic to be even close to believable. The flutter of her eye lashes was the
gem on top of it all. I was glad she was here with me. I wanted to be up at the
hospital to see my dad, but I knew she was right and I needed to stay here.
(All excerpts are taken from a lightly edited first draft. The contents may be changed or removed entirely from the finished novel.)
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