Page 45 of Very Special Forces

"Comingup!" I darted away before anyone had the sense to decline andreturned quickly, encouraging them to drink and then darting awayfor another round.

"Hey,Lexi."

Turning,I found Harris following me, stopping on the patron side of thebar, and leaning towards me. "When are you going to ask the bigquestions?" he asked.

"Likewhat?"

"Like ifSimmons stole the tank."

I raisedmy eyebrows. "Not exactly being subtle, Harris."

"Neitheris stealing a tank."

"What doyou know about the food poisoning thing?" I asked.

Harrisfrowned. "I remember Simmons taking ill. I think someone called thedoctor for him."

"Youthink? Or you know?"

"I thinkbut I can check up on it."

"Kind ofstrange for only him to get ill that night, don't you agree?" Iasked.

Harrismoved his head from side-to-side. "Now you say it, yeah, it is alittle convenient."

"Couldbe that someone wanted him out of the way so they could grab hiskeys and make off with the vehicle."

"Thekeys are kept in the office inside the hangar."

"Thenmaybe they just wanted him out of the way."

"Youdon't think he's involved?"

"Doesn'tseem that way, unless he was faking being ill. But if the doctordid attend to him, then he has an alibi and couldn't have left thebase. Did he come to Fort Charles with anyone else?"

"Yeah,there was another guy. Sergeant Todd McTavett."

"Do yourecall seeing him the same night the tank disappeared?"

Harrisshook his head. "No, not that I recall."

"Then weneed to find him. I have to return to your table with these drinksand ask a few more questions. You'd better head back," I told himas I turned around and assembled the glasses. When I looked up,Bryce and Julia walked past the bar, hand-in-hand. They stopped andBryce leaned over. "Hey, Lexi," he called over thenoise.

"Hi,guys. Leaving already?"

"Yes,and we just wanted to say thanks again for helping set this wholething up. It was a great engagement party. A perfect precursor tothe wedding." Bryce flashed a smile at Julia and tucked his armaround her shoulders. She gave me a weak smile and lookeddown.

"Haveyou set a date yet?" I asked.

"A monthfrom now," he replied. "Why wait?"

"Great!"I grinned. "Hope to see you more frequently, and sorry about thecake table. We'll make sure that never happens again in thefuture."

Bryceshrugged and stepped back, waving before both of them were lost inthe rising crowd within seconds. I grabbed my tray and weaved myway back to the table.

"Whatelse are you planning on doing tonight?" I asked the soldiersconversationally.

"Wemight barhop," said DuPont. "So long as we're back by curfew, we'regold."

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