Page 69 of Secret Weapon

“Give me five minutes to change.”

I’d have to go as Darla.Which might even be advantageous because some of the nurses bought craft supplies from me, plus I taught a children’s creativity session at the hospital once a month, so maybe I could smooth a path into Marquette’s room?Introduce Alex as a relative.Or Hallie, that would work better.She and Marquette shared the same waifish build and pale skin.

Under the wig, my hair was still presentable.Darla had never been the epitome of style anyway.I threw one of her baggy dresses over my jeans and turtleneck, then put my boots back on.One advantage of my new-found crafting skills was that I’d been able to modify the boots to hold all sorts of goodies that might come in useful someday.

My mouth tasted disgusting, so thank fuck Alex hadn’t tried anything with tongues or I’d have put him off for life.I brushed my teeth for thirty seconds, then swallowed a couple of painkillers dry and jogged back through the house.The street was quiet at this time in the morning.The only person who got up early on a Sunday was Maggie Fothergill.She liked to take her cat for a walk on a little leash every day, come rain, come shine, even when the cat clearly hated the idea.

Alex was waiting outside with Ana and Hallie, and Emmy was nowhere in sight.Good.He didn’t take my hand as we walked to the car, but he did open the driver’s door for me, which was a first.

“Don’t forget I owe you coffee,” he murmured, too quietly for the others to hear.

My chest did some fluttery thing that reminded me of palpitations.Was I sick?Perhaps I could get the doctor to run an ECG while we were at the hospital?

“I never forget a thing.”

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