Page 127 of Secret Weapon

“No, because she poisonseveryone.”Bradley rolled his eyes as he set a tray of snacks onto the table.“It’s her schtick.”

“Not everyone.I haven’t poisoned you.Yet,” Fia added under her breath, then turned to me.“So, what’s your schtick?”

“I’m a jack of all trades.”

“Jack of all trades, master of none?”

Bitch.Yes, I understood why she was friends with Emmy.

“Master of all.”

“She can even crochet,” Bradley put in, and Fia’s face creased in laughter.

I fixed him with a stare.“Did you know that with a midsized Tunisian crochet hook, you can pull a man’s brain out through his nose?”

He backed away in a hurry.“I’ll just go make coffee.”

Fia jerked a thumb toward me.“Yes, I like her.Are those red velvet cupcakes?”

Emmy nodded.“Yup.”

“Who are we waiting for?Hallie and Vance and who else?”

“Alaric and Ravi are on their way from the East Coast, plus Pale’s bringing a few friends over to add some atmosphere and lend a hand with…stuff.”

“Is anyone watching the front of the house?”I asked.Because by my count, the whole team would be here, which left a gaping hole in our net.

“Yup.”Emmy used the exact same tone as when she’d answered about the cupcake.

“Who?”

She pointed at the ceiling.“Eye in the sky.”

A satellite?A drone?She didn’t elaborate, and I didn’t push because in her position, I wouldn’t have told me either.Emmy had been surprisingly open in many regards, but I didn’t doubt she was holding back in some areas.We were still virtual strangers, after all.Only my past relationship with Ana and a shared hatred of General Zacharov had bought me a seat at this table.

Hallie and Vance arrived and quickly dug into the snacks, and they were followed by an older guy in a Hawaiian shirt, board shorts, and flip-flops with a bimbo on each arm, one blonde, one brunette.This was what Emmy had meant by “add some atmosphere”?

The blonde giggled and gave a finger wave.“Hi!I’m Barbie.”

Had he picked the pair of them up on the corner of Hollywood Boulevard?

The brunette would have been shorter if she’d worn shoes she could walk in, and she clung to the surfer dude as if she might overbalance at any moment.How she stayed upright when she tossed back her hair was a mystery.

“Spider.”

Spider?Surely that couldn’t be her birth name?

Emmy looked them up and down.“Good to meet you.Help yourself to snacks, and then we’ll start the briefing.”

“Oh my gosh, are those salted caramel cupcakes?”Barbie took a step forward and her dangerously short skirt rode up an inch, but as she leaned over the table, her jacket tightened across her back and I saw the telltale bulge of a gun.Fuck.These two were also operatives?Given my Darla escapades, I should have been the last person to judge a woman by her appearance, but females were still such a minority in this game that I’d made a poor assumption.Lesson learned.

Emmy gave a quick rundown of events, and by the time she’d covered the developments to date, I’d eaten two cupcakes.Which wasn’t ideal, but these were exceptional circumstances.

“So,” she continued, “the good news is that I spoke to James, and Ottie Marquette’s been moved to a more secure location.If Ilya planned to pay her a visit, that’s just got a whole lot harder for him.And the better news is that we asked around, and Bryant Angelou is looking for funding for his next movie.That’s what the party on Saturday night is about.It’s not a birthday celebration or a family get-together—he’s invited a whole bunch of people he barely knows in the hope that they’ll give him money.”

“And Ilya’s okay with this?”I asked.

“I’m not certain what the arrangement is with the house, but the rental contract is in Angelou’s name.”

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