4 Sleuths & a Bachelorette by Arlene McFarlane & Traci Andrighetti & Diana Orgain

Author:Arlene McFarlane & Traci Andrighetti & Diana Orgain
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781999498160
Publisher: LMAO Press
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

MERRY

LESLIE LANGTRY

The phrase “drawing the short straw” sometimes felt like a metaphor for my career in the CIA, especially when I was working with a team. Who drew the short straw in Russia and had to infiltrate a Mafia den as a singing penguin gram? This gal. Who had pulled the short toothpick in Japan and had to mud wrestle Otan the Okinawan Ox for the Yakuza’s amusement? Me. Who had drawn the short straw in Chechnya and had to tell the strongman leader that his favorite gerbil had died? That’s right, me again.

To be fair, it wasn’t totally my fault. I had no idea that a goat would eat a gerbil. I just thought Azlan would like having a photo of his favorite gerbil on the back of his favorite goat. Well, favorite gerbil-eating goat. The picture turned out great, though. I got a shot of the goat and gerbil looking at each other just before…well, you know.

Chelsea sat at the bar, glaring daggers at everyone around her. It wouldn’t surprise me if she could kill someone with a look. I knew an MI6 agent who could do that. He had these eyeglasses that, when activated by looking in a certain direction, could…oh wait. That’s classified. It really is pretty cool, though.

Once again, I’d drawn the short straw, figuratively speaking, which meant that it was my job to talk to Charlie’s sisters. Chelsea and Charlene seemed to think that rabid hostility was an emotion best reserved for fun things, like bachelorette parties.

I wasn’t afraid. I’d faced way worse odds—whether it was taking on three Russian spies in a Bangkok alley to what was predicted to be a suicide mission at a Bolivian bowling alley. By the way, did you know you can kill a man with a bowling shoe? The trick is in how you use the shoelace.

Besides, aside from the copy of Moby Dick (which I was fairly certain Charlene didn’t realize could be a useful weapon), they weren’t really armed.

Steeling myself by swiping a bottle of wine off someone else’s table and pouring it into my glass, I drank half of it in one big gulp and made my way to the bar. I know, I know, Franki was smart to make everyone swear off eating or drinking until it was determined what poisoned Amber. But this bottle had been on that table all night, and I was willing to take a chance, considering who I’d be interviewing.

Chelsea saw me coming and grimaced. She got up and walked over to where Charlene was sitting. Her surly sister looked up from her book, scowled, and went back to reading, until I pulled out a chair and joined them.

“Hey, guys!” I said brightly. “Fun party! Okay, so the bride-to-be is missing and her fiancé’s ex is dead, but other than that, not too shabby.” I looked around a room that seemed to be begging someone to commit arson to put it out of its misery. “Okay, so pretty shabby. But hey! We’re all friends now, which is a total win.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.