Under darkness by Savannah Russe

Author:Savannah Russe [Russe, Savannah]
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 9780451223852
Publisher: New York : Signet Eclipse, c2008.
Published: 2009-04-26T05:31:09+00:00

Audrey had been in front of the mirror reapplying lip gloss. She spotted me barreling into the washroom. She froze.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" I yelled as I rushed past a wide-eyed attendant. Then, before I uttered another word, I pivoted, whipped a fifty-dollar bill out of my clutch purse, and told the elderly Hispanic woman to go out for a smoke.

With a murmured, "Muchas gracias, señorita" and no protest, she left.

Then I put a finger to my mouth for silence as I peeked under each stall to make sure we were alone. We were. I straightened and took a good look at my fellow Darkwing.

Audrey's eyes shone. Her face glowed. She was a woman in love. How fucking terrific.

"I… I…" she stammered, and lifted up supplicating hands. "I don't know what happened."

"Audrey! You're on a mission. You're a secret agent. He's the enemy. For God's sake, girl, get a grip."

"But… but I was just a research librarian until a month ago! I'm not really a spy. I didn't expect… I didn't know." Her voice wobbled. Tears were imminent.

"Deep breath, deep breath," I counseled. "This kind of thing isn't so unusual," I said, thinking back to my own peccadilloes with Darius my first time out. "Maybe it's a good thing. Pillow talk and all that. But you have to get control of yourself. You look like a moonstruck cow."

"A cow?" I had offended her. She got huffy. "You know, I'm not like the other Darkwings. You, Daphne, were brought up in this world. Rogue's a-criminal, and besides, he used to be in the CIA. Cormac's an actor. Benny… well, she has an aptitude. I don't think I was cut out to be a spy."

I put my arm around her shoulder and gave her a bracing hug. "You're just having a crisis of confidence. You're doing great," I said, lying through my teeth.

"No, I'm not. I've been 'compromised.'" Her face crumbled. She was heading for the waterworks again.

"Compromised? Absolutely not. Technically you haven't um… you know. You're doing superb. I mean that."

"You do? I figured I had totally messed up."

"No, really, you're acting like a real pro. What did you find out?" I asked.

"He gave me this envelope. It's got instructions or something in it. I didn't look. I'm supposed to deliver it to the 'right person' in the government." She handed it over; then she summed up the little she knew.

Shalid's uncle, an adviser to President Musharraf, called him into his office in Islamabad. The uncle told "Shally" that he needed him to handle a matter of grave importance and asked Shally to act as a courier to the United States. Since the cricket star traveled internationally with some frequency, his trip would raise no questions.

Shally swore to Audrey he didn't know anything more. He'd apologized for involving such a beautiful woman in something potentially dangerous. He'd suggested they leave the restaurant and go back to his room "to get to know each other better."

Oh, boy, I thought.

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