Fortune Furlough by Jana DeLeon

Author:Jana DeLeon
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: J&R Publishing

Chapter Thirteen

Ida Belle hesitated before answering and I stiffened, already worried about what might come.

“I know it’s a convoluted avenue, but I think you should talk to the security guys,” Ida Belle said. “See if you can get some information out of them about the camera footage or key cards used to enter Otis’s room.”

I sighed. “You want me to flirt with security so I can pump them for information.”

“You’re sorta the only one qualified for the job,” Ida Belle said.

“Hello,” Gertie said. “I could flirt with security.”

“I want them to flap their gums,” Ida Belle said. “Not take a sick day.”

“Fine,” Gertie said. “Security at resorts like this are a bunch of techies anyway. Geeks aren’t my thing.”

I stared at Gertie in dismay, then looked over at Ida Belle. “Geeks? I scare geeks. Every time I had to go down to the IT department at the CIA, it was like I’d brought a funeral procession with me. All the guys froze and no one would look me in the eye. Apparently my sneakers were far more interesting. Speaking was at an all-time premium and usually only happened if their boss yelled at them to answer a direct question.”

Ida Belle patted my arm. “Your looks will put most geeks off-kilter but the geeks at the CIA also knew what you did for a living.”

“Ah! So you’re saying I shouldn’t tell security that I’m retired CIA,” I said. “Got it. Guess I’ll just play the random vacationer like I did in the bar. It seemed to work for the old guys. Do the young ones go for that whole white-knight thing?”

“If they have a pulse, they’ll go for it,” Gertie said.

“It will help if you compliment them on how smart they are,” Ida Belle said. “Geeks value their intelligence higher than anything else.”

“Because they don’t have the muscle strength to open a jar of pickles,” Gertie said. “Give me a set of muscles any day.”

“Otis didn’t have muscles,” I pointed out.

“No guys our age have muscles,” Ida Belle said. “Lifting the TV remote doesn’t exactly keep the biceps bulging. Remember to make up a fake name when you talk to them.”

I nodded. I was sure they could locate me easily enough if they wanted, but there was no point spelling it out for them.

Gertie clapped her hands. “Oooohhh, I have a name! Candy.”

I shook my head. “No stripper names.”

“Sapphire is a stripper name,” Gertie said. “Candy is a high school cheerleader name.”

“I don’t even think I can say ‘Hi, I’m Candy’ without shooting myself,” I said.

“You managed ‘Hi, I’m Sandy-Sue,’” Ida Belle said.

“Yeah, but my life was on the line, and I was getting paid.”

“Candy is perfect,” Gertie said. “Makes them think of young, hot cheerleaders who wear strawberry-flavored lip gloss. They taste sweet.”

“Gross,” I said. “I don’t care if you have to go to jail. No one is tasting me.”

“There will be no tasting during this investigation,” Ida Belle said. “Not of or by suspects, anyway. But I still want to hit that frozen drink tasting party Friday night.

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