Read The Spy With the Silver Lining for Free Online Page A

there’s no reason you shouldn’t be sharin’ the bounty. In the south, sharin’ is the neighborly thing ta do. Oui? ”
    Pierce grinned, then winked. “I’ll be back.”
    “You know where I’ll be, cowboy.”
    He left the Ginger Root and started back to New Orleans with his foot pushed to the floorboard, while he pulled his cell phone and called Lazie.
    “You still got them in sight?”
    “Not at the moment. Got a corner ta take.”
    Pierce heard tires squealing. Lazie swore in colorful French. “What’s happening?”
    “Got um back. Shit, lost um again. I’m gonta rattle that cabby’s cage when I catch him. Call yous later. Got another corner ta take.”
    Pierce tossed the phone in the seat next to him. It would take him forty minutes to get back into town. He should never have sent Lazie to the airport. Merrick had said the plan would take time to set into motion—that the heat wouldn’t be on for at least two days.
    He should have known that where Miss Bitch was concerned, the heat was never off.
    Pierce stewed all the way back to the city until he was well cooked and starting to burn. He picked up the phone in the seat next to him as he crossed the river and punched in Lazie’s number again.
    “Update me.”
    “Caught the cab. He’s bleedin’. He says he let dem out on the corner of Bourbon and St. Anns. Dere in the Quarter somewhere. That’s a good sign.”
    “You lost them.”
    “I got dere luggage.”
    “I don’t give a shit about their luggage. Meet me at the Bug.”
     
    Casmir pulled her mother into a dingy bar on Bourbon Street, then wished she hadn’t. The seedy establishment was sporting a topless dancer on a spotlit stage and a clientele that was ninety-nine percent male. The only female in sight was the redhead grinding her hips on stage and sporting a red thong and a smile so wide you could count her teeth.
    She spotted an empty table in a dark corner at the back of the bar. It wasn’t the most desirable spot for hungry eyes bent on viewing every dimple and mole on the redhead—the reason it had been left vacant, no doubt. But it was a perfect rest stop for two women on the run and out of breath.
    “Over here.” Casmir took Ruza by the hand and led her mother along the wall to the secluded table. “Sit down, Mama.”
    Her mother was still wearing her dark glasses and she stumbled into the table and almost knocked it over. The noise turned heads and suddenly two dozen smiles acknowledged the arrival of the female duo.
    Casmir took a head count, then assessed the grins. Oh, goody. This was just what they needed. A room full of depraved lechers to add to their problems.
    “This is just great,” she huffed.
    “I agree.” Ruza sighed. “My shoes are killing my feet. It’s been years since I cruised the streets in heels.”
    “What?”
    “Never mind. I’m just glad to finally sit down. I think I’ve got a blister on my toe.”
    Casmir took a seat beside her mother. She kept one eye on the entrance, and one eye on a man ten feet away who hadn’t stopped grinning since they’d found the empty table. She pulled her phone from her pocket, then just as quickly stuffed it back when the man and his friend stood and started sauntering toward them.
    “Stay put, Mama, I’ll be right back.” Casmir met the men halfway. Before they got a chance to say anything, she said, “We’re meeting our fellas, boys, so don’t get excited. They’ll be here in a few minutes and my boyfriend is a real jealous badass. We just want to enjoy a drink in quiet while we wait.”
    One of the men nodded—the big burly one. But there was an asshole in every crowd, and Big Burly’s long-haired companion was it.
    “Come on, cher. I’ll show you a better time den your boyfriend. I got more experience den a dog’s got hairs on his ass.”
    “I’m sure you do, but I’m into the tall, dark, silent type. And did I mention manners? A lady values manners and…good hygiene. Not hairy