Read Wait Until Dark (The Night Stalkers) for Free Online

five hundred miles per hour and thirty-eight thousand feet in the air. Mostly the cosmetics, tail plates, and copilot window.
    After they called it off as a job well done, or as well as they could, they moved to the benches at the head of the cargo bay. Crazy Tim had shoved a couple of crates around until he had a makeshift poker table. John had been taking Tim’s money since Basic Training and saw no reason to stop simply because he was exhausted.
    Even Major Henderson was yawning, but exhaustion wouldn’t be a problem for him; he never lost at poker. John always figured it was the price of observing a master at play, to sit down to a game with the company’s commander. And he always dragged some winnings off Tim and Dusty. Usually enough to break even, but rarely did he make enough for a night out. Sometimes not even a beer’s worth. Henderson was just that good. Clay had learned the hard way to resist joining in. Major Beale didn’t play.
    Major Henderson at least played low stakes with his own crew. Other crews weren’t so lucky and had suffered badly at the table when the Black Adders helicopter company came to play. The name had been a natural extension when the company was formed by then Captain Mark “Viper” Henderson. Now, many of them had the striking snake tattoo, along with the flying Pegasus with laser-vision eyes that was the unofficial emblem of the Night Stalkers.
    Connie sat down across from John.
    “You play much?” he asked as Tim shuffled the cards.
    “Never.” Her typical one-word reply.
    He did his best to hide a smile. An easy mark and some quick money in his pocket would be just fine.
    He told her the rules once and she had it. Or claimed she did. That simple, silent, single-time nod of hers with no wasted motion. Recorded, registered deep in her weird-ass brain that never needed to look in a service manual to fix even the most esoteric problems on the Hawk.
    Well, he was about to prove her wrong. They’d run through a couple of hands open and a few more for no money until she had the feel of it. Now they were playing for money, low money, but that wasn’t the point.
    Tonight, today, whatever it was, John would tempt fate and his wallet by throwing caution out the window.
    “See your buck,” he called loud enough to be heard over the roar of the Globemaster’s engines. “And one more.” John was nursing along a respectable trip jacks. A high percentage winner in five-card draw. He knew he had Tim beat just by how he sat. The simplest poker game to play, but very hard to win. He eyed the Major.
    Henderson laughed and matched but didn’t raise.
    Crazy Tim tossed in his cards with disgust on top of his two bucks already in the pot.
    Dusty released a massive yawn. “I’m out and done.” He tossed his cards down, accidentally face up, revealing a low full house. When John exclaimed, Dusty looked at them again. “Sorry.” He flipped the cards face down and crawled off to sack out on a bench seat. Too tired to even realize that he’d thrown down an almost guaranteed winning hand.
    Connie inspected each player carefully. Laid down the one dollar to stay in and raised back. Four bucks in.
    He had to see this. What the hell, he raised her back as well. Teach the newbie a lesson.
    The Major hesitated. Hesitated too long, making it clear he didn’t have squat, cursed quietly, realizing he’d been tired enough to give himself away, then threw his cards on top of Tim’s. First time John had ever seen him falter.
    Just the two of them now.
    She waited. Did she somehow know to watch for his reveal, some facial tic that might give him away? Some twitch of his pinkie that he didn’t know about possibly indicating the quality of his hand? Maybe she paused merely to test his confidence. To task him.
    Well, he was up to that. She was probably trying to remember if two pair beat three of a kind.
    At length, she matched his bet. Seventeen bucks. A very sweet pot in such a low-stakes game.
    He