ALICE Ch 150

“Oh god.” Val swallows and her stomach drops.

“I know how much you loathe it,” Matt says with a wince. “I can get you out if I must.”

Val shakes her head.

He scowls at her. “You want to explain that?”

“Nope,” Val replies, flashing him a big smile. “What’s the news?”

“You’ve another shoot. Sooner than we thought.”

Val takes a deep breath. “Any details?”

“None. But you’d better expect Alice Wilde to be there.”

“Right.”

“And you’re determined to go through with it?”

“It’s good for the team.”

“You’re a good driver, Val.” Matt gets to his feet with a sigh. “But you’re no actress. Spain will be different. Or heads will roll. Sounds as though they’re quieting down that way at least,” he adds with a glance toward the FUTA boat. “It’s late.”

“Can I be done?”

“Of course. You are released.” Matt gestures ironically and goes to rejoin the money people.

Val gets up with a groan and stretches. She gulps the rest of her wine, which isn’t much; she’s been nursing the glass for two hours. Security lets her pass and she makes her way down the ramp. Even past midnight, there’s no darkness in Monaco.

Someone’s waiting for Val at the bottom.

She pauses with a frown; she’s seen this woman around quite a bit: a pretty blonde with a media lanyard and an impeccable Lois Lane fashion sense.

Val raises an eyebrow. “You can’t seriously think I’m going to do press stuff right now,” she says.

The blonde grins. “That is not what I’m here for.”

FF1

“Ready to get out of here?” Alice murmurs to Faye, who is visibly tipsy. Liquid courage helps Faye in these situations, but she’s overdoing it. It’s probably Alice’s fault.

Faye accepts her fresh drink from the bartender and clutches it with both hands, a little pink as she looks up at Alice.

“I dunno,” she replies quietly. “Are we going to celebrate?”

“Jeez,” Alice mutters, looking around worriedly, but nobody’s close enough to hear. The party’s winding down and there’s no music now. “I think you need to go to bed.”

Faye seems to like that. “All right then,” she says, pleased.

That is not what Alice meant. Alice puts her hand over her mouth, unsure if she wants to laugh or cry. There’s guilt. A lot of it. It wasn’t that long ago that she was fantasizing about this exact situation, only Faye wasn’t the girl in the fantasy.

Alice makes the mistake of looking down. Faye beams up at her.

“OK. Sure. Whatever you want,” Alice says helplessly. “Let’s just take it easy on this,” she adds, taking the glass out of Faye’s hand and putting it back on the bar. “You go first. I’ll be there in a few.”

“OK!”

Alice takes a deep breath as Faye bounces off happily. She stiffens, seeing Glynda watching her. Alice gives her a look and shrugs.

Glynda takes a big gulp from her cup.