What if
It was late into the night, Lark and Cody had been invited to a poker game at a bar by one of the higher-ups in the crime syndicate that they were getting information on. They had no reason to refuse, and neither of them wanted to once they learned some of the big players that would be there. The two of them had spent the night in their roles, Cody played up her flirty girly character, losing most of her hands, then pretending that she didn’t know what she was doing right when she won. Lark stayed quiet for most of the night, staying in her stoic role and observing everything that was happening in the room. She counted cards, but didn’t use that talent to turn the game in her favor. She even gave herself a fake tell that a few of the other players had noticed and were convinced was real. She reeled Cody in whenever the other woman got worked up, and flashed threatening looks at the men who tried to hit on Cody in front of her.
Closer to the end of the night, people were starting to leave, and Lark noticed that one of the men there was paying extra attention to her specifically. At first, she guessed that he was simply checking her out, but as time went on, her instincts told her that it was more than that, and her defenses started to go up. While Cody was talking to someone else, the man who had been watching Lark, got up and walked past her on his way to the back door. He dropped a note on the table as he passed and Lark slipped it down to her lap so that she could read it more discreetly. Lark’s stomach lurched as she read what was on the note. It was just one word, but it was enough to shake her, which was next to impossible. The word was Drake. Nothing else, just her father’s last name.
Now, Lark and Cody had plenty of different signs and code words that they used when they were in their undercover roles. Lark leaned over to Cody and told her that she was going out for a smoke. Something that to most people would seem like nothing, but the way she worded it told Cody that something was up, and that if she wasn’t back in five minutes to follow her. Lark was pretty sure that she could handle this herself, but it would be good to have Cody as backup just incase. She kissed Cody’s temple, then followed the man out the back door.
The second the door closed behind her, she pulled her gun out of it’s hulster. She let her years of training take over and immediately took in everything her senses would allow in that back alley. What she didn’t see, was the man she had followed out there. Lark’s heart sped up as she started to walk down the alley, eyes and ears picking up every movement, every sound as she searched for the man. Lark was almost halfway down the alley, when there was a sound back by the door that she came through. She quickly turned around and saw nothing but a rock rolling toward the building.
Lark cursed inwardly as she felt the cold metal against the back of her neck. The gun slid down between her shoulders and the man spoke. “Drop your weapon, Nat.” Lark let out a slow breath, trying to come up with an idea of how to get out of this. She couldn't believe that this man had actually gotten the drop on her. He had used one of the oldest tricks in the book, by throwing a rock to pull her attention away from where he actually was, and now she was being held at gunpoint. Lark slowly and carefully bent down to place her gun on the pavement. Then she stood back up. “Kick it away.” She did as she was told. “Now, what’s David Drake’s partner doing at a place like this, under a different name? Why aren’t you in jail with your boss?” So he didn’t know about the family connection, at least there was that. @arexyouxafraidxofxthexdark