Page 31 of Wild Escape

I dismissed her nonsense, took aim, and let another dart fly.

It sliced through the air and stabbed the dartboard in the bull's-eye.

I stepped away, gestured to the line, and said, “It's all you.”

Daphne stepped up, weighed the darts in her palm again, then took aim.

Before she let the dart fly, she looked straight at me and threw it without looking.

The dart flew through the air and stabbed the triple 20.

It was at that moment that I had a sinking sensation in my gut.

She rapid-fired the next two darts, still looking at me. Like a robot, her form was perfect.

Thunk!

Thunk!

All three shots hit the triple 20, giving her a total of 180 points to my 150.

She stepped away from the line and marched back toward the bar. "I'll take a vodka martini."

A man of my word, I followed her to the bar and placed the order. The bartender poured the drinks. I paid the tab, and we moved to a secluded booth.

We slid into the bench seats across from one another.

Daphne's full lips wrapped around the martini glass, leaving a delightful stain.

“Want to explain that?”

She smirked. “Two-time regional champion. You should see me throw a knife.”

“I think I’ll keep sharp objects away from you.”

She sneered at me playfully.

"You seem like a smart woman," I said. "How the hell did you get mixed up with a guy like Dane?”

She groaned. "I was young and stupid and fresh out of high school. He was dangerous and exciting. At first, it was little stuff. Then the scores kept getting bigger and bigger. Not that I'm admitting to anything,” she said with a lifted brow.

"The dagger was a pretty big score.”

"Allegedly.”

"Enough to walk away and retire on a beach in a remote part of the world."

"I don't know if you’ve been keeping up with current events, but the world has gotten crazy in the last several years. Everything is so expensive. Most people are just barely keeping their heads above water. If you want money, and I mean real money, you gotta do something drastic."

"There are plenty of legitimate ways to make real money," I said.

"Grind it out for 40 years so you can retire and have maybe a few good years before you end up in a home like my mother? No thanks. I'm sure she thought she had plenty of time to enjoy her golden years.” She took another sip of her martini.

"That's not an excuse."

"What about you? What's this volunteer thing all about?”

I shrugged. "Just trying to leave the world a little better than I found it."