Free Mercy for the Wicked by Lisa Olsen Page A

free.”
    “Okay, first round is on me.”  I ventured back to the bar, not quite sure what mood I’d find Parker in, but he seemed fine.  Concerned even.
    “Feeling better?”
    “Yeah, I’m sorry about that, Parker.  I know I shouldn’t talk to customers that way…”
    “Don’t sweat it, darlin’.  I can stand to lose an asshole like that.  I can’t have people thinking they can treat my girls like that, right?”  His arm came around my shoulder, and I returned the one armed hug with a relieved smile. 
    “Ah, my knight in shining armor,” I batted my eyelashes at him dramatically until he gave a lopsided grin. 
    “Knight in shining armor, I could get used to that.”
    “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend, honey?”
    I realized there was a blonde woman standing on the other side of the bar, watching us expectantly.  “Yeah, honey, introduce us.” I couldn’t help but smile at Parker’s flush of embarrassment.  Parker had his share of women, but most of them didn’t show much of an interest in us.  Of course, most of the time Parker didn’t have his arm wrapped around the staff either, which he was quick to correct, his hand dropping my shoulder to scratch the back of his neck
    “Ah… hey, babe.  You’re here.”  His smile was only slightly tinged with guilt, which was odd for Parker.  So far as I knew, he was never guilty about anything.  “This is Mercy, she’s one of my oldest friends.”  That was news to me, and I couldn’t help but smile at hearing he considered me to be one of his oldest friends. 
    “Oh, you’re Mercy .”  Something about the way she said it made me think she was less than thrilled to make my acquaintance.  Once I got a better look at her, I wasn’t so sure I was all that happy to meet her either.  She was pretty in a high maintenance kind of way.  Blonde hair with expensive highlights, too much gold jewelry, ridiculously high heels with skinny jeans.  An off the shoulder top showed she didn’t believe in tan lines and the bright pink lipstick with matching nails proved she didn’t have any taste.  Her aura was a muddy orange, a little darker than Parker’s, but there were brown blotches spread through it like mold.  That meant while she wasn’t exactly evil incarnate, she definitely wasn’t in the running for the humanitarian of the year award either.  
    I was staring, and pulled myself out of it, pasting on a polite smile.  “Yep, I’m Mercy.  Sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
    “Oh, sorry, this is Sharona, she’s my…”
    “Significant other,” she supplied, and I saw Parker give a bemused nod. “I’ll have a seven and seven with sugar on the rim and three maraschino cherries please.”
    “Coming right up.”  My smile stayed fixed, though for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what Parker saw in the woman.  It wasn’t like he was hurting for female companionship.  He was rich and good looking, somewhere in his mid to late thirties I guessed, with pale blue eyes and tousled, dark blonde hair that made my fingers itch to push away from his forehead sometimes.  A notorious flirt, Parker always enjoyed playing the field.  But her?  She was about as genuine as my vinyl couch.  Even if I didn’t have the window into her soul, I knew she was bad news.  But Parker ate it up, smiling back at her in a goofy manner. 
    “Parker, I want to sit.”  Like a dog dancing for its master, I watched Parker run around the other side of the bar, brushing off the barstool before she planted her bony ass onto it.  With an effort, I snapped my jaw shut from where it had been hanging open, darting a quick look at Daphne, who sat a few seats down, watching the exchange with interest. 
    “So, how did you kids meet?” I asked, busying myself with her drink before she cracked the whip. 
    “It’s kind of funny actually, at the…”
    Sharona cut him off midsentence.  “I met Parker at the Jaguar dealership.