Freedom's Promise: Task Force 125 by Lisa Pietsch

Will’s contacts.
    Brian pulled up at the American embassy in Riyadh .  "Are you sure you don't want me to go in with you?"
    Will plucked a stray hair from his tux.  "It's an American embassy, Brian.  We'll be checked for weapons when we go in.  Better you should stay here and keep those high caliber friends nearby.  Just stay alert.  Don't pull a Scarface and get distracted by some bimbo in the parking lot."
    "Hey now, I only did that once and I was off duty.  Nobody got hurt."  Brian gazed up at the ceiling of the sedan and rubbed the short beard he’d been growing since he left Las Vegas for the Middle East .  "What was her name?"  He shook it off.  "I got your back."  He turned and eyed Sarah from over the front seat.  She wore a long, black, low-cut gown that maximized her favorite assets.  "You look like a million bucks, Black Betty."
    Seeing Brian dressed in traditional robes and headdress and saying something like that just seemed laughable, so Sarah did.  "Thanks, Bri.  You look like a whole different guy.  Whatcha got on under those robes anyway?"
    He raised a playful eyebrow.  "Wouldn't you like to know?"
    "Okay."  Will interrupted their flirty banter.  "Money time.   Let's go find this Davidson guy and get back so we can go get Vince."
    Sarah took a deep breath.  She'd been trying to keep her mood light, knowing that her stress only stressed the team as well.  The knowledge of what Vince might be going through was always there.  "Yeah, let's do it."
    Sarah and Will made their way through several security stations before strolling into the ballroom.  They instinctively paused just inside the door of the sunken room to check the crowd of attendees while they had a height advantage. 
    Sarah noted the positions of the security cameras covering the ballroom and pointed them out to Will. 
    "Don't worry, pork chop.  So long as there isn't a scene here, nobody is going to review the security camera footage.  We'll be long gone before they ever realize we were here." 
    So much for security .
    After a few moments, they walked the three steps down into the ballroom and began looking for Davidson.
    Will grabbed two glasses of champagne from a passing waiter's tray and handed one to Sarah. 
    She sipped the dry, bubbly nectar, anxious to take the edge off.  "How are we supposed to find this guy?"
    "He said he had our files and would find us if we didn't meet him right away."
    Sarah scowled and spoke through her teeth.  "Nice.  I don't feel so comfortable with that don't find me, I'll find you stuff."
    Will took a sip from his glass as he scanned the room.  "Yeah, I know.  Not exactly ideal but it’s all we got."
    They slowly walked through the ballroom hoping to hear a conversation that identified someone there as Davidson. 
    Sarah stopped a passing waiter to leave her half-full glass on his tray. 
    No sense carrying this around.  With my luck, somebody will back into me and spill it on my dress.  Two ruined designer dresses in two days I don't need.
    She looked around and heard a man's voice carrying from a few clusters of people to her left.
    "Okay, I've got a great one for you.  A horse walks into a bar and the bartender says 'so, what's with the long face?’ "  The man grinned and waited for the polite chuckles that finally came. 
    Luckily for him, a buxom, blond bombshell showed up and took over the crowd.  "Speaking of horses, I understand the Prince's stallion has been having a very good season."  She looked at the man in robes who was as wide as he was tall.  "You must be very pleased."
    Sarah tried to ignore the dull conversations and boorish jokes and listened for some reference to Davidson so they could find the guy, get the information they needed and bust Vince out of Nikolai's clutches.
    "Are you enjoying the party?"  Sarah looked to her left where the voice came from.  She smiled a tolerant smile and met the gaze of the horse joke guy.  "It's lovely, thank