Chapter 10
My heart thudded to the bottom of my belly, leaving a desolate hollow in my chest.
Frozen, I stared at Riel’s laughing face while rage rose like magma from the centre of my being.
Nichele. He had Nichele.
The tiny human firecracker who had been my best friend since childhood. One of the few who had stuck by me even when my disastrous first marriage became a prison of isolation…
I was across the room before I even realized I was moving, my gun hard inside the purse I was clenching in one fist.
Control. Don’t shoot him in front of all these witnesses…
Riel turned, surprise flashing across his face before he relaxed into a smile.
“Ah, Ms. Widdenback,” he said in a French-Canadian accent that might have been delightful if I hadn’t been moments away from pumping him full of lead. “’Ow nice that we meet.”
He extended his hand, but his smile wavered at the sight of my expression.
“Where is she?” I hissed.
“Give that back, you big goof!” The cheeky admonition was delivered in a familiar voice that made my heart clutch with fierce relief. An instant later Nichele scurried into the ballroom and made a beeline for Riel.
“Ah-ah-ah!” He returned Nichele’s grin and extracted her phone from his pocket to dangle teasingly a couple of feet above her head. “Non, chérie, I won it square and fair.”
“You cheated!” she teased in return. Then she caught sight of me and her mouth dropped open. “Aydan? What are you doing here?” She recovered quickly and a devilish sparkle lit her eyes as her gaze bounced between Riel and me. “Well. I guess there’s no need for an introduction here,” she added.
Riel’s eyes narrowed for a bare instant, summing up the situation. “Of course not,” he said smoothly. “Aydan and I were just catching up on the old times.” He gave the name a slight emphasis and moved closer as if to gauge my reaction.
“Well, yeah, um… great to see you again,” I mumbled, backing away. “Sorry to take Nichele away from you, but I just need to talk to her for a minute.”
“Of course.” He inclined his head graciously. “I ‘ope we can talk again soon. Nichele, ma chérie, I shall keep this phone as a trophy until you return.”
She pitched her voice to a ridiculous bass and assumed an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent. “I’ll be back!”
He smiled and wiggled the cell phone at her. “Soon, I ‘ope.”
I clamped a hand on Nichele’s arm and dragged her away, trying to look nonchalant.
“Aydan, what are you doing here?” Nichele demanded. “And whose clothes are you wearing? Those shoes are, like, two sizes too small! I swear, girl, I can’t let you out of my sight! I thought you hated dressing up, hated business parties, hated Benoit, and hated Lawrence Harchman.” She wrinkled her nose. “But you’re right about Icky-Lawrence. Ew!”
My heart still thumping too fast, I managed a squeaky chuckle. “I know; right? What a slimeball.” Fighting the adrenaline-jangled nerves that made me want to take her by the arms and shake her, I kept my tone casual. “I tried to call you earlier. Why didn’t you answer?”
“That was you?” Nichele grimaced. “Why were you calling from that weird number? You made me lose the game.”
Shit, of course; I’d called from the burner phone.
“What game?” I inquired, hanging onto my patience.
“After I finished talking to you earlier, Benoit and I started a contest that whoever looked at their cellphone first would have to give it up for the rest of the night. At least if I’d known it was you I would’ve picked up. Instead I rejected the call but he said he’d won anyway because I looked at it.”
My pulse picked up and I shot a glance over my shoulder at Riel. Was this a ploy to somehow steal data from Nichele’s phone? Oh, God, if he downloaded all her contacts, how could I possibly protect everyone?
He appeared absorbed in conversation with another man, but as I watched he glanced up, meeting my eyes in a cool appraisal. Then one of his eyelids twitched in a fractional wink and he returned his attention to his companion.
Nichele nudged me, grinning. “Go on, you can’t take your eyes off him, can you? Admit it. He’s hot. Hottie-Benoitty.”
“Oh, come on, Nichele!” I objected. “He’s just an ordinary middle-aged guy. Even a suit-slut like you can’t be that blinded by expensive clothes.”
“It’s not just the suit. It’s the suit and that French charm and that sexy accent!” She flung a dramatic hand to her forehead and faked a swoon. “Oooh-la-la!” She straightened and leaned closer. “And he’s still interested in you, I can tell. What was so bad about your blind date, anyway? He’s a lot of fun; I can’t imagine why you didn’t have a good time.”
“We just didn’t click,” I mumbled.
She sighed. “Seriously, you’ve got Hot John and Dante the Inferno and Hottie-Benoitty on a string and you’re still shagging Mister Ugly? What am I going to do with you?”
As if sensing my irritation, she sobered, staring at me as though seeing me for the first time. “Aydan… You’re really in love with Arnie, aren’t you? That’s why you won’t even look at anybody else.” She threw her arms around me. “I’m sorry, but you had me fooled with that whole no-commitment thing. It’s great that you and Arnie are together. You’ve been alone for ‘way too long.”
“We’re not together,” I protested, feeling what little control I had over the conversation slipping away. “Anyway, it doesn’t matter. Forget it.” I hugged her back, worry and affection making my embrace tighter than usual. “Can I bunk in your room tonight? My buddy Lawrence didn’t offer me a place to stay.”
“Well hell yeah, girl!” She drew back, her smile dissolving into a mock-serious frown. “Which brings me back to my original question. What are you doing here? How did you get in without a ticket?”
“Um… I was worried about you, so I sneaked in.”
Nichele’s eyes danced. “You’re such a goofball! How did you get past the guards in the gatehouse? And where did you get a pair of too-small Manolo Blahnicks and a Valentino evening gown?”
Dammit, only my shitty luck would make me rob some fancy designer place. I had been hoping it was just an anonymous little hole-in-the-wall with suitably nameless clothes.
“Tell you later,” I whispered as another dark-suited gorilla lumbered purposefully toward us.
Shit, what did he want? Was he going to throw me out despite my threat of a screaming meltdown?
I held my breath as he strode up, but instead of grabbing my arm he offered me a deferential inclination of his chin. “Mr. Harchman was concerned that you couldn’t find your friend so he has authorized me to take you to the security control room. We can check the closed-circuit cameras and see if we can spot her.”
Yeah, right. And as soon as I was separated from the hoity-toity guests, Harchman had undoubtedly also authorized the gorilla to pitch me out on my ass.
I smiled up at him, radiating goodwill. “Oh, thank you, that’s so kind of you and Lawrence! But you can tell him it’s okay, I’ve found her.”
“Oh.” He shuffled his feet. “Um… Okay. Good…”
He drifted away, muttering into his comm link, and Nichele’s face softened into fondness. “You really were worried about me, weren’t you? And look at you, all dolled up even though I know how much you hate it. You’re such a good friend!” She gave me one of her trademark bearhugs. “Come on, let’s go get my phone back from Benoit.”
“Yeah, let’s,” I agreed, trying not to let the grimness show in my voice.
I obviously didn’t succeed.
Nichele laughed. “Come on, you can make polite conversation with an ex-date for a few minutes. It’s not like you’re facing a firing squad.”
“Let’s hope not,” I muttered, and followed her through the few remaining clusters of guests.
My heart sank at the sight of Tawny and Riel with their heads together. Comparing notes; and it didn’t take a genius to figure out the topic of their conversation.
Tawny glanced over at us and laughed, her brassy giggle rising over the music and conversation.
“Aiding!” she greeted me enthusiastically as we arrived. “I was wondering where you went! Come on, let’s have some girl talk!” She linked arms with me and headed for the door.
“Whoa, slow down,” I protested, hanging back and grasping at the first plausible delay that came to mind. “Nichele, have you met Lawrence’s wife Tawny?”
“Yes,” Nichele replied. “Hi again, Tawny…”
“Hi,” Tawny interrupted. “Come on, Aiding, let’s go!”
Short of wrestling her to the ground, I couldn’t see any way to avoid going with her. And while I was damn sure Riel knew I’d recognized him, I was equally damn sure that Tawny didn’t know I was clued into her criminal connections. Playing along was my best bet.
Assuming, of course, that she wasn’t luring me away so she could have her goons kill me and quietly dispose of my body…
With a feeble wave to Nichele, I let Tawny drag me away.
Apparently instant death wasn’t on the agenda. We had barely cleared the door of the ballroom when Tawny turned to me, eyes glittering. “Are you putting the moves on my Pookie-Poo?”
The question was so unexpected that a bark of laughter escaped me. “God, no! I wouldn’t touch him with a…” Belatedly recovering, I cut off the insult with a cough and finished, “…devoted wife like you on his arm. That would just be sleazy.”
“You’d better not.” Her eyes slitted. “He’s mine, and I don’t share.”
Nodding gravely, I agreed, “I totally get it. I wouldn’t either if I was married.”
“Oh…” Slightly deflated, she squinted at me as if trying to figure out what other evil designs I might have on her Pookie-Poo.
I had to admire her act. I almost believed she was just a conniving bimbo trying to hang onto a rich husband.
Almost, but not quite.
“What did you mean when you said earlier that you and Pookie were close?” she demanded.
I made a split-second decision to stir the pot and see what surfaced. “I meant he faked porn videos of us together and sold them on the internet. That kind of close.”
“You made porn videos with my Pookie?” Her shriek of outrage would have done any actress proud. Her fingers crooked into scarlet-tipped claws.
“No, I said he faked them!” I backed away, afraid I’d lose an eye if she came at me with those talons. “I never touched him.” A demon of vindictiveness seized me and I lowered my voice. “But he damn well touched me. Groped me all over, and he was married at the time. You’d better watch him.”
“You’re lying! My Pookie would never do that!”
“Yeah, he would.” I took a chance. “You know what men are like.”
Something flared deep in those baby-blues; a flash of something bitter and angry that wasn’t directed at me.
An instant later it was gone, replaced by bimbo-Tawny’s wide-eyed indignation. “My Pookie isn’t like that.”
I shrugged. “Maybe you’re right. People change. And you’re much nicer to him than his previous wife.”
A self-satisfied smile spread across her face. “I’m the best wife ever. And Pookie wuvs-wuvs-wuvs me! So is that what your business was about tonight?”
The pointed question didn’t quite fit her air of innocent ditziness, but I went with it anyway.
“Yeah. He pays me part of the money he makes every month on the porn videos.”
Tawny crossed her arms and stuck out her chin as if she’d won an important round in the conversation. “See, I told you my Pookie was a good man.”
“Uh, yeah. Right. Well, nice talking to you, Tawny, but I want to get back to the party now-”
“How did you get in?” she interrupted. “Pookie didn’t invite you, and I sure didn’t.”
Uh-oh.
I widened my eyes and went for ingenuous. “I sneaked in. I’m sorry, but when I called Nichele earlier she told me what a great party it was, and I really wanted to come.”
True, if not complete. At least Riel could confirm that Nichele had talked to me earlier.
A frown fought the botox between Tawny’s eyebrows. “You can’t just sneak in. We have security guards. The only way in is past the gatehouse.”
“Yeah, I know…”
I sure as hell wasn’t going to point out the weak spot in their security. My pulse thumped in my ears while I cast about for a convenient lie, but nothing came immediately to mind.
“Um… that’s the way I came in, though,” I added lamely. “Past the gatehouse.”
“You’re lying.” As if realizing her bimbo act had slipped, Tawny batted her false eyelashes at me and backpedalled. “Come on, Aiding, tell me how you did it! I love playing hide-and-seek with the guards!”
“I wasn’t playing hide-and-seek,” I insisted. “I just came in through the gate like everybody else…” Inspiration struck, and I added, “With a man. I found a single man and got him to bring me in.”
“Which man?”
“I don’t know. I wasn’t interested in his name; I just seduced him long enough to get through the gate in his car.”
Tawny let out a contemptuous snort. “You’re far too old for that to work. Look at you. You’ve got wrinkles around your eyes and mouth and grey in your hair…” Her critical gaze tracked downward. “Your boobs are pretty good for your age, I guess, but they’re not big enough. You should get a boob job like mine.” She thrust out her chest and I suppressed the urge to throw up my hands in self-defense when her prominent nipples took aim at me.
“It did work, though.” I shrugged and took another potshot at the bitter creature behind her eyes. “You know what men are like; they don’t care what you look like as long as they get some.”
“You have to look good if you’re going to get anything out of them long-term,” she snapped. As if realizing she’d slipped out of character once too often, she scowled. “It’s time for you to leave.” Pressing a button on the intercom beside us, she assumed her little-girl voice again. “Hello, secuwity? Will you pwease come and help my wittle fwiend back to her car? Thank-you!”
“I have to tell Nichele I’m leaving or she’ll worry,” I argued, sidling toward the ballroom door.
Tawny gave a brittle laugh as another suit-clad goon materialized in the doorway. “Nice try. You can call her when you’re outside the gate.” She turned to the goon. “Aiding left her car outside the gate. Will you pwease dwive her back to it?”
He nodded and gestured toward another door, effectively blocking the door to the ballroom with his bulk. “This way, please.”
Dammit.
Heart thumping, I gave him a pleasant smile. Should I kick up a stink or just go quietly? What would a real agent do?
What would Kane do?
Kane would stay cool. He’d never blow his cover this early in a mission.
Cool. Stay cool.
“Thanks.” I widened my smile to include both Tawny and the goon. “Tawny, it was nice talking to you, and thanks for the escort. See you later.”
“Oh, I hope so!” Tawny gave me a theatrical hug and air-kisses on both cheeks. “You know I like seeing you just as much as my Pookie-Poo does!”
No doubt that was true.
“Right,” I agreed.
“And have a safe dwive home. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to you,” she added with a smile that glittered like ice.
Shit, was that a code phrase telling the goon to make something happen to me?
Clutching my purse with the gun inside it, I breathed through a surge of adrenaline as the goon touched my elbow and escorted me out.