Legal Briefs

“Donna!” Adam said with a smile fixed in place. “You’re looking … uh, hey. We have alcohol! Right through there.” He pointed to the kitchen.

“Thanks baby. Maybe the two of you can join me in a little toast later.” She staggered off toward the kitchen. Thank goodness Jess was in there too to defend her man.

“Don’t think about it,” I said when she was out of earshot.

“Yeah,” Adam replied simply.

“Hey, yo. I’m here for the party.” We turned back to the door where a vision in black leather and neon purple leopard skin stood, looking hostile.

“Hi, Vixen, right?” I asked with a smile.

“Yeah. The real name’s Vivian, but I like Vixen better. You got any tats?” she asked, checking me out.

“Nowhere where you can see,” Adam said suggestively and I glared at him.

“Ah, c’mon. I see more pussies in my line of work than a gyno. What’s she got going on down there?” She gave Adam a conspiratorial look.

“It says, ‘Adam was here’,” he replied with a grin. Bastard.

“Weren’t you thinking about getting your balls pierced, sweetie?” I asked, grinning back. Adam swallowed hard and started to look a little pale.

“I can get you a deal,” Vixen assured him.

“Thanks,” he said, sounding hoarse.

“So you got booze here or not?” she asked, turning back to me.

“Kitchen.” I pointed and she headed off to join the gang, in what was obviously the most popular room in the place.

I noticed that as Vixen went in, Mario and Donna came back out. I had the feeling that she had cleared many rooms. Mario went over to talk to Yuri and Braden. I was sure he would have a lot to add to the conversation. His beer gut spoke volumes about his athleticism.

Donna headed for Mark, who looked like he was on the verge of becoming comatose. Even she would probably seem enticing after listening to SEPTA safety statistics. Gabrielle had a smile frozen on her face as Mr. Davis chatted her up, and Bruce sat listening to Regina tell him something that made him look despondent.

I was about to close the door when I saw another figure standing there. Wow, Scratch had made it.

“Hey,” he said, eyes darting around the room.

“Hey,” Adam repeated.

With that stimulating exchange, Scratch wandered in and headed toward the kitchen. He and U. Hu should talk. And finally, there he was in my doorway, Mr. Charming himself, R. Nardo.

“You got bourbon?” he demanded.

“Hello, we’re so happy you could make it,” I said sweetly.

“Kitchen,” Adam indicated, pulling me to his side as Nardo headed off. “Lilith, what did I tell you about not pissing off the locals?”

“What about the comment you made about SEPTA to Herb?”

“Herb isn’t quite as menacing as Ray. Besides, I think he has a crush on you and I don’t like it.” I rolled my eyes at him.

Now that everyone was present and accounted for, Adam and I observed them for a few minutes. Donna had elbowed her way in on Herb and he had wandered off. Mark no longer looked bored stiff. Now he looked nervous. I noticed that he kept moving, and I suspected that Donna was doing her best to feel him up.

Herb was intercepted in his wandering by Vixen, who was exiting the kitchen drinking straight from a bottle of Jagermeister. She and Herb seemed to strike an animated conversation immediately. Maybe there was some connection I was unaware of between mass transit and tattoo artistry.

Scratch had left the kitchen, holding a cup of beer, and he was trying to look casual, while obviously watching U. Hu, who was trying to look casual, while obviously watching Scratch.

Mr. Davis finally took pity on Gabrielle, and wandered off to join Mark and Donna. Mark looked at him like a drowning man who has just been tossed a life preserver, and literally climbed over an end table to get the hell out of there. I saw him throw a homicidal look at Adam, who waved and grinned happily at him.

Gabrielle set her music on auto-play and went over to talk to Regina, thus allowing Bruce to make his own escape and head for the kitchen, which seemed to have become some sort of sanctuary.

Nardo stalked out a second later and sat down in a chair with a glass of something and just glared at everyone. Yuri came over to sit near Nardo a moment later. The two of them might hit it off actually. They were both such warm, friendly guys. I wondered what in the hell Mario could be talking about with Braden.

Mark made it to the kitchen safely. Mario finally left Braden a moment later, and went over to join his wife. Gabrielle and Braden, in turn, both headed our way. They had just joined us when Bruce came out of the kitchen holding a drink with a paper parasol in it. Where did he get that? As soon as he got into the room, he sniffed the air, started making a gagging noise, and staggered dramatically toward us.

“Lily, I can’t bear that horrible perfume any longer. You must turn on your ceiling fan whether it’s November or not,” he hissed at me.

“Fine,” I said and went over to hit the switch. The fan started turning and slowly picked up speed. A minute later, something flew down and hit the floor. Gab, who was standing closest, went over to pick it up.

“It’s a flash drive!” she said excitedly. Suddenly, all conversation stopped and everyone turned to look at her.

“Go to your fan,” I said to Adam, repeating what the note in my wallet had instructed.

“Your fan was on when you got in,” he replied. “Probably to see if something taped to it would stay up there. Maybe he forgot, or got interrupted and that’s why he didn’t turn it off.”

“I’ll take that, thanks,” said a voice I didn’t recognize. Everyone turned toward it at once. It was U. Hu and he had a gun! Braden immediately pulled Gabrielle into his arms to shield her.

“It was you!” she said triumphantly from the protection of her husband’s embrace. “You’re the Fox!”

“No, sorry, but I’m not The Fox. I’m the Yakuza. The Morettis have gotten too powerful in this town, and it’s time they remembered that they are only one group of many.”

“I thought the Yakuza was the Japanese mafia,” Mark said. “Aren’t you Chinese?”

“My father is Chinese. My mother is Japanese. Now hand over the flash drive.”

“You can hand it over to me instead.” Everyone turned to look again. This was like a tennis match. It was Yuri, this time, who also had a gun, and it was pointed at U. Hu.