Easily, the best part of stepping into the party venue was having Jamie around my arm.

We walked through the elevator doors on the top floor of one of the island’s high rises that offered a panoramic view through crystalline windows that studded every wall. The black carpet gave way to a large square of hardwood in the middle of the room, hinting that dancing was on the menu when the party really got underway. White pillars crowned with square lamps at the top of each cast low light over the whole venue, making the place feel open yet moody at the same time.

“Head for the doors just across from us,” Jamie said to me, nodding to a set of glass doors leading to a picturesque rooftop terrace, where most of the partygoers were mingling already. “Everyone will start to slip back inside the closer it gets to dinnertime. Or when they get drunk enough to start dancing, whichever comes first.”

“Which usually comes first?” I asked.

“Depends what kind of party it is,” Jamie said with a wink.

“And what kind of party is it?” I pressed, bumping him with my hip gently as we walked, and he suppressed a laugh.

“What are any of them for?” he sighed, still smiling. “Mostly for networking. If you haven’t already, you’re about to start recognizing some celebrity faces getting trashed on champagne, martinis, and gin and tonics-- tonic water probably made from Burmese spring water and hand-carbonated by monks or something. You get the idea. It’s that kind of crowd.”

“Got it,” I said gruffly, eyeing some of the crowd.

“That, and funding,” he added, holding up a finger as I got the door to the terrace for him and led him through into the cool evening air. “Funding is very important. Charitable donations mean tax write-offs, and tax write-offs mean more money for these people.”

“So, if they know and like you, they’ll throw that money at your projects instead of someone else’s,” I said, trying to follow along.

“Not too loud,” Jamie said, patting my arm. “They don’t like it when you give out all their secrets.”

I smirked.

It was about ten seconds before we both had fluted glasses of champagne in our hands, and we clinked them together before drinking. I’d noticed a handful of famous faces from movies and television, and there were even some models hanging on the arms of older people who reeked of money, but frankly, I’d only noticed any of them in passing. Jamie held my attention the entire time.

In fact, he held it so well that I barely noticed the two men following us to the edge of the terrace.

“Company,” I murmured to Jamie, turning with him in time to see a face that made me tense up. Once again, it was a face I knew from a dossier Susan sent me, and it was the last one I wanted to see today.

Barry was approaching us with a smile on his smarmy face I didn’t like, and there was a younger man at his heels.

“Gentlemen!” Barry said with a broad grin, extending his hand to shake Jamie’s. When their hands touched, I could tell Barry was purposefully shaking harder than Jamie did, and I had to fight the urge to roll my eyes. It was such a high-school-boy way of trying to establish dominance. “I was wondering if I’d get to see you tonight, Jamie. I hear you’ve been a busy man.”

“Expos don’t present themselves,” Jamie said good-naturedly as the men patted each other on the shoulder. The man with Barry glanced up and down at Jamie, then at me, a mild frown on his face. It looked like Barry’s date was about as charming as Bradley.

“No, that’s what you have junior execs for, isn’t it?” he said, and even I wasn’t oblivious enough to know that was a jab at Jamie.

But Jamie didn’t look fazed in the slightest.

“Sometimes true.” He laughed. “I didn’t see you there at all, though, or did I just miss you on the program?”

Barry’s smile twitched, but he recovered smoothly. “Oh, not all of us have time to fly to luxurious penthouses and present at expos. I’ve been busy managing my researchers. I’m just a short ways away from dealing with the water crisis in Oakview. Just in the process of setting up a meeting with the mayor to discuss things. Sometimes keeping your nose to the grindstone pays off,” he added with a wink.

This guy was insufferable.

“You don’t say?” Jamie said, doing a good job at sounding genuinely surprised. “That’s interesting I’m actually headed up to Oakview shortly myself.”

Barry looked taken aback, and his eyelashes fluttered.

“Really now? Another gala up there to attend?”

“No, I’ll be there for the same reason as you, actually,” Jamie went on. “Sounds like Mayor Wade is entertaining a few offers from people like us.”

Barry seemed to visibly deflate, some of the proud gleam leaving his eyes, but that didn’t make him any less resolute-- just more entertaining to watch.

“Uh-huh. Well, maybe we’ll have to meet up and grab a coffee while we’re there. Just maybe hold off on the ice water,” he added with a wink, and even Barry’s date, who was typing away at his phone, looked up in mild shock at the poor taste of Barry’s joke. Barry seemed to notice the lack of laughter, though, and his date’s movement caught his attention. He cleared his throat and glared at his date, who snapped to attention immediately. “Jeff, maybe get off the phone and get me a vodka Collins, yeah?”

Jeff gave a tight smile, but he bustled off immediately, making a beeline for the bar. Jamie peered after him apprehensively before glancing back at Barry.

“Running your date a little hard, aren’t you?” Jamie said politely, which was a much softer response to that kind of assholery than I would have put up with.

“Oh, right, that’s Jeff Rassavic,” Barry said disinterestedly. “He’s my EA and date for tonight. Boyfriend, sort of. You know how that goes,” he added with a smirk, rolling his eyes and glancing at me for half a second.

“Not...really,” Jamie said kindly before turning to me. “Excuse my manners Damon, this is Barry Atelier, a friend and colleague of mine. Barry, this is my boyfriend, Damon.”

The difference between Barry and Jamie was like night and day, and it made it all the more satisfying to give Barry a firm nod. Barry was exactly what I’d expected Jamie to be, and frankly, if he had been, I’d have been tempted to let the Russians grab him.

“Right,” Barry said disinterestedly.

Jeff came back right about the time Jamie tugged at my arm, saying, “Well, we should get to making the rounds, shall we? The night’s still young.”

“Sounds good,” I said, nodding and turning to the others. “Nice to meet you, Barry. Jeff,” I added, giving Jeff a sympathetic, genuine smile. Jeff gave me a shaky one back, and I felt my heart kind of breaking for the guy. He seemed like a sweet little wall flower, and the way Barry snatched the drink from his hand without even glancing at him made me uneasy.

“Couple of winners, huh?” I whispered to Jamie as we headed away from the pair.

“You have no idea,” Jamie said, finishing his glass of champagne and trading it for a second on one of the trays a server was carrying by.

“I’ve got to say,” I murmured, “it’s still a little jarring to actually be here at one of these parties. I’ve always known they’re real, but until you’re actually at one…”

“It’s surreal, isn’t it?” he agreed, to my relief. “It’s – hold on. Someone incoming, three o’clock.”

I followed Jamie’s gaze to see, to my surprise, a woman I recognized: Madeline Stacy, an actress who won her second Oscar not long ago. She was a solid ten years younger than Jamie and me, but what struck me first was the high-strung, anxious look in her eyes, even as she rushed up to Jamie to trade a kiss on each cheek.

“Jamie!” she gushed. “So glad you could make it! Who’s your arm candy tonight?”

“Good to see you, Maddie,” he said casually, turning to me. “This is Damon, my boyfriend.”

“Pleasure,” I said as I shook her hand.

“It’s all mine. Anyone with Jamie is a man of good taste,” she said quickly.

It was strange, her public persona was known for being this sort of languid, sultry personality, but she came off like she’d popped a handful of amphetamines a few minutes ago.

“I suppose I don’t need an introduction,” she added, waving a hand with a broad smile. “...Right?”

“Of course not,” I assured her with a warm smile, and that seemed to appease her. “I’m not much of a moviegoer, but you’re on a billboard that looms over my usual coffee place.”

She and Jamie laughed at that, and the two went on to make small talk while I let myself fade to the background. The rest of the conversation went about the same, and she even paused in the middle of talking about her latest work to turn to me and make sure I’d seen her in some of her past movies. She was clearly anxious about, well, everything.

Eventually, she said her goodbyes, and the rest of the evening went along in the same way. I’d lead Jamie around the room until someone he knew hurried over to us, often a celebrity or producer of some kind, and we’d chat them up for a few minutes before moving on to the next. The contrast between what these people were really like and how they appeared on camera was so stark that it was disorienting. About two hours in, I started to feel sick to my stomach.

It felt like none of this mattered. It was vapid, and it only took a few minutes of conversation to realize that none of the people here were really happy. All the problems they talked about, from tax issues to complications with their third summer homes to the latest million-dollar fashion, all seemed to just make their lives worse. By the third hour, I didn’t even feel like I was at a real party. I felt like I was in a TV show full of people acting out how real people interact.

“I think I’ve had my fill,” Jamie said at last, after a dinner of what was easily the best food I’d ever had in my life. “Shall we get out of here?”

“Music to my ears,” I said, taking Jamie’s arm and heading toward the door. It wasn’t that easy, of course, and we got held up by a few more people, but Jamie gave a contented sigh once we were downstairs and heading toward our limo.

“That was a success,” he said confidently as the driver let us in and closed the door behind us.

“Was it? Hard to tell. I mean, I believe you, but…”

“Believe me, I know,” he assured me, smiling. “It probably just looked like meaningless small talk for a few hours.”

“Wasn’t it?” I ventured, chuckling and scratching my beard.

“Yes and no,” he said. “It was just small talk, but when it’s time for those people to write their checks, they remember that small talk.”

“Guess that’s all they have to go by, huh?” I mused.

“More or less,” Jamie said. “Short of sleeping with them, that’s how you make friends in this world: small talk at parties, maybe donating a little in return here and there. The little things like going shopping with someone or coming over to cook with them, that’s all for PR stunts, for the most part.”

“Doesn’t sound like a way I’d want to live my life,” I said.

“I’m still not used to it, frankly,” Jamie admitted, leaning against me in the seat and letting me wrap my arm around him. “You’re kind of a breath of fresh air. Reminds me what I’ve been missing out on in this lifestyle.”

That made my heart swell up so much it hurt, and I opened my mouth to reply...but I got distracted by the headlights I could see through the window in front of us, growing brighter by the second.

“Get down!” I shouted, and I wrapped my arms around Jamie and threw us both flat against the seat just half a second before an SUV collided with the opposite side of the limousine.

The long vehicle screeched as the bigger car pushed it, and I heard the driver swearing as my head spun. Jamie was frozen in shock under me, and I hurried to switch open the partition between the driver and the rear seats.

“Drive!” I barked at him. “That wasn’t an accident!”

Indeed, the SUV was backing up, and I could tell it was about to charge in again. The limo’s glass hadn’t even shattered, thankfully, but web like cracks had spread out all over the windows. Susan had thought ahead and gotten us an armored vehicle that was bullet resistant. I wasn’t sure how SUV resistant it would be, though, so we needed to be out of here immediately.

The driver roared off, pulling out of the way just in time for the SUV to narrowly miss us again.

The driver was already on the phone with 911 when we heard the SUV screech behind us, and the limo driver moved us down a side road, winding through as narrow roads as a stretch limo could manage.

I heard sirens.

“Tell them we’re at 10th and West 42nd,” I shouted to him, keeping my eye on the SUV behind us, then turning back to the driver. “Head there. They can’t try this bullshit if the police head them off.”

Sure enough, by the time we reached Hell’s Kitchen, traffic was getting congested enough that the SUV soon pulled away and roared southward, leaving us alone just in time to see police lights flagging us down.

Jamie was only just getting his bearings when we came to a halt on the side of the road, and I put a hand on his shoulder and got his attention.

“Hey. Hey, listen, it’s okay. We’re safe. I’ve got you.”

“I…what just happened?”

“Another attack,” I said in a grim voice, “and this time, you’re filing a report. I mean it.”

An hour later, we were sitting with a Detective Dalia Smythe, a woman I didn’t recognize who must have been a new transfer. Jamie was finishing giving his statement to her while I sat beside him, trying not to make eye contact with most of the people milling around the desks.

This wasn’t just any precinct. It was where I used to work. I wasn’t a betting man, but it wouldn’t have surprised me if the detective taking Jamie’s statement had moved into my very own desk.

“And you’re certain you didn’t see a face, a plate, anything? Make and model of the SUV?”

“It was a black Grand Cherokee,” I interjected gruffly, which annoyed the detective, but Jamie nodded after me.

“Yeah, I’m fairly sure that’s right,” he said.

And as he did, a familiar figure I was hoping not to see came walking around the corner of the room where we were sitting. We made eye contact immediately, and I felt my heart sinking.

“Good evening, Mr. Davenport,” said Captain Hopkins, my old captain from my stint in the NYPD. “Sorry to hear you’ve had some trouble tonight.”

“It was nothing, really,” Jamie said. “Damon here really made all the difference in the world.”

The captain glanced at me for a moment but grunted and looked back to Jamie, arms crossed.

“Well, I want you to know I’ll personally go out of my way to make sure we get this sorted out. I wouldn’t want one of Manhattan's best and brightest not feeling safe on the streets.” My jaw was set, and I felt Jamie’s eyes flit to me for a moment, noticing that.

“Mhm,” he murmured absently in response to the captain, then turning back to Detective Smythe. “Anyway, is that all you need? I know it’s not much.”

“That will do,” the detective said, nodding, and I felt a little satisfaction at the captain’s frown. When it was clear Jamie wasn’t going to indulge his schmoozing, he grunted and walked on, leaving us alone. “Thank you for your cooperation. We’ll be in touch.”

“Thanks,” Jamie and I both said together, and we stood up, shaking the detective’s hand and heading out. I felt the captain’s eyes on my back, trying to burn a hole right through me as we went.

“Are you good?” Jamie whispered to me as we made our way to the doors of the precinct. I thought for a moment, then, in defiance of everything I felt while I was working here, I reached over and took Jamie’s hand and gave it a firm squeeze.

“Yeah, I’m good,” I said. “I’ll be better once we’re out of here. What about you? You’re the one who almost took an SUV to the face.”

He smiled, and I could see the pink in his cheeks out of the corner of my eye as he squeezed my hand back.

“Also better once we’re out of here.”