deter…everyone, really. After a moment, I grabbed a chair from a nearby table and dragged it over so I’d have a seat too. Tai gave me an apologetic smile. “Sorry, man, not used to there being three of us.”
“It’s all good, don’t worry about it.” I straddled the frail little chair and rested my arms across the back. It would be easier to get out of this fast, if I had to. Better than being all caught up between the table and the leather booth.
Out of nowhere, a man appeared, oozing charm and champagne. “Gretchen, darling! Oh honey, I wanted to meet you at the door! Sly girl, sneaking in like that!” He too wore one of the devil horn headbands. He looked ridiculous.
I will say that Gretchen’s smile never faded, but behind her eyes was something that said this man was barely on her tolerance list. He wasn’t a friend. “It’s all right, Leo, I know my way in.” They did that air kissy thing that makes no sense to me, especially since he had to lean way over the table to do it. “Is there anything in particular you have on the agenda tonight?”
“Not at all, my lovely. You sit right here and have anything your heart desires. I’ll send a server over.” With that, he was gone again in the blink of an eye. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a normal human move so fast.
Gretchen settled against the seat with a terminally bored sigh, examining her nails.
“So…what exactly do you do at these places?” I had to ask twice, raising my voice to shouting, before she could hear me.
“Nothing.” She shrugged. “They just pay me to show up. It makes the club look good to have celebrities here. Leo’s business will triple tonight, just because people hear that I’m hanging out.”
Seriously? I am
“That sums it up.”
The server showed up and the guys ordered soda, while Gretchen asked for a spring water with lime. Not what I expected, but hey, go with it. I passed, not really wanting anything in my hands.
Gretchen’s entrance had been noticed. I could almost watch the word ripple through the crowd, see the wave as faces turned toward our table to take furtive glances.
I examined the crowd, trying to pick out anything odd, anything that didn’t belong, all the while wondering what I was expecting to find. They were kids, mostly. Old enough to drink, I guess, to get in here, but still kids. Most of them wearing way too much makeup and hair gel, and way too little clothing. If Anna ever tried to dress like that, I was gonna lock her in her room until she was forty-five.
I think that means I’m officially old.
The server came back, delivering the drinks with quiet efficiency. I suppose celebrities were nothing new to her, and she even gave Tai a smile like they’d met before. “If you need anything else, just flag me down.” She seemed nice, and fairly normal. Maybe not everybody was crazy.
I have to say, whatever I’d thought about the profession of “bodyguard” before this, it was way more boring than I’d expected. Bobby and Tai did their duties seriously enough, one of them walking the room from time to time while the other stayed close to Gretchen. Their eyes constantly scanned and analyzed, though how they were going to pick one single dangerous face out of that hustle and bustle, I wasn’t sure.
Bobby also watched Tai, I noticed. Whenever the former soldier was out doing his rounds around the dance floor, his eyes always came back to the table, just long enough to be sure that all was right in the world. It took me a bit to realize that it was the same watchful gaze I often directed toward Esteban. A teacher, keeping an eye on his student. It made me like the grumpy cuss just a bit more.
But mostly we sat there while the music cycled from one identical song to the next. The crowd on the dance floor cycled too, the tired ones bowing out to be replaced by those recently refreshed with their beverage of choice. As the night went on, the dancing got dirtier and the crowd got drunker. Not totally unexpected.
Twice, we were approached by adventurous fans looking to beg an autograph or photo from Gretchen. She allowed it, Tai moving aside after Bobby’s almost invisible nod of approval so the girls could slide into the booth with their idol. I got drafted into photographer mode, fumbling with their cell phones until they were satisfied with the results. (Though, I overheard one of them mention to her girlfriend as they scampered off “Oh my God, it was
“That was nice of you,” I pointed out to Gretchen after the second time. “You could have told them to piss off.”
Gretchen shrugged her bared shoulders. “Those girls will tell everyone they know how cool I am. It’s good press.”
“Do you ever do anything that isn’t directly beneficial to you?”
“No.” And there were no regrets there, that much was obvious.
The hours dragged on slower, the later it got, and my body was adamantly reminding me that it was still on Missouri time. I folded my arms across the back of my chair and rested my chin there, just watching the swirl of colors around the enormous room. It was almost hypnotizing, a big swirling riot of noise and shiny.
A hiccup in the general movement of the place caught my attention, and when I brought my eyes back into focus, I spotted our server across the room, at another table. Now, why did that stand out? Something in the way she stood just didn’t flow.
I’d talked to her as the night went on. Her name was Traci-with-an-i, she was a college student, and wanted to be an actress. Her hair was dark and curly, just like Mira’s, and she reminded me a lot of my wife in younger years.
Now, I couldn’t see her face, but there was something to the set of her shoulders that bespoke tension, and when her serving tray clattered to the floor, I was already on my feet.
“Jesse?” I ignored Tai’s question and started working my way around the dance floor.
From the changed angle, I could see the man at the other table, just your typical nondescript douche bag if I
