“Good for you!” He slapped me on the back and guided me to the bar. “What’ll ya have?” John asked.
“Bourbon.” I told him.
John was pleased once I had a drink in my hand. He started steering me back towards the crowd. “Come on over and let me introduce you to some people.”
Great. Just what I had hoped to avoid, a lot of hand shaking and smiling at people I didn’t know. I followed John counting the minutes that I could duck out. This was really not my thing. I shook hands with various members of the business community and I even knew a few having been a customer at some point. There was going to be dinner, a presentation and then a reception to follow.
They called for everyone to take their seats and John had managed to seat me at his table.
The Mayor leaned over and whispered in my ear. “Good job on that terrorist case.”
I smiled and nodded. It had been about ten months since we had taken down a terrorist cell. Which was less a terrorist cell and more of one-man wanting revenge for the loss of a large government contract at the shipyard. I hoped Mike Russo rotted in jail for the rest of his life. The Mayor slapped me on the back and went back to the other guests at the table.
I surveyed the room; it was large, and it was so packed it was hard to see all the faces. I got a brief glimpse of a face that caught my attention. But, it was gone in an instant. There was something about it, something familiar. Before I could think about it, the food began to be served and I was distracted by the dinner conversation.
Finally, the dinner and dessert had been served, speeches had been made and people recognized. It was time for the reception. We all got up and moved to another room. I thought about ducking out, having made my appearance and shaken enough hands to run for office. John was having none of it.
“Come on, this is the best part. There’s music. He knew my weaknesses. I cursed and followed him. He pushed a fresh bourbon in my hand and offered me a cigar. I refused the stogie but took the drink. John immediately saw a friend and was off, leaving me to drift to the edge of the crowd.
I was scanning the room. There was certainly enough security here that my services were not needed. Still it was a hard habit to break.
Something to my left caught my attention. I turned to see the back of a gorgeous woman. I couldn’t see her face; her dress was open all the way to her lower back. It was an emerald green with pearls along the edges. She had short dark hair slicked back. If only I could see her face. What I could see was exceptional. I tried to pull my eyes away. I began circling around trying to find a better position to observe her.
It was odd as I had no interest in another woman. Kay had done it for me six years ago. I hadn’t looked or thought about another woman since then. The divorce hadn’t helped either. This woman had me drawn in and I hadn’t even seen her face, this was crazy. Why was I even doing this? I needed to call it a night. We had a missing persons case to work and I needed to be in the office early. I started to turn away as the woman tossed her head back and laughed. I knew that laugh. It was like a crystal wind chime. It was light and floated on air. I spun back around in her direction. It had to be her.
She had broken away from the trio she had been talking to and was walking away from me. I wanted to call out her name and run to her. I didn’t imagine pushing people to the ground at a black-tie event with the mayor was going to do much for my social standing, not that I cared. But I hadn’t found out why I had been invited to this shindig yet, so I didn’t want to blow it before I solved that mystery.
“Ethan!” John appeared in front of me and cut me off. He’d had a few more drinks since dinner.
“John.”
“You enjoying the party?” His speech was slightly slurred.
“Yeah, I am but I think I might need to call it a night soon. I need to be in the office early. You know how it is.” I was looking over his shoulder trying to track the green dress. She was gone.
“Sure, I understand. Got to keep Gates Point safe, right?”
“Right.” I didn’t think it was the time to split hairs and remind him of the chief of police had that honor.
“We’ll get together again soon.” John slapped me on the back and moved on.
I looked around the room and the woman in the green dress was gone. I went in the direction I had last seen her which led out into the lobby of the hotel. She could have gone anywhere from there. I stood staring the ceiling. I needed to go home and get some sleep. I had too much bourbon and too little sleep and was probably chasing ghosts of my past. I knew I shouldn’t drive, and I wasn’t sure where my car was parked. I walked out to the valet stand and gave the attendant my ticket. He brought the car around. The office was closer than my house, so I drove very slowly and parked the car in the parking lot. I would walk home from here. The fresh air would do me good anyway.
I had a place on Third Street. I walked past the cemetery and thought about the night Kay and I went to the guest house she was staying in that
