Something flickered in Derek’s eyes. He walked across the room and slid his hand around my neck, then leaned in and covered my mouth with his. The kiss was openmouthed and heart-stopping. My lower stomach tightened and my knees threatened to give in. His lips inched along my cheek-bone, planting kisses until he reached my ear. There, he whispered, “You dropped your sponge.”
I laughed in surprise and my heart began to beat again. He bent down to retrieve my sponge, smiling wickedly as he handed it back to me. After another quick, hard kiss, he moved to the dining table, where his equipment, and a grinning Gabriel, waited patiently.
While I watched, Derek wired Gabriel for sound and they tested the equipment for a few minutes longer.
All systems were go, except my own.
Overwhelmed by a flood of emotions, I walked unsteadily into the kitchen and leaned against the cool surface of the refrigerator to regroup.
So much for acting like the sophisticated urban animal I fancied myself to be. Yes, I’d gone in with both eyes wide open, knowing Derek would leave town as soon as Gunther’s stint at BABA was completed. I’d been engaged before and I’d survived the breakups just fine. Truth be told, I’d done most of the breaking up myself because I’d had no business saying yes in the first place.
But now I knew I would be losing a great big chunk of my heart when Derek left. I would miss him more than anything or anyone I’d ever missed in my life.
All this time I’d been worrying that my karma was keeping us apart, when I should’ve been worrying about my karma bringing us together. Because now he would leave and I would be a complete, miserable, slobbering mess.
I sucked in a deep breath of air and pushed myself away from the refrigerator. I couldn’t afford to think about all that right now. I had a job to do, a book to avenge, and a killer to unmask.
Chapter 20
I walked into BABA and was slammed by the wall of sound that greeted me. It rattled my nerves and made me want to turn around and go home. For a few seconds, I wondered if Naomi had hired a live band, but no. It was the same old stereo system, set to an ear-bleeding level. I could take it. I could take anything. I held my shoulders high and plunged into the crowd.
The Sunday afternoon soiree had been Naomi’s idea and it was a good one. The time of day suited the large gallery space to perfection. Sunshine poured in through the wide skylight, casting crystalline shards of color and light over the crowd. And instead of the usual black-clad bodies, many of the women were dressed in jewel tones and even in a few pastels. It made for a lovely, bright palette and lent a lightness and joie de vivre to the normally dour, artsy crowd.
I waved to a few acquaintances and caught snippets of conversation as I made my way across the crowded room. Art, books, music, films, the weather, the environment, climate change, the latest scandal erupting at City Hall. One conversation faded into another until I reached my destination. The bar. Naturally. Where else would I be going?
I cast a glance at the short but impressive wine list, then decided to live dangerously and ordered the party’s signature drink, the TNT. It stood for Tart ’n’ Twisted. Nice that they got that “twisted” thing in there.
I took a sip and found that it was, in essence, an ice-cold vodka gimlet, one of my favorite drinks. They served it in a martini glass with an extra slice of lime. Very refreshing.
Not that I was nervous, but I downed that drink in two gulps and ordered another. I planned to nurse the second one for the next hour or so, though I was sorely tempted to get tanked up and pass out on one of the office couches. Derek would wake me up when it was over and we could drive off into the sunset.
But as I turned from the bar, I spotted Alice on the opposite side of the room and knew what I had to do. She was tight in conversation with Cynthia Hardesty. It was an interesting pairing. I wondered what nonsense Alice was filling the board member’s ears with. Perhaps they were bonding over their shared concerns about Naomi. If Alice weren’t unmasked today, would she try to implicate Naomi in Layla’s death? Or worse, would she eventually kill Naomi, too?
Why not? She’d already killed two people in her quest to take over Layla’s book-fraud ring. The more power she got hold of, the easier it would be to knock off anyone who stood in her way of gaining total control.
Watching Alice from my vantage point, I felt a shiver of anticipation trill across my shoulders. Today was the day that power grab would end. Today, we would take her down.
My thoughts drifted to Gabriel, who at this moment was sneaking in through the back door of the building with Derek. I imagined Inspectors Lee and Jaglom had met them back there, as well. I hoped so. I hoped they’d brought a full battalion with them. My worry was that however many cops made up a battalion, that might not be enough to protect Gabriel from Alice’s malevolence.
Gabriel was my main concern. He was still so weak. Seeing Alice now and knowing what she was capable of, I knew Gabriel would be no match for her if he couldn’t harness his inner forces to make up for his lack of outer strength.
I skirted the lower gallery and made a show of studying each item in the silent auction. I wrote my name and the amount of my bid on a few of them. I particularly coveted a leather-handled set of Jeff Peachey knives. The brilliant bookbinder and craftsman had created a set of cryogenic steel-bladed knives that were hand-honed to surgical precision and beautifully beveled to work with the thinnest calfskin.
I sighed. Even in the midst of danger, I could geek it up with the best of them.
“That’s a very nice bid,” Alice said behind me. She’d caught me off guard and my stomach dropped twenty feet.
I turned and laughed, hoping I didn’t sound too hysterical. “Hey, you. These are some fabulous auction items.”
She smiled. “I thought those tools might appeal to you.”
“Peachey is a genius,” I murmured, nodding. Abruptly, I reminded myself I was here on a mission and shook myself out of my daydreams. “This party is a real hit, Alice. Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” she said. “Much as I hate to admit it, Naomi gets most of the credit.”
“That’s got to hurt.”
We shared a laugh despite the wave of depression running through me. Alice and I could’ve been such great friends, if only she hadn’t turned out to be a stone-cold murdering bitch. I forced a smile back onto my face, knowing I needed to maintain illusions for a while longer.
She leaned closer and said in a teasing tone, “So, where’s that hunky British dude who can’t stay away from you?”
I tried to giggle along with her. “Derek should be here in a little while.”
“He’s a lucky guy,” she assured me.
“Aw, thank you.” I gritted my teeth and gave her a hug. “You’re so sweet.”
Her gaze wandered off. I tried to follow it, homing in on Cynthia Hardesty as the board member grabbed another glass of champagne off the tray of a passing waiter.
“I saw you talking to Cynthia earlier,” I said, lowering my voice. “What’s going on?”
Alice continued to stare across the room, then finally looked up at me.“She wanted to talk about Naomi. She thinks Naomi killed Layla, but frankly I still have my doubts. Cynthia could be trying to deflect attention from the fact that she did it herself.”
“I hate to say it,” I said, “but I’m not sure I can blame her after seeing how Tom reacted every time Layla walked into a room.”
“I know,” Alice said, shaking her head. “He’s kind of disgusting. But can I confess something to you?”
I blinked. “Okay.”
“I’m not really sure about Karalee anymore, either. She’s been acting so weird lately, and I caught her in Layla’s office earlier today. I could swear she was about to steal something.”
“You’re kidding.” I couldn’t take much more of this. I placed my empty glass on a nearby service tray. “Tell you what, I’ll keep an eye on her and let you know if I notice anything odd going on.”