17. April 12, 2023 #2
When the dinner announcement came, Zion approached and escorted her to his table, leaving Demon to follow alone.
Not a surprise. Luckily, despite being seated next to her uncle, her “husband” sat on the other side of her.
Waitstaff in white coats and gloves served the meal in the gardens at round tables.
The meal was friendly enough, but Zion talked about many things from Cherry’s past that her husband would not have been party to, subtly isolating him from the conversation.
Luckily, her dossier contained some of the information, preventing his complete exclusion, but she welcomed the end of dinner.
Unfortunately, their brief respite ended when Zion almost immediately approached them in the ballroom.
“Since I do not have a wife or hostess at my side, Ciarán, I’m hoping you will willingly surrender our beautiful Esme to me for the opening dance.”
A coldness descended as Demon tensed just a little further at the request. Aside from his general dislike of the man, she could tell that he really did not want her away from his side, even if he’d be able to see her.
“While I appreciate the gesture, Esme is her own woman. The request is hers to say yes or no to. ”
The brittle smile appeared again. “Of course. How old-fashioned I am.” He was livid at being put in his place by Demon. “Esme, bèl fi , would you do me the honor?”
Approached in that fashion, it was difficult to say “no” with grace, but she truly wanted to.
Instead, she inclined her head. “It’s the least I can do since we crashed your party with our arrival.
” At least she could make it count for something if she used the somewhat private moments of the dance to bring up her interest in local contacts.
As he signaled to the orchestra to begin, Cherry allowed herself to be led to the dance floor. He fluidly spun her into his arms, holding her in the traditional waltz pose. Although he kept an appropriate distance, his grip on her hand and waist revealed possessiveness.
“I don’t think your husband likes me very much,” Zion began.
She raised an eyebrow, but not high enough for anyone to notice if they were looking at them from around the room. “I could say the same for you about him.”
Coolly, he shrugged. “I don’t have to like him. You’re the one who married him. However, it would be remiss of me to say that I doubt I would find many men good enough for you.”
“Father would have liked him.”
“Hmm. I wonder.” He expertly spun her around the floor, and soon, the other couples joined in.
They were silent through several moments when Cherry broached the subject she needed to talk to him about. “I wonder if you’d be able to help me with something.”
“Ah, the mysterious purpose for coming to see me.” He chuckled. “Does it concern the glowering man at the bar?”
“Ciarán?” She smiled. “No. Not directly. A friend of ours though.”
“Color me intrigued. What can I help you with?”
He turned her again so that they blended further into the couples.
She pictured Demon grinding his teeth as they would be more difficult to spot in the center of the dancers.
There was no way for her to subtly lead him to a more viewable position, so she did her best to relax, get what she needed, and return to Demon’s side.
“Our friend… her brother went missing just over a year ago. We heard a rumor that he might be here in St. Lucia. I thought maybe you could use your influence to ask some questions for us.”
“I would love to help you, my dear, but I’m not sure my reach extends to missing persons. Who is it you think I could access that could find this… man?”
“I don’t really know, I guess. I just knew that you had connections to many people here, and maybe you’d have some ideas.”
“Well, since it’s you, I will certainly see what I can come up with.”
The music ended, and the dancers separated to give the orchestra polite applause. The conductor gave a small bow, turned back to the players, and they began a new piece.
As he turned back to her, she saw Zion look over her shoulder, and his face lit with a more genuine smile.
“Ah! General Howard. I’m guessing you’d like a dance with the beautiful Esme?
A very strategic move on your part, as I sense her husband will want to swoop in and monopolize her soon since they didn’t have a traditional wedding reception at home. ”
The general offered his hand. “I’d be delighted if you would honor me. It’s been some time since I’ve done a turn on the dance floor, but I think this old man can remember how to waltz.” He didn’t sound delighted. He sounded irritated.
“Certainly, General Howard,” she replied. Although, in truth, she’d been hoping for a dance with someone else.
“Then I shall leave you to it. Get me what information you have on your friend, Esme. I’ll see what I can do.” Zion nodded at her, at the general, and then weaved his way through the dancers.
The general took a waltz position with her. “Now, young lady, let’s see if my military ball days come back to me.”
After several turns on the dance floor, Esme still held herself stiffly in her partner’s arms. General Howard was an adequate dancer, but her time with Zion made her nervous, and her current partner was cold and stiff himself.
Long gone, she still felt as if Zion’s attention lingered.
Her childhood impressions were vague, but now, in her forties, she understood men better and could identify what had caused them.
Want.
It wasn’t desire or lust. While it didn’t feel like a sexual attraction, he definitely wanted her. But why? For what?
General Howard also seemed “off,” almost as if he was doing reconnaissance for a mission.
Internally, she shook herself. He was in the military.
A general. He probably gave most people the impression that they were being unofficially interrogated.
After all, he probably didn’t rise as high as he had in the armed forces without strategizing most everything in his life.
She was likely just another person in his path to analyze.
“How are you enjoying St. Lucia?” he began.
“We haven’t really explored yet,” she replied. “We arrived yesterday, and air travel always makes me so tired, even when I sleep on the plane. Other than dinner with my uncle last night and a short walk on the beach afterward, I have to admit we slept the day away to recover.”
He smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Ah, the honeymoon. Young lovers in the Caribbean, I’m sure you’ll find plenty to amuse yourselves.”
She didn’t have to fake a blush at his insinuation. “Yes, well, we’re here for a week. It’s been a long time since I was last here. We were supposed to come after my high school graduation, but…”
“Yes, quite.” His mood became somber. “Your father was a good man. I regret what happened to him.”
Cherry stumbled on the dance step. “I’m sorry?”
“His disappearance. Someone clearly abducted him from your home and from you. It’s hard to believe that such an upstanding man, someone who gave so much of himself to his community and his business, someone who seemed to have no enemies, should suddenly vanish so mysteriously.
After losing your mother, I’m sure it was difficult for you to lose him as well. ”
“Oh. Yes. Yes, it was.” She relaxed slightly. “I never gave up hope he would return. But when college ended, life had to go on. I needed to find my way and continue to live. It’s what he would have wanted. Not to give up and mourn.”
His mouth turned up at the corners. It wasn’t a smile, but it wasn’t a grimace either. More like he was trying to keep from saying something.
“And what about you?” she asked. “Is my uncle’s business meeting your sole purpose for being here this weekend?”
“While it is the primary reason for my attendance, I’m also here to visit some of our allies. Virtual meetings, while faster, are so much less personal. And in business, being able to see someone’s reactions in person is always better than on a computer screen.”
“This is true. I also do a lot of my work through digital conferencing, and some individuals I talk to are only a few floors above me. How impatient we’ve all become that we can’t walk to an elevator and go talk to them in person!
As if those two or three minutes each way really take away from anything else we might be doing. ”
They passed the next moments in silence, Cherry surveying the crowd for Demon.
Excellent. He’d moved to higher ground at the top of the stairs near the entrance, his eagle eyes on her.
She nodded at him slightly and smiled, creating a look of “I’m sorry for the delay” in case her partner was watching her.
When she turned her attention back to her partner, her eye caught on a button on his right uniform pocket.
She willed her eyes to keep from flaring and swallowed a gasp. Instantly, her eyes flew over his shoulder, staring at nothing as she regrouped herself. It had to be a trick of the light.
As casually as she could, she drew her eyes back to General Howard’s form, glancing down at the button on his pocket. It looked like any other military button. But curved between the eyelets holding it to the material, a letter “S” sat in the center .
A capital letter “S” in what looked like a medieval script, and remarkably like the letter found in the hidden margins of the files on her father’s computer.
Could it really be? It was terribly brazen if it was. Would the Salieri be so bold as to actually wear their symbol on their person to identify each other?
Medusa, whom Tribe believed to be the team leader of the Mythos crew they often worked with in the past few months, hadn’t mentioned it in any of their reports.
Was it possible she didn’t know? Maybe she felt it wasn’t important enough to share?
Or was the lack of information on purpose? With that crew, one never knew.