17. April 12, 2023 #3
Suddenly, a hand reached into view, tapping the general on the shoulder. “May I cut in?”
General Howard stepped back with a small nod. “Of course. We mustn’t monopolize your beautiful wife’s time.” He turned to Cherry. “Thank you for the dance, Mrs. McCarthy. I almost felt twenty years younger again.”
“You’re welcome, General Howard.” Her voice sounded breathy in her head as if she still hadn’t regained the ability to breathe properly. His comment, innocuous as it was, unsettled her.
As the man turned and left the dance floor, Demon assumed his position, only the arm around her waist pulled her tight, as a lover would, with no space between them.
His thumb gently raked back and forth on her back.
The hand holding hers curved around it, pulling it close to rest against his chest without letting go, and he brought his head down next to hers.
His voice in her ear was hard and low. “You went white as a sheet,” he whispered. “If he hadn’t been holding you, I think you would have been on the floor. What happened? Did he say something to upset you?”
“N-n-no. Not exactly. He made a comment. About Dad. That he regretted what happened to him. I was so shocked by the word choice. When I asked him what he meant, he explained it away, but then...” She choked on her words and felt panic rising like a tidal wave inside her.
“Aidan, he had a button on his jacket with the Salieri ‘S.’”
Demon pulled back just enough to look her in the eye.
Again, to hide the severity of their conversation, he put his forehead to hers and put a lover’s smile on his face.
“Breathe, fireball. Focus only on me. I need you to look at me like you can’t wait for me to spirit you out of here and upstairs to our room. ”
She took a deep breath. Then another. And another.
Finally, she got herself under control. “He was friends with my father as well, although I don’t remember seeing him at the house.
Friends enough that he was at my mother’s funeral.
What if…?” She almost couldn’t bear to finish the question, but she knew she had to voice it.
She needed to make it real. “What if he’s responsible for my father’s disappearance?
What if… as part of the Salieri… he regrets being forced to kidnap and kill my father despite their friendship?
Or he regrets he had to order it? Or help with it? ”
Demon pulled her close again, his head lying against hers as they danced. “Did you sound out Zion about Ka-Bar?”
Her head answered him in what felt like jerks instead of nods. “I have to get him Ka-Bar’s information. He said he’d see what he could do.”
“Okay. Good girl. Go upstairs, take a warm bath, and crawl into bed. I’m going to stay down here and have another drink. I’ll make your excuses.”
“Won’t it look funny if the newly married couple don’t go up to their room together?”
“If anyone asks, I’ll tell them you weren’t feeling well, and I’m giving you a little time on your own to settle in. Meanwhile, I’ll see if I can corner the general into a conversation and confirm what you saw.”
She protested.
“Shh, it’s not that I don’t believe you.
I just want visual confirmation because you know God’s going to ask for it, and it’s not like I can snap a photo.
I’ll have another drink, mingle, and see if I can find any other buttons like it.
The more info we have, the more ammunition we give Midas and the others to work with.
” He looked down at her. “Can you do this for me? I need you to go gather yourself. You’ve had a shock. I’ll be up as quick as I can, okay?”
She nodded.
“Are you sure? I can come up instead if you need me to.”
“No. I’ll be fine, and you’re right. We need to know if there are others. But—” She gripped his arm extra tight. “Don’t be too long. Be careful,” she pleaded.
“I’ll be all right. An hour at most, okay?” He kissed her forehead, and she closed her eyes, drinking in his touch. “Go on.”
She nodded and pulled away from him. She truly had a headache now, so the fingers she applied to her forehead as if to massage it away were more than real.
The noises of the ballroom seemed to ratchet up and stir together in a cacophony bent on pounding her brain flat and useless.
She couldn’t seem to gather her thoughts—her usual composure gone.
If anyone looked at her, they would definitely see a woman who wasn’t feeling well.
When she reached the stairs, she looked over her shoulder to see Zion engaging Demon in conversation.
Both men looked concerned, and then Demon must have excused himself as he headed over to the bar.
Her eyes flickered back to her uncle, who stared at her, his frown deepening.
She nodded to him, a weak smile on her face as if to reassure him she would be all right, and then she turned and walked out of the ballroom and up to her room.
Once inside, she made to go to the bathroom and run a bath, then stopped in the middle of the bedroom.
Slowly, she turned and walked back to the door.
Shakily, her hands reached out to the handle and rested there for just a moment, then she quickly flicked the lock in place.
Demon would have to knock when he came up, but the locked door made her feel…
safer, somehow. From what, she wasn’t sure.