Forget I said anything about that. You don’t need a date because you have me. And if you don’t want to go just for fun, think about work.”
“The police have already decided to go forward with the program, Karen. We no longer have any reason to schmooze them into it.”
“But we can always schmooze for money. The more money we have, the better training we’ll be able to provide. Besides,” she said, “how often do you and I have a chance to go to something like this? These golf club people are the richest in the city. And the ones with the most power. You never know when one of them might be willing to scratch your back because you were nice to them at a charity fundraiser. Tomorrow, you’re going back to your patients. I’ve already agreed to take the lead on the program. Let’s go have some fun. I said I’d buy you drinks when this is all over, remember?”
At that, Nina actually smiled. “The drinks at this thing are going to be free. It’s an open bar, remember?”
“Is it?” Karen said with an expression of mock innocence. “Even better.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
WHEN SIMON WALKED INTO the fundraising gala, several people stopped and stared. Not at him, but at the woman on his arm. She was a stunner, with her ample cleavage, wild hair, heavy makeup and short dress. She stood out among the older, more sophisticatedly dressed women, and that was perfect as far as Simon was concerned.
He’d brought Rita Taylor to this fundraising gala because he wanted her to be noticed. Specifically, he wanted her to be noticed by the man who’d paid her a thousand bucks to ID a cop as Cann’s killer. He wanted her to be noticed by the man he was betting was Gil Archer.
“So this is how the other half lives, huh?” Rita said, her normally jaded eyes wide and glittering with no small amount of wonder. He couldn’t blame her. The place looked lavish to the extreme, which again, he found a little over the top for a fundraiser for mentally ill citizens, many of them homeless.
Rita apparently felt the same way. She clucked her tongue. “Lousy bastard. By the looks of things, he could have paid me way more than a thousand bucks to lie.”
Simon couldn’t help it—he laughed. “Yeah,” he said. “But he probably wouldn’t have been willing to negotiate with you.”
She smiled back at him then looked around the room. “You’re probably right. So, do you see the guy you’re thinking is the one?”
Simon searched for Gil but saw no sign of him. However, he simply said, “I can’t tell you that. And I can’t point him out to you. You need to identify him on your own. That way, it’ll be harder for someone to claim I influenced your ID.”
“Right. Well, I don’t see him right now and I have to go to the little girl’s room.”
“I’ll walk you to the restroom and wait right by the door. I don’t want him seeing you and getting to you before I can.”
The amusement fled Rita’s eyes and was replaced by something else. It wasn’t quite fear, but close. “Right. Thanks for reminding me. You promised to keep me safe and I’m counting on you to keep that promise.”
“I won’t let you down. Just let me know the second you see him.”
“I will.”
* * *
NINA WAS STANDING NEXT to the bar with Karen when she saw them.
Simon and a dark-haired, overtly sexy woman wearing a short black dress. He’d arrived with a date.
And that made her feel like a complete fool.
Had she really been that wrong about him?
Had all that talk about wanting to protect her just been an excuse to get her out of his hair so he could move on to the next woman? Hurt and disbelief combined to make her breathless and slightly light-headed.
“Are you all right?” a man next to her asked.
She turned to face him. He had gray hair, but looked fit for his age. Handsome. Kind.
But then he frowned, and it made him look fairly ominous. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he observed.
Next to her, Karen had just caught sight of Simon, as well. She glanced at Nina, obviously following her train of thought.
“Oh, no, Nina. I’m sorry. Is that his date?”
Nina shrugged and smiled tightly. “Looks like it. Would you excuse me? I—I’m suddenly feeling a little claustrophobic.” She turned away from Karen and the man standing next to her, noting