Shades of Passion

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 that each of them wore identical expressions of concern as they stared at Simon and the woman by his side. Karen was her friend, not to mention a woman, so she would understand the kind of betrayal Nina was feeling. But this man was a stranger; she must really look poleaxed for him to be exhibiting such concern. “I need to get some fresh air.”

“I’ll come with you.”

She shook her head. “No, Karen. I’d like to be by myself. Please just leave me alone.”

If only everyone would leave her alone, she thought as she quickly walked out of the banquet hall and down a long corridor. Karen, Simon, grieving fathers, psychotic killers—every single one of them.

But they wouldn’t. They hadn’t.

And, she realized, even if they suddenly complied and left her alone from this very moment on, the damage was already done.

Nina no longer felt safe.

She suspected she never would.

* * *

SIMON WAITED OUTSIDE the women’s restroom for Rita Taylor to come out. As he did, he scanned the room, spotting Commander Stevens and the mayor at one table. Carrie and Jase were there, too, dressed to the nines and each covering different sides of the room. To his surprise, he even saw DeMarco at another table, talking to a pretty Asian woman. It was the same woman—the same doctor, he realized—he’d seen walking out of Welcome Home the day he’d first met Elaina Scott. Was she the “counselor” DeMarco had told Jase about? If so, why were they here together? For personal or professional reasons?

He decided he didn’t really care. DeMarco looked more like his old self again. Relaxed. Smiling. And from where he stood, that was pretty damn amazing.

As he watched, DeMarco looked up and caught Simon’s eye. He jerked his chin in greeting and Simon did the same. He couldn’t talk to DeMarco now. Couldn’t let down his guard. He’d sworn to give Rita Taylor his full attention, his full protection, while she was here. Once they saw Archer and she confirmed whether or not he was the man who’d paid her off, they’d be done here.

When he still didn’t spot Archer, his gaze continued to roam the room.

His scan, however, came to a screeching stop when he caught sight of a beautiful blonde woman in a floor-length navy gown. Nina stood in front of the bar with her friend Karen, and an older man with graying hair and a gray suit.

What the hell was she doing here?

Almost immediately, however, his gaze returned to the man beside her. He’d seen him before...but where? For some reason, he envisioned the man wearing a blue polo shirt...

Wait! That was it. He’d seen the man at Welcome Home. He was the security guard Elaina Scott had told him about. The one who’d looked familiar to Simon the first time he’d seen him, only he hadn’t been able to figure out why. Now, the knowledge tickled at his brain but still remained just out of reach. He’d never actually met the man before, Simon thought. But he’d seen his face. In a photograph? A file?

Yes, he thought. A personnel file.

The name Harold McGrogen clicked into place.

He’d been a cop. One who’d retired right around the time Simon had been promoted to captain. That’s why he looked familiar. But why was he talking to Nina? How did they know each other?

He’d just stepped forward to find out when he remembered Rita Taylor and cursed. He couldn’t abandon his post. Not now.

Talking to Nina would have to wait.

Even so, his gaze ate her up. She looked amazing, but she could have been wearing a cardboard box for all he cared. Her presence made him feel a thousand times better and a thousand times worse. He didn’t want her anywhere near the man he now suspected of murder, yet even as he had that thought, Gil Archer walked into the room.

He was surrounded by several of his high society cronies. The man looked to be in his element, shaking hands with this person and waving at another. He reminded Simon of a politician rather than a businessman/security expert. Then again, schmoozing had always seemed to be Archer’s specialty. Hopefully, it meant his guard was down and he’d react with the surprised horror Simon was expecting when he caught his first glimpse of Rita Taylor.

Something brushed against his arm and he heard a gasp.

Rita now stood by his side.

As he watched, her eyes widened and she went white. “It’s him,” she said. “I see him. He’s here.”

Dear God, Simon thought, as adrenaline surged through his veins. He automatically looked back at Archer, who was still scanning the room, likely looking for the most influential guests. When his gaze landed on Simon and the woman next to him, he frowned.

Was it really going to be this easy?

“That man over there?” Simon confirmed. “The one with the red rose pinned to his lapel? Be sure, Rita. He’s a very important man.”

“What?” Rita’s gaze flickered to Gil Archer. “No,” she said, taking Simon off guard. “Not him. Over by the bar. I saw the guy who paid me off standing over there. Talking to a blonde. I watched him talking. I watched his mouth. It’s him.”

Simon’s gaze instantly darted back to the bar. Karen was still standing there, but Nina was gone.

And so was the man she’d been talking to.

He turned to Rita. “Do you still see him in the room?”

She glanced around them. “No, no. One minute he was here but now he’s not.”

“Are you sure he’s the one that paid you the grand?”

“Believe me, I’ve had nightmares about his face. The photos were two-dimensional. Even seeing him now, from across the room, I recognized him. I felt him. I’m positive it was him.”

Although he was a little skeptical of her ID, especially because it was partially based on a “feeling,” Simon wasn’t taking any chances. Jase and Carrie were here and would keep an eye on Archer. In the meantime...

With fear clogging his throat, he strode across the room toward Karen, Rita Taylor in tow. “Karen,” he called. “Where’d Nina go?”

“She stepped out for some air,” Karen said, looking slightly alarmed.

“And you let her? Damn it, she was supposed to be staying with you and lying low. What the hell is she doing here?”

“What’s she doing here? At a fundraiser with the mayor, the police chief and tons of cops in attendance? Gee, seemed pretty safe to me.”

“She was just talking to an older man in a suit. Did they leave together?”

“What? No. I mean, I don’t know. She left, and then so did he.”

“Did you see where she went?”

“Through there.” Karen pointed.

Standing next to him, Rita Taylor said, “Don’t you leave me, Detective. You promised to take care of me. You promised.”

“Don’t worry,” he said. “I’m not leaving you unprotected. Several of my fellow detectives are here.” His eyes found Jase, then Carrie. At his urging, they both nodded. “Do you see them?”

“Yes.”

“Let’s go. You’re going to stay with one of them while I go after the man who bribed you. Only we have to move now or a woman I love could be hurt.”