"Umm," Bryn murmured dryly. She was about to retort to Barbara's bluntness when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned around to see Dirk Hammarfield staring down at her with his perpetual smile.
"Enjoying the evening, ladies?"
Bryn felt the chill again. How long had he been there? Was this benignly smiling man the same one who had made a living hell out of her life?
She wanted to shout at him, she wanted to scream,Where is Adam? Where is my nephew now? If I don't get him back tomorrow, if he's been harmed the least little bit I'll...
What? What? She was the one completely at someone's mercy. What was she doing here? What could she possibly find out?
"It's lovely, thankyou," Bryn heard herself say. Then she started babbling. "The roast duck was absolutely delicious.And that salad dressing!Out of this world."
"The artichoke hearts were wonderful," Barbara added. They glanced at each other. Did being nervous instantly turn one into a blithering idiot, incapable of normal speech?
"Glad to hear the food was good," Hammarfield replied. Was his smile really benign? Or did it have a malicious twist? "Seems," Hammarfield continued, indicating the stage, "that Condor has chosen a nice soft ballad just for me. Would you share a dance with me, Miss Keller?"
No!she wanted to scream.
She gave him her hand and a smile as plastic as his own. "I'd love to, Mr. Hammarfield."
Dirk Hammarfield glanced at Barbara. "If you don't mind...?"
"Not at all," Barbara said quickly.
Bryn felt uncomfortable as soon as they reached the dance floor. Dirk Hammarfield believed in dancing cheek to cheek and body to body. Bryn tried to move away from him, but without making a scene she wasn't going to achieve much. Damn Lee! She was going to have to tell him to play fast tunes all night.
She managed to pull her face far enough away from Dirk's shoulder to talk. "So, Mr. Hammarfield, how's the campaigning going?"
"Good. Great!" he told her boisterously. His hand slipped to the small of Bryn's back, then to her rear as he made a sudden swing with his body.
Bryn realized that they were right in front of the stage. She gazed up to see that although Lee's voice Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
hadn't faltered, nor had he missed a beat on his drums, he was staring at her. And she knew that particular glimmer in his eyes.Anger. Was he thundering particularly hard on the drums? She wanted to hit him. What did he think? That she liked being pawed by the politician? It had been his idea that she come here.
"How did your pictures come out, Miss Keller?"
Bryn's heart skipped a beat. "I really don't know," she lied. "I gave Lee the film and the proofs right after they were taken."
She felt as if her knees would give way, but she kept her eyes on his, determined to see if he would react at all to the lie.
"What a pity. I would have loved to have seen them." No reaction; his eyes stayed steadily on hers. His hand was slipping lower and lower. He was almost caressing her.
She ground her teeth, grabbed his hand and smiled. She couldn't stand it anymore. He could very well be a kidnapper.... He could be holding Adam right now...and he had the audacity to be touching her like a lover. She would startscreaming, or faint or get sick. It would have to end. She wasn't getting anywhere anyway.
"Where is your wife, Mr. Hammarfield?" she asked. "I haven't had the pleasure of meeting her yet."
Hammarfield paled visibly. He opened his mouth, about to reply, but then he turned abruptly. Bryn realized he had been tapped on the shoulder.
"May I cut in on you, sir? I suppose it's a rude thing to do to the man of the hour, but I'm afraid I might never get another chance to dance with the lady."
"Of course, of course!"Hammarfield patted the newcomer on the back, and Bryn grinned broadly. She had been saved from minor-molestation-on-the-dance-floor and possible illness by the young golfer, Mike Winfeld. He was wholesome and attractive with his out-of-doors appeal, and Bryn was definitely grateful to see him.
"May I?" he asked her.
"Of course!" she murmured. It was really a gasp of relief. This whole thing had been a mistake.
He clasped her to him and quickly danced them across the floor. "I didn't think I'd get a chance to see you so soon," he said reproachfully.
"I really have been busy!" Bryn said.
"Photographing the famous?"
"Dancing for Lee's video.I'm a dancer, too," Bryn said.
"You bet you are," he told her approvingly.
Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
"How's your game going?" Bryn asked him.
"Oh, great.Every once in a while you hit a sand trap, but there's usually a way out of it. When can you do my photos?"
"I really don't know yet," Bryn said apologetically. "I'm still working for Lee."
"Oh," he told her sadly, spinning around again. Bryn decided that she was glad that she was a dancer.