The cocktail party that Nick took her to seemed as boring and uneventful as Cam had expected. Cam was glad she had a chance to try a little of the makeup she’d bought. Her hair had been freshly styled again and looked almost too feminine for her taste. And the high heels were killing her feet, even though they were less than an inch and a half high. She didn’t have the added excitement of people she knew to take her mind off her feet, like she had at the banquet. What had she signed herself up for?
The three other women at the party looked like something off the cover of one of those fashion magazines that Cam always skipped past at the grocery store checkout line. Two were in deep discussion about their babies, which preschool they were going to enroll them in and how the potty training was progressing. The third looked at Cam with a small smile but, when Cam tried to start a conversation, she made some polite response and turned away and joined her boyfriend.
Cam stayed near Nick and caught parts of conversations. From what she heard, some sort of merchandise would be exchanged later in the evening. Was that what was in the small box that Nick had carried around in his jacket pocket all evening?
Finally Nick turned to Cam and whispered in her ear that he’d be back in a few minutes and she should stay here and keep her ears open. Then he and two of the other men disappeared into a back room leaving Cam to cruise the buffet table, which had been set at in the dining room. When the waiter, or whoever he was, asked if he could refresh her drink, Cam happily agreed.
“Boring party, ain’t it?” he asked as he poured her a refill.
“I’ve been to livelier ones,” Cam agreed.
The young man smiled. “I wasn’t supposed to be here tonight, but Mr. Stein’s real butler is sick. So…here I am.”
“Do you work for Mr. Stein?” Cam asked, hoping her feigned innocence would get her a little information.
“Yup,” he answered. “Been with him for seven years. You’re with Nick Gardiner?” When Cam nodded the affirmative, he continued. “You don’t look like the type he usually brings.”
Cam looked at him with a questioning glance.
“I mean, you look smarter than some of the others,” he explained.
“Thanks,” Cam acknowledged, sipping her drink.
“But you’ve got to hide that gun better.”
Cam almost spit the drink out.
The bartender laughed. “I only saw it because I knew what to look for.” He smiled, happy with himself for making the right assumption. “No one else here noticed. You a cop?”
Cam quickly regained her composure and turned to look around the room.
“No, just very careful,” she replied, softly.
He seemed to be impressed. “Do you always pack a piece?” He used the street vernacular for carrying a weapon.
“When I’m not at home or go someplace I’m not familiar with,” she answered, forcing herself to peruse the tray of hors d’oeuvres and not look him directly in the eye.
The bartender nodded. “Probably a very smart idea, especially with what Gardiner carries around.”
Cam turned and scanned the room again. She was silent for a moment.
“This is a wonderful house. What kind of business is Mister Stein in?” Cam inquired.
“All sorts of things. He has businesses all over the place. I’ve traveled with him quite a lot…to Europe, South America…all over,” he volunteered. “I usually go along as the chef. Mister Stein doesn’t like trying new foods, so he brings me along so he’ll know what he’s eating.”
“Takes all the fun out of going to new places, doesn’t it? Not that I’m sorry you have to go along.”
“Me neither. I sample some new food when I have the chance. If I like it, it finds its way into Mr. Stein’s menus when we get home.” The young man laughed.
“Smart,” Cam agreed.
Nick and his friends reentering the room interrupted their conversation. Whatever they’d talked about seemed to have put them all in a good mood. Laughter and friendly taps on the back were being exchanged.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Jerry Stein began, from where he could be seen from both the living and dining rooms. “If you’d like some refreshment that isn’t included on the buffet table, come on into my study. We once again have the best there is.”
A murmur of agreeable surprise spread through the room and several people got up to go into the study.
Nick looked around the room and caught Cameron’s eye and then beckoned her to join him.
“Everything all right?” Cam asked as she approached Nick.
“Everything’s wonderful!” Nick answered, throwing an arm around her shoulders. Then he turned to introduce her to Stein.
“Nick tells me you’re a very fascinating woman.” Stein addressed her as his eyes took in her entire body, eventually meeting her eyes with a very deep stare.
“Nick exaggerates at times,” Cam replied, not taking her eyes from his but fighting to keep outrage and anger from her expression.
Stein chuckled as Nick gave him an ingenuous look.
“Cameron’s too modest,” Nick said. “She’s really impressed my uncle…and me.”
“Nick,” Cam said coyly, giving him a sideways glance, “stop it.”
Stein burst out laughing. “Don’t provoke her, Nick. I’m not sure we have room in here for any outbursts.”
“Oh, I think I know how to stop one of her outbursts.” He glanced sideways at Cam as he laughed out loud. He pulled her closer to him and kissed her on the cheek.
Cam rolled her eyes.
“Cameron,” Stein said, thoughtfully. “That’s an unusual name for a woman.”
“It was my grandmother’s maiden name,” Cam explained.
“Well, it’s very beautiful, as are you.” With that, he patted Nick on the shoulder and turned to talk to another of his guests.
“That wasn’t funny, Nick,” Cam said under her breath.
“Get used to it.” Nick retorted, brushing her objections aside. He looked over her shoulder and whispered. “A lot of my associates will find you very attractive. I have to make some excuse for you being with me. Besides, if they think we’re a couple, no one will hit on you. That was part of our agreement. We’ll be going in a few minutes, anyways. I just have to make the rounds and say goodbye. Stick with me.”
Nick put an arm around her waist to pull her close to him. They’d agreed in the car that they’d make it look like she really was his date.
Cam smiled, slightly, acting as she thought her sister would, as she let Nick take her arm and lead her across the room to talk to other people.
* * * *
When they were finally in the car, Nick seemed to be in the best of moods. He cranked the radio up loudly to some fast R&B music and drove happily along, singing and humming to the music.
“That was great, Cameron, you did good,” he said as he drove ahead. The streets were still bustling with people although it was past midnight. Friday night crowds, lubricated by a little too much alcohol, congregated noisily around the entrances of neighborhood bars and restaurants, making traffic a little more difficult to negotiate than during business hours.
“It’s certainly different than I’m used to,” Cam said, looking out the open window. “By the way, the bartender saw I had a gun.”
“What did he say? Did you tell him you were my bodyguard?”
“No,” Cam responded, “I just said I was a careful person when I went out to places I didn’t know…” she looked at him out of the corner of her eye, “especially with all the stuff you were carrying.
Nick didn’t rise to the bait. “Did he buy that?”
“Probably not, but he didn’t say anything else about it.”
“Of course not. He’s in the same situation.”
Cam thought that through.
“He’s Stein’s bodyguard?” she asked incredulously. “He said he was the cook.”
Nick nodded. “Actually, more of a bouncer.”
Cam let that information sink in. Maybe that’s where she’d seen him before. He had looked familiar. Had he been one of the men who’d stood against the wall at the banquet?
“Well, did you enjoy yourself tonight?” Nick interrupted her thoughts.
“Well, it wasn’t the most fun I’ve ever had,” Cam informed him.
Nick laughed. “Yes, Stein has a way of making any party unpleasant.”
“It wasn’t that,” Cam corrected him. “I wasn’t sure what you wanted me to watch for and I wasn’t sure I could pull it off the way you wanted. This is still new to me.”
“No! No, you did just fine. Not losing your cool when he saw your gun is just what I want. I’ll have other chores for you to do, too.
“Chores? You need a maid, too?”
Nick threw his head back and laughed. “A maid, no, but I do need some other things cleaned up.” He paused and glanced at her. “Have you ever killed anyone?”
“Will that be one of my chores?” Cam took a deep breath. Was this more than just drug trafficking?
“Not per se. But there may, and I emphasize may, be situations that require a more forceful approach. I just want to know how squeamish you are.”
Cam took a deep breath. “I’ve killed several people. I’ve never enjoyed it, but there are a couple that I’m not sorry about.”
“Then I think we may make this a more permanent thing. We’ll have to talk about it this week…say…Tuesday afternoon at the restaurant?”
“You’ll have to tell me more about what was in that little black box that Stein was sharing with his friends.”
“You’re right. You knew what it was. It…it was a cocaine delivery,” Nick said, glancing at Cam.
Cam’s temper flared. “And you couldn’t warn me beforehand? What was this, a test?”
“Sort of, yes. I wanted to see what you’d do.”
“I should slam you in the face,” Cam fumed. “If you’d told me from the beginning…”
“Would you have gone with me?” Nick cut in.
“Probably,” Cam admitted, “but at least I would have known all the angles.”
“And can we still meet on Tuesday?” Nick asked.
Cam hesitated for a moment, then let out a breath. “Sure. What time?” she said in a low voice.
“How about 4:30? I have to meet some people for dinner there at six. That should give us enough time.”
“All right. I’ll be there.”
* * * *
As soon as Nick dropped her off in front of her building, Cam ran up the stairs to her apartment. She immediately kicked off the shoes that matched her navy blue cocktail dress and rolled her hose down to the floor. She hung up the royal blue silk jacket that Maggie had helped her pick out, took off the gun that Nick had gotten for her, and shed the dress she’d worn. Sighing, she sank onto her bed.
God, she thought, I really need a reality check. I’ve worn more dresses and make-up and been in a room with more straight people in the past week than in all the time since I graduated from high school. Something like that party can really mess up your mind. Acting like a straight femme was not something that she’d ever do naturally.
She laughed as she got up to search through her dresser. Damn! her thoughts continued. This past week was harder than going to prison! I should ask for hazard pay for that one. She knew what Nick wanted and she could deliver, but it was taking all the resolve she had to keep from walking out on him. Mom and Dad had brought her to a few of those parties, although they always talked politics at theirs. Cam knew how to act and how to charm people but she hadn’t enjoyed it then and she didn’t like it now. She just hoped that Nick’s calendar held more than these kinds of parties.
The feelings when she was at the party confused her. She’d always thrown herself into whatever job she had at the moment. Now, two sides were paying her. This must be what being a double agent felt like. She pondered, briefly, what allegiance she owed to both sides. She knew the DEA took first priority but she was beginning to like Nick. That was the conundrum.
She hadn’t asked and he hadn’t offered, but Cam knew that some major deal had happened in the back room…and not one that only involved the coke and not one that would have been condoned by the police. Something was happening. Some part of her, some spot way down in her gut felt that this was what she was here to find. If she could only live through these damned parties!
She hung up her dress and selected a starched white shirt, to which she added tight, black jeans and the black leather vest that Michael had given her. She went into the bathroom and washed off the vestiges of the makeup. Then she went down to the street and got on her motorcycle.
* * * *
Cameron watched the women on the sunken dance floor. She hadn’t been in this bar in a couple of years, but it still vibrated with the same intensity it had the last time she was here. She closed her eyes. She could almost feel Michael’s arms around her and their bodies swaying, grinding, to the loud rhythms. The music seemed to enter through her feet, as the beat resonated through the floor, and then wove its way up her legs to vibrate throughout her lower body.
As the music changed to a slower beat, Cam opened her eyes and downed what was left of the amber liquid in her glass. Her eyes swept over the hundred pulsing bodies on the dance floor. A hundred women. All looked younger than her. All looked beautiful in her eyes.
Then, looking across the room to the terraced floor on the other side of the dance floor, she saw someone she recognized. There, directly opposite her, were two women. The taller one, dressed as every other butch on the floor dressed: T-shirt, jeans, and sneakers. The smaller one was so dressed up that she looked out of place here. Her raven black hair was neatly pulled back into a twist to frame a very finely chiseled face. Her deep, dark eyes glistened behind perfectly done makeup. No one else in the bar looked like that. Cam recognized her immediately. It was Sonya. This was an interesting change. She’d always just assumed that, because of how she dressed and how she acted in the restaurant, Sonya was straight. This was the second time she’d misjudged a woman’s sexual orientation because of their clothing and makeup. Were the edges in lesbian dress getting that soft? Or was she really attracted to straight-looking women? Maybe she’d been out of the loop for too long. Now her immediate decision was: Should she just walk up and say hello or wait until she could “accidentally” bump into her.
Once again, Cam’s luck stepped in. As she watched, Sonya was obviously trying to ignore the taller woman who was demanding her attention. Several times Sonya turned her back on the woman and each time, the other planted herself directly in Sonya’s line of vision. They were clearly arguing over something that Sonya had already made up her mind about.
Cameron slowly wove her way around the periphery of the dance floor until she was near the two women.
“I told you to leave me alone. I don’t want to talk to you anymore. I’m tired of you!” Sonya’s strong voice could be heard over the music. Several other women who stood nearby edged away from the pair. Cam watched as the taller woman said something softly to Sonya, who turned her back abruptly.
Cam stepped up boldly and took Sonya’s hand, pulling her toward the stairs leading onto the dance floor. Sonya started to balk but when she looked up to see who held her hand; she acquiesced and joined Cam on the dance floor, where they joined the other throbbing, sweaty bodies. Cam watched over Sonya’s shoulder as the other woman slammed her hand onto the railing, then stalked off into the crowd.
Cam and Sonya danced through two songs, making eye contact but not speaking. Then, as the music slowed, Cam started to turn toward the stairs. “I think your friend finally took the hint.” Cam smiled at Sonya.
In answer Sonya pulled Cam back and wrapped her arms around Cam’s shoulders. “It seems we make a habit of rescuing each other. Don’t stop dancing now. This is just getting interesting.”
Cam allowed the smaller woman, who even in her high-heeled boots was still one or two inches shorter, to pull her closer as they floated to the slow music.
“I know you were Nick’s bodyguard tonight, but I didn’t know you’d be mine, too! Is he paying you for this?” Sonya laughed.
“No, this is just chivalry. You looked like a damsel in distress.” Cam smiled.
Sonya pulled back just far enough to look up into Cam’s face. “That’s funny.” She smiled as she laid her head back against Cam’s shoulder. “My knight in shining armor? Like you were for Talia? Do you always make a habit of rescuing damsels?”
“It’s beginning to look like it,” Cam whispered into Sonya’s hair.
“How did tonight go with Nick?” Sonya asked abruptly “I hope you weren’t disappointed.” Cam took Sonya’s hand as they walked slowly off the dance floor. Before they had walked three steps from the top of the stairs, the other woman was back at Sonya’s elbow.
“Sonya, I really need to talk to you,” she whined.
Sonya whirled around in frustration. “I told you to go away.” She stared into the other woman’s face.
“But, Sonya…”
The look on Sonya’s face could boil water in a snowstorm, Cam thought as she watched the altercation unfold right in front of her. She was amazed that this dyke wasn’t getting the message.
Cam decided to step in. “I’m sure the lady said she wasn’t interested,” Cam insisted.
Cam stood between Sonya and the tall, slightly out-of-shape butch. Tension had been building between these two all evening. Almost everyone in the bar was aware of it.
“Stay out of this,” the butch growled at Cam. “It’s none of your business.”
“I’m making it my business. I thought I heard her tell you to go away.” Cam took a menacing step forward. “Which word didn’t you understand, go or away?”
When the butch tried to push past her to talk to Sonya, Cam tried again. “Don’t you understand English?” Cam asked threateningly, “She said go away, ¡salga!, andare via, parta!, allez vous-en! What other language would you like it in? Or do you need to be shown what it means?”
Cam was slightly shorter but was clearly more than a match. The woman scowled as the color of her anger rose in her face.
Finally, with a loud huff, she turned on her heel and stalked away.
Sonya let out a sigh of relief as she watched her go. “Thank you,” she whispered.
“Persistent, isn’t she?” Cam mumbled as the woman disappeared into the crowd. The other customers who’d been watching the whole scene began to relax and go back to talking with their friends. The crisis was over.
“Yes, I made the mistake of having coffee with her the other day. Now she wants to move in with me.”
“You must have served some potent coffee!” Cam laughed. “Can I buy you a drink?”
“No,” Sonya said, wiping a thin line of perspiration from her forehead. “Let’s go outside for some air.” She walked off, expecting that Cam would be right behind her.
“It’s no cooler out here.” Cam observed as they stepped out the door of the bar. The heat and humidity of the summer evening hung heavy around them.
Sonya just turned and looked at Cam.
For a moment Cam searched Sonya’s very determined eyes.
“I have been wanting to get to know you better,” Sonya finally said. “I’ve been watching you since that first night in Maurice’s restaurant. I just haven’t had the opportunity to approach you since then. It looks like fate played right into my hands.”
“I’m flattered.” Cam smiled as she looked around for a place to sit.
“Flattered enough to take me home with you tonight?” Sonya asked bluntly.
Cam stopped in mid-thought. She’d heard that Sonya was outrageously outspoken but this was not what she’d expected.
“I don’t know.” Cam shook her head. “You’re Nick’s friend; that’s pretty close to home.”
“You just stood up for me in there.” Sonya was turning the charm on. “Don’t tell me you’re a fighter and not a lover. I was told you had courage. You wouldn’t want to disappoint everyone. They all have such faith in you.”
“Faith? I don’t really think that this is what they meant.”
“Isn’t it? Nick would be more than pleased to see me with someone he likes.” Sonya was pacing back and forth in front of Cam. Her eyes never left Cam’s. “Besides, he loves to see me get whatever I want. He’s worse than my father at spoiling me.”
Cam took a deep breath, weighing her options. This close, in person, Sonya was even more attractive, more desirable, than Cam remembered from the other night. She really didn’t want to get involved right now. Not when she was on an assignment…unless this brought her closer to Nick and the rest.
And not when Michael was a thousand miles away…but then, Michael had someone living in her house.
“And this is what you want?” Cam grinned at her.
“Very much so,” Sonya confirmed. “Don’t you find me attractive?”
“Oh, yes,” Cam acknowledged, “You are a very attractive woman. I’m just a little afraid of what Nick’s going to say. I’ve only started working for him tonight.”
Sonya reached out and took Cam’s hand. “You let me worry about Nicky.” She looked around. “I’m told you drive a motorcycle. Care to take me for a ride?” She let the double entendre sink in.
When Cam still didn’t immediately acquiesce, she stepped closer.
“How can I persuade you?” She took Cam’s face in her hands and planted a long sensuous kiss on her mouth.
Cam was shocked at how her body was reacting to Sonya’s kiss. She seldom had this reaction to anyone at first kiss. Had it been that long since Michael left?
“Ooh,” Sonya purred. “That went right to my toes.”
That’s not where it went on me, Cam thought. This could get real interesting. Suddenly Rule Number seven leaped into her head: Stay detached!
Taking a deep gulp of air to catch her breath, and without a second thought, Cam nodded toward the back alley. “I’m parked back there.”