California Schemin' - Kate George [77]
“What were you doing in there? Took you forever to open the door.”
“Beau’s sleeping, and I didn’t want to wake him. What in the world are you doing in California?” I asked him even though I knew.
“Officially, I’m attending the law enforcement convention. Unofficially, Brooks sent me out here to help find you. I haven’t even seen the inside of the conference center, but now that you found me, I can go to the banquet tonight. The food’s the best part anyway. You can go as my date.”
“You just got Shirl back. I don’t think that’s a good idea. What if she asked you about it?”
“It won’t be an issue.”
“Why not?”
“She broke up with me again. Said if I took this assignment, she was leaving for good.”
“Will you never learn? If you had turned it down, she would have stuck with you forever.”
“I couldn’t turn it down. It was me or no one. I’ve known you since grade school. I can’t spend my life not doing what I know to be the right thing because it might upset her. She should understand. If she was right for me, she would understand. Come to the banquet with me. I don’t want to be one of the losers who couldn’t get a date.”
“Okay. I’ll come, provided I can get away from Beau, Fogel and the FBI.”
The big problem with going to the banquet was my lack of anything to wear—nothing to wear, no wallet, money or ID. How the heck was I going to get on an airplane without any ID? Beau solved the money problem by lending me his credit cards.
“Go,” he said. “Go and spend my money. I can’t do anything with it.”
So I shopped. New underclothes, black dress and shoes. Then more new underclothes, the comfortable kind, along with sweat pants to sleep in, jeans and long sleeved tee-shirts for the trip home. When I got back to the hotel, I called Fogel and asked him how he was going to convince TSA to let me through security with no ID. He said he’d check into it and get back to me.
I barely had enough time to change and swipe on mascara and lipstick. The black dress looked good. Beau roused himself long enough to wolf whistle at me before smiling and going back to sleep. I was doing the last-minute adjustments when there was a tap at my door.
Steve let out a low whistle when I let him into the room. He walked in and did a circuit around me like I was a show dog or something. I frowned at him as he stood in front of me again, taking in the package.
“What are you scowling at me for? You are looking good. I’m thinking I might have to change my personal rules about making moves on my female friends. Yow!”
“I am not sleeping with you, Steve, so you can just put that thought right back in your pants, and I don’t appreciate being treated like a prize poodle being judged on its conformation. It’s okay for you to compliment me, but after that you have to ignore the fact I’m the hottest girl in the room and go back to treating me like your buddy. Otherwise, I’m going to have to kick your ass.”
“Jeez, all right. I was just appreciating the dress, that’s all. Apparently that’s not kosher, so I’ll stop.”
We rode the elevator down to the third floor, and Steve took my arm as we walked into the banquet hall. I got the distinct feeling that if he wasn’t going to be spending the night with me, he was going to be darn well certain that no one else would either.
We found the table we were assigned to, and I dropped the little rhinestone bag holding my room keycard and rhubarb lipstick on my chair. Then Steve and I headed for the group gathered at the side of the room. It was pitifully obvious that we were in a room full of cops. The percentage of shaved heads alone would have given it away, but cops also have a way of holding themselves, which I figure comes from the police academy.
There were a few long-haired slouchers sitting around a table, so obviously undercover cops it was painful. They had obviously managed to overcome their cadet training. We pushed past the group and stood in line at the bar. While we were