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in action later tonight, hunting down his prey like a country bloodhound.
    I continued, “French won’t be there to be my partner and keep me company, so Jake and Lily will take his place, more or less. He’d be pleased to know it takes two people to make up for his absence, wouldn’t he?”
    “Won’t that be one too many people at your table, ma’am?”
    “Tom, you know what?” It was important I sound innocent and not contradictory here. It was all in the tone of voice.
    I pretended I was Melanie Wilkes from Twelve Oaks and continued, “They’ll replace not only French, but Torrey, too. We’re going to invent a reason those two scamps have disappeared, aren’t we? What story have you made up, by the way?”
    “Well, ma’am, I’m right glad you called when you did. You must have that ESP or somethin’. I was just fixin’ to call you.” He paused for a moment.
    “What are we gonna tell ‘em?” he continued. I imagined him scratching the back of his head, deep in a perplexing tangle of non-thoughts.
    I considered. “Let’s say that they’ve been called away on some sort of official Sapphire Resorts business. Let’s borrow another property here in Florida.”
    “Good,” he said.
    “Now, what would require they both leave, yet nothing so big that it would have been on the news?” I asked, more of myself than of him.
    “You mean like the collapsin’ of the atrium bridge that crushed all those poor folks in your Dallas hotel a while back?”
    “Right, right. It can’t be that big, but something serious—something that might jeopardize the reputation of the hotel—something that Red and French need to handle—” I paused. There was only silence on the other end of the line. I had not expected more.
    “I’ve got it!” I said. “We’ll say the Sultan of Barwani was visiting the Coral Gables property, when some jewels belonging to one of his wives went missing from the room safe. Hotel security found the culprit on the engineering staff and returned the jewels. Because the sultan is such a heavy hitter, and he and his entourage mean so much to Sapphire Resorts here and internationally, both Torrey and French were dispatched to smooth things over. They took a chopper from our helipad earlier this evening and are expected back some time later tonight.”
    “I was just thinkin’ somethin’ like that myself,” Tom said.
    Good thing he could not see me rolling my eyes. I still needed his approval before I could invite my friends.
    “Tom, what a great idea that was!” I gushed. How did Southern women do this all day? I was nearly dead from the effort. Yet, I continued, “Now, back to my friends... you’ll see that they not only keep me company, but also they’ll be additional eyes and ears. It’s always good to have a likable extra man at a party. Jake’s a good dancer; he makes the ladies feel beautiful and that may help him gather some interesting information.
    “Lily knows a lot of the Sapphire execs and their spouses already,” I added. “She can pump a person for information faster than a sump pump removes sludge from the back of a mobile home.” I felt sure he would understand the rustic comparison.
    “Well, ma’am. Seein’ as how we wouldn’t want you to be all alone this evenin’, I guess it might be all right,” he said.
    Whew! Mission accomplished. My facial muscles required a splint, after all the phony smiling into the line, but victory was mine.

Chapter 12
     
     
    My usual worries about my looks and my wardrobe were pre-empted by the number of thoughts and questions swirling in my head. I couldn’t get French off my mind. We had to find that killer tonight at the party. We just had to. So many important people were here for the conference, a strangler was on the prowl, and I was all alone and feeling vulnerable. Inside, I was mewling and insecure. Outside, I had ugly, red, itchy splotches all over my midriff; my usual response to stress.
    Normally, French and I