She was about to die from wanting him.
When she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, Pratt stood up. At that signal, the soft music the band was playing died away, and a microphone was brought to their table.
“We’re here tonight to celebrate another fine partner at our firm,” Pratt began. He outlined some of Paul’s achievements, introduced him, and joked with him a bit. “Thank you for coming out to celebrate with us, everyone. Let’s clear that dance floor and enjoy, shall we?”
As if conjured by magic, staff appeared to clear several tables and reveal a wooden dance floor in the heart of the room, near the band. The band struck up a waltz and Pratt held out a hand to Torie.
“If I might have this dance?”
“Of course.”
Paul cut in as the music finished, and Pratt selected another partner as well. The music ramped up to a faster pace, but Paul kept their dance slow and sensual.
“Paul,” she whispered in his ear. “People are staring.”
“So?”
She laughed. “So, you have to work with these people.”
“Uh huh,” he said, but didn’t change the tempo one bit.
When the song ended and the band started on rock, he relented and led her back to the table.
Martha stopped them on the way there. As a longstanding employee, she had been invited as well.
“Hello, Martha,” Paul greeted her warmly.
“Good evening, Paul. Torie.”
So, it was still friendly, Torie decided with an inner smile. “Hello, Martha, you look lovely tonight.”
“Thank you. I wanted to tell you that I admire you.”
The words came as a total shock to Torie. “I beg your pardon.”
Martha’s smile was prim. “You’ve been dealt some difficult blows. I was not, I confess, a fan of yours. I cared very deeply for young Mister Todd, and I wasn’t as fair as I should have been about the situation between you.”
“Oh,” Torie squeaked out. What the hell was she supposed to say to that amazing statement?
“However, I believe you to be a woman of considerable courage. I want you to know I wish you the best.” With that grand pronouncement, Martha bid them a good night and moved off through the maze of tables.
“Did she just apologize?” Torie asked.
“Sounded like it to me,” Paul said with a smile, guiding her to the table.
“Your phone rang,” Melvin spoke up as they approached. “I had to catch your purse to keep it from falling off the chair. You must have it on vibrate.”
“Oh, I do,” Torie admitted, thinking it was weird that Melvin had noticed.
“He almost spilled my drink when it fell on his foot,” Sylvia complained, coming up beside them. The ill-disguised whine in her voice grated on Torie’s nerves. “You haven’t asked me to dance, Melvin.” She now turned her attention to Melvin. Torie could see that he was irked, but he set down the glasses and led her away.
Torie yanked the phone from her purse. The caller ID said Pam. The last three digits were nine-one-one. It was urgent.
“I’ll be right back,” she nearly shouted to Paul. The music was reaching the higher levels, and she could feel the thump of the bass in her bones. “Pam called. Something urgent.”
“I’ll come with you,” he began, only to be distracted by a man patting his back, bringing his wife over to meet Paul.
“No worries, I’ll be back.”
Weaving her way through the tables, she readied the call. As soon as she slipped through the ballroom doors, she hit send.
“Pam?”
“Torie! You’ll never belie—”
Noise from the opening doors blocked out all the sound.
“Hang on, Pammie, I’m walking outside so I can hear.”
She managed to find a side door leading to the pool, and opened it with her elbow as she continued to try to hear what Pam was saying. “Pam, honey, slow down.”
“He’s okay!”
“What?”
“He’s okay, Dev’s okay. He’s on his way over. He texted me, then called. He’s okay.”
“What? That’s great news. Oh, thank God.” Relief made her knees weak, and she managed to get to one of the benches and lean on its back. She didn’t want to mess up the dress by sitting down, but it felt good to have something solid under her hands. “Is he okay, physically? I mean he didn’t hurt anything again, did he?”
“I don’t think so,” Pam yelled, as the signal suddenly became clear. Torie jerked the phone away from her ear. A noise behind her startled her nearly as much as Pam’s continued shouts about what Dev had said.
A hand covered her mouth, a cloth pressed over her nose as well, and she sucked in a deep breath to scream. The drug-laden fabric was wet on her cheek, and she felt a firm arm grip her under the bust as she sagged forward.
“Not bad for an old man, eh?”
She heard the words, but her eyes had begun to blur. A dark shape in a tuxedo loomed over her, draping her arm over his shoulder. He dragged her away from the mansion, aiming for the darkest area of the parking lot.
“You are such a pain in the ass, you know?” he mocked, unlocking the door to a plain, older SUV with a push of a button. He managed to open the door and shove her in without ever releasing the cloth from her mouth.
She knew his voice. She knew him. Tibbet had been right. It was someone she knew. Her thoughts circled like bats, flitting from theme to theme. Where were the bodyguards? Where was Paul?
The voice kept droning on about the frat party and Todd. He put two hands on the wheel when they got to the main road. He waited for the light, and whipped the car into the darkness, away from the city and its lights.
“You never could let well enough alone, could you? Getting involved with Todd, moving in with him. Nobody else was good enough for you, Miss Hoity-Toity. And now Paul. He’s trash. Raised in a trailer, he comes from nothing. Nothing, do you hear me?”
He slapped at her face, but the awkward angle and the fact that he had to keep one hand on the wheel made it difficult for him to actually hurt her.
That won’t last, a clear corner of her mind reasoned. He’s got you now. You’re dead.
“…kill you,” he ranted. “But, no. I thought, hey, she turned me down before, but I’m successful now. And Todd’s off doing his thing with all that money.” He spat the word. “It should have been mine, do you hear? Mine.”
It made no sense. The money was Todd’s. He’d won it. Hadn’t he?
“I bought the tickets that day. I bought all the lottery tickets for the whole office that day. I handed them out. They were all mine. Every one of them. But did he thank me? No. Did he offer to share the money with me? No. He gave me my five dollars, and he walked.”
The car was weaving now, turning this way and that. She felt it bump, bump, bump along the road. The only light was from the dashboard.
Wasn’t there a song about that? Torie’s mind wandered with the drug. Every few minutes she’d feel more connected to her body, get snatches of what he was saying.
“And then Todd came back. Again. Why couldn’t he just leave? Huh? Well, it was the last time he was going to rub all that money he stole from me in my face. You get it? Huh?”
The car lurched to a stop. “He stole it from me,” the man said, slamming his way out of the car. He jerked her door open, took her arm, and yanked her up. With a quick twist, he swung her legs out, and pulled her up to stand woozily at his side.
“I took the cloth away, so you should be coming around. Nice thing about that drug, it’s effective but fast acting. You’ll know me before I kill you. Just like Todd.”
The voice rang in her head. The voice…