by Carsen Taite
Danny spoke first. “Do you think she’s leaving or just finding someone else to charm?”
“Charm? That’s what you call it?” Ellen watched Sophia and her posse stride across the room and descend upon another group. “I have no doubt she’s about to ask those women for a favor. She won’t leave until she gets it. Sophia Falco always gets what she wants.” She felt the blush before she realized what she’d said. Danny had the good grace not to remind her that Sophia had just said she wanted Ellen to keep her around.
“Good. It’s important that no one leave right now. Can you do something to keep them all here?”
“Like what? I already did the announcements, thanked our sponsors.” Which you’d know if you’d paid any attention to me earlier.
“I don’t know.” Danny kept checking over her shoulder as if she expected someone to materialize. “Tell them the bar’s having a special on white wine or something.”
“You’re funny. Guess you didn’t notice Sophia was drinking bourbon. Neat. Knowing her, it was the most expensive pour at the bar. No way am I blowing our budget on free liquor for this crowd.”
“What?” Danny murmured the question, but she wasn’t paying attention to anything Ellen said, and her attention was focused on the registration table. Ellen waved her hand in front of Danny’s face. “Over here. Me. The person who’s talking to you. What’s going on?”
“Uh, nothing. I just promised Sarah I would keep everyone in the room for a minute while she checked something out. It’s probably nothing.”
“Are you sure?” Ellen looked around the room, trying to discern what had Sarah worried enough to contain them. “Did she get a lead? Is there something I should know about?”
Danny reached for her arm. “Quit looking like a fire’s about to break out and you’re scoping out exits. You’re going to start a panic.”
“It would help if you would just tell me what’s going on.”
“I can’t.”
“Won’t”
“What?”
“You won’t. You won’t tell me anything and you won’t have anything to do with me, and don’t tell me it’s just about work. You’ve acted like I’m a disease you were trying hard not to catch ever since…” She let the words trail off as she flashed back to Danny, in her living room, on her couch, lips parted and ready for the kiss Ellen was all too willing to give.
Danny’s breath hitched and her lips parted as if ghosting the original moment. Ellen drew back. The intensity was too much. She didn’t need to put herself back in this position, especially since it was doomed to follow the same path as before. As she pulled away, Danny said, “I’m sorry. I never should’ve put you in that position.”
“You didn’t put me anywhere I didn’t want to be.” Ellen didn’t bother trying to hide her anger. “And I don’t need you to take responsibility for my decisions.” She lowered her voice to a whisper. “If I want to kiss someone, that’s on me. If they don’t want to kiss me back, well, I’ll live.”
The sound of a new text from Danny’s phone saved them both from having to say more. Danny stared at her phone and then thumbed a reply.
“Hot date?”
“Hardly. It’s okay for folks to leave now.” Her eyes were sad and pleading, but all she said was, “Let me know when you’re ready to go.” And just like that, Danny walked away, over to the registration table. Ellen watched her go. She should’ve been surprised at the abrupt departure, but she wasn’t. Everything and nothing about Danny surprised her.
*
Danny couldn’t get away from Ellen fast enough. She’d almost kissed her, right here in the middle of this crowd of aging sorority girls, without regard to the audience, her job, or anything else. Sarah’s text couldn’t have come at a better time. all ok. mt me @ station later.
Vague, but comforting. Except for the part about meeting later. Sarah must have found out something or she could wait to talk until tomorrow. Aggravating that she couldn’t just stick around and fill her in. And drive Ellen home, since Danny was now dreading that particular task. The good news was that whatever Sarah had found must not involve any of the women here in the room since she was cutting them loose.
“Are you leaving?”
She looked up to see Angela, the intern, staring at her. “Soon.” She glanced at the table where Angela had packed the unclaimed nametags into a carrying case and placed a rubber band around the markers. “Packing up for the night?”
“I can’t leave until Ms. Davenport is ready to go, but I’m ready for anything else the night may hold.” Her words dripped suggestion and her leering eyes left no doubt. Disturbing, but Danny decided to use the opening to explore her hunch that this young woman wasn’t what she appeared to be.
“I doubt many of these women are up for an after party, right?”
“I doubt many of these women are up past eight on a normal night.”
“Ouch. Aren’t they supposed to be your sisters for life, or something like that?”
“You know what they say about family—just because you’re stuck with them, doesn’t mean you have to like them.”
“Does that go for El—I mean, Ms. Davenport too?”
Angela cocked her head. “You’re her date, right? Are you trying to get me in trouble?”
“No.” Let the kid figure out which question she was answering. “Just curious about how all of this works. I was never in a sorority.”
“Why not?”
“No particular reason.” Not true. Sororities cost money and time, two things she hadn’t had while putting herself through college. Besides that, they were frivolous. Why should she pretend a bunch of women she’d didn’t know were her “sisters” when the only thing they had in common was time to waste on parties and silly rituals? She’d entered college with a goal of finishing fast and getting into law school early, and she’d let nothing distract her. The only all-girl gatherings she took part in were Sunday afternoons at the local lesbian bar.
“You’re smart.”
“Huh?”
“You’re smart for not getting involved. I’m a legacy and I didn’t really have a choice. My mother practically made it a condition of my tuition.”
“So there’s nothing you like about it?”
“I hear lots of good gossip at these things.”
Danny could tell she was waiting for her to ask, dying to tell her some secret she’d learned. Angela was going to have to make the first move. “I bet you do.”
“Maybe I could tell you about it sometime.”
“Are you flirting with me?”
“Didn’t mean to. I have a boyfriend. Besides, not a good idea to make a play for the boss’s girlfriend.”
“She’s not my—” Danny stopped, unsure what to say. “We’re not exclusive.”
“Tell her that. The way she stares at you across the room.” She jerked her head. “I don’t think she has eyes for anyone else.”
Unable to help it, Danny let her gaze follow Angela’s and she caught Ellen staring. Hard. But her expression wasn’t adoring. She looked pissed off. She smiled and turned back to Angela. “Maybe you could tell me about what goes on here, someday. Give me your number.”
Angela reached over and tugged at Danny’s pocket, and then she pulled out her phone. She scrolled through the screens and then started tapping on the screen. Seconds later, she slid the phone back into Danny’s pocket and let her hand linger on her jacket. When her fingers started to stroke her hip, Danny placed her hands on Angela’s. She wanted to pump Angela for information, but keep from crossing a boundary at the same time. “I thought you had a boyfriend.”
“He’s flexible.”
“I’m not.”
“Well, when you live in a house with a ton of girls, you get used to trading roses.”
Had she just said roses? And used the phrase as a euphemism? She mentally reviewed the crime scene photos, each set displaying green paper wrapped white roses at different angles, and more than a dozen ph
otos of the single stem sitting next to the body. “What did you say?”
“I keep forgetting, you’re not a sister.” She reached into the bag under the table and pulled out a long-stemmed silk white rose and handed it to Danny. “I usually remember to set this out on the table with the name tags. It’s the official flower of Alpha Nu.”
Danny held the rose in her hand like it was a bug she was about to destroy. It looked so real, she was tempted to smell it. Instead, she held it away from her body.
“What are you doing?”
The sharp voice from over her shoulder almost caused her to drop the rose. Danny looked back at Ellen, an explanation on her lips, but then she caught that Ellen wasn’t talking to her. Angela struck a defiant pose and answered, “I’m keeping your girlfriend company. Looked like you were pretty busy working the room.”
“Working the room is my job. Do you need help packing up?”
“No, I’m good. If you want, I can take all this stuff back to the office tonight.”
Ellen reached into her purse and handed Angela a key. “That would be great. Just leave the key with security and I’ll get it from them in the morning.”
Danny watched the entire exchange, acutely aware she was standing right next to these two women, holding a long-stemmed white rose. Ellen finally addressed her. “You going to keep that?”
“I, uh, well…” She had planned to keep it. It was a clue. A big one, but it wasn’t like she needed this silk version of the flower that had appeared at the crime scene to let the rest of the team know about this new connection to the sorority. Still, her find would have more impact with the symbol. Angela’s and Ellen’s eyes were on her, waiting. Reluctantly, she thrust the rose toward Angela, but Angela waved her off.
“Keep it. I’ve got more.” She practically leered at Danny. “Besides, it’s an insult to return a rose.”
Danny nodded, scared to look over at Ellen and witness her response to this suggestive exchange, but Ellen made it clear how she felt. “I’ll leave you two alone. Meet you at the car.” And she was gone.
*
True to her word, Ellen was waiting beside Danny’s locked car. “Not the best neighborhood to be standing by yourself in the dark,” Danny said.
“I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself. Besides, looks like we have a police escort.”
Danny followed the direction of Ellen’s finger and saw a nondescript, but very familiar, car. George. She waved and he got out and walked over.
“How’s it going, ladies? Did you have a good time?”
Danny willed him to read her mind. “It was okay. I guess Sarah called you?”
Ellen broke in before he could respond. “Detective Ramirez, if something is going on with my sorority, I think I have a right to know. And don’t tell me you just showed up here because you like the ambiance of downtown. Agent Flores took off without a word, I was told to keep everyone in the room while we waited for an all clear, and now you’re here. Something’s going on, and before you get another ounce of cooperation from me, you’re going to fill me in.”
Danny looked at George who seemed stymied by Ellen’s outburst. She shrugged. Time for him to step up and deal with the reluctant witness.
“Ms. Davenport, you have our sincere apologies. We didn’t mean to hijack your event. Agent Flores was only being thorough when she confined you all to the premises while she checked out a lead. I hope no one was overly inconvenienced.”
Danny watched the expression on Ellen’s face morph from indignant anger to humble contrition. “I’m sorry. I know you’re only doing your job. I just feel helpless and frustrated not knowing what’s really going on.”
“I understand. Where are you two headed?”
“I’m taking her home,” Danny answered.
“How about I ride with you and we can talk on the way? Danny, you’ll have to come back by here anyway, right?”
“I can get a cab home,” Ellen said. “I don’t want to inconvenience either one of you.”
Danny opened her mouth to say that was a great idea. She was dying to talk to George about the rose and her gut instinct that Angela the intern was up to no good, but George beat her to the punch.
“Nonsense. Danny won’t mind. Her mother brought her up to have better manners than that.”
With a sigh, she said, “Both of you—get in the car.” What else was she going to say?
George sat in the back seat, leaning forward into the space between her and Ellen. She hadn’t wanted to be alone with Ellen, but having someone else there to witness their stony silence was somehow worse. After several conversation nonstarters, George caught her with an open-ended question.
“What did your mom ask you to bring Saturday night?”
As she tried to figure out a way to steer him clear of the personal conversation, she noticed Ellen sit up straighter in her seat. She wished she could make George vanish. The last thing she wanted to talk to Ellen about was the surge of attraction between them. The second to last thing was her family.
“She didn’t.”
“Damn. I’ve been craving some of that special queso. You know, the one with all the different cheeses. If you don’t bring it, I think the entire night will be a disaster.”
“It might be one anyway if you and Joe drink as much as you did last time.”
“Family gathering?” Ellen asked.
Not answering would be rude. “George and my brother go way back. It’s Joe’s birthday tomorrow night, and my mother spoils him rotten.”
George laughed. “She spoils him just right. You have any siblings, Ellen?”
“No, just me.”
“Your folks live here in Dallas?”
“Not anymore.”
Ellen shifted in her seat, and Danny could tell she was uncomfortable with the questions. Maybe her parents were dead. No, she’d been talking about her parents with Sophia Falco and her groupies. Chances were she just didn’t feel like getting personal. Made sense since she’d made it clear she wasn’t up for anything other than surface level fun. “Save the personal questions for suspects, Ramirez. I’m sure Ellen’s had enough for tonight. Give her a break.”
“I’m fine. No need to go easy on me, Detective.” Ellen’s words were directed at George, but her intense look was focused on Danny. She took advantage of the fact they were stopped at a light to return the stare, unable to read beneath the gaze. When the light turned green, she was the first to break the connection, both glad and sad to have to look away.
In the rearview mirror she could see George looking between them, his expression curious. After a few seconds, he caught her eyes on him, and he grinned like he knew all her secrets.
“You bringing someone to your brother’s party?”
If she weren’t driving, she would’ve punched him. He thought he was so clever. “Why are married people so interested in making sure single people get coupled up?”
“We want you to share in our bliss.”
“Oh yeah, because you always seem so blissful.” Danny cut her eyes at Ellen, wondering if she was buying her cavalier attitude. “How about you, Ellen? Are your married friends always trying to set you up?”
“I have my share of meddling friends. I spend a lot of time begging off, but the old ‘I have to wash my hair tonight’ excuse only goes so far.”
Danny’s mind raced with questions she wouldn’t say out loud. Do you ever give in? Try one of your friend’s setups? What if the perfect woman is out there, but you’re so interested in a one-night stand, that you miss something deeper? No point in asking any of these. She already knew Ellen wasn’t interested in her that way. But Sarah’s words echoed. It’s not like you don’t really want to be her date. Whatever. What she wanted was no more distractions. She had no business letting a woman get her flustered, especially when nothing would come of it. She had a job to do, and the minute she dropped Ellen off, she planned to turn her entire focus to her work. She’d get Sarah to convince Ellen to
copy the computer files so she could continue her review of them at her office, not Ellen’s. No more mixers, no more hanging out at Ellen’s office, no more wanting something she couldn’t have.
The rest of the ride was quiet and Danny sighed with relief when she finally pulled up in front of Ellen’s house. George mouthed a big “oh my God,” and she almost laughed. It was a pretty huge place for a single woman. Hell, it was a pretty big place for a family of ten. Ellen touched her on the arm. “Thanks for the ride. I hope it wasn’t too boring for you. I actually had fun for the first time in a while.” She was out of the car and heading up the walk before Danny could respond.
George climbed out and looked between her and Ellen. He leaned into the car and whispered, “Hey, rude ass, you going to walk her to the door or should I?”
She hesitated a moment. She’d stood at that door before. Ringing the bell. Excited about the prospect of a new beginning. Appropriate to end it there as well. She climbed out of the car and hurried up the walk. Ellen turned and smiled. “I guess you’re not tired of playing the role of date, after all.”
“No one’s around. No need to play roles anymore. I’m just being polite. My mother taught me well.”
“Your mother sounds like a good woman.”
“She’s something. More like a meddler. But I love her anyway.”
“Your family sounds nice.”
“Nice is one word for it. They have no boundaries and they all think they know what’s best for me.”
“And what do they think is best for you?”
“They think I work too hard. They think I should find a nice girl, settle down, and raise a family of my own.”
“And what do you think?”
“I think they should mind their own business.”
“So are you bringing someone?”
“What?”
“To your mother’s? Are you bringing a date?”
“Uh, no. I may not even go. I may be busy working.” She wouldn’t be working. Her mother would have her hide if she didn’t show up, but the lie saved her from answering other questions.
“So they’re right about you working too hard.”