House of Fire (Unraveled Series) (11 page)

“Let me help you.”
James pulled the chain from the box and placed it over her head. Delaney held
her hair as she felt the ring fall to its familiar spot on her chest. James
secured the clasp, letting his lips graze along her neck. The wisps of hair on
her neck rose, sending tingles through her skin.

“Why don’t we just
skip this little gala thing? Drop them off and sneak back here,” James
whispered as he kissed around her neck and slipped his finger inside her strap.

“Sounds amazing,”
Delaney agreed, her eyes closing to his touch.

“Knock, knock,” Ann
rang as she walked into the room, a big grin plastered on her face. She was
dressed in a full-length blue gown that accentuated her eyes and the weight she
had gained since the past winter. “I don’t mean to interrupt you love birds,
but I need Delaney’s help with this dress for a quick moment. You look gorgeous
together, by the way.”

“Don’t we?” James
placed his hands on Delaney’s shoulders, placing one last kiss on her head.
“Thanks to your genes, Mrs. Jones.”

“Cut the Mrs. Jones
stuff. You’re not in high school anymore. It’s Ann, and thank you,” Ann replied
with a smile.

“All right, you two,”
Delaney said as she ushered Ann into her room and pushed James out.

“Do you think he’ll ask you to
marry him?” Ann whispered as James shut the door.

“Even if he did, I
would probably say no.”

“You said probably.
So there’s a chance?” Ann raised her eyebrows, studying Delaney.

“What do you need?”

“Zip me up.” Ann
turned, revealing the half-zipped dress exposing her black lace bra. “I’ll
breathe in.”

“Racy black bra, Mom.
Plan on getting some action tonight?” The words slipped out of Delaney’s mouth
before she could stop them.

Ann held her breath
as Delaney zipped and secured the clasp shut.

“Oh, stop. I can
finally fit into my regular bras. It feels good to have a little meat on my
bones,” Ann said as she turned toward Delaney, her face contemplating. “You
know, I’m proud of you and all your hard work. I never really understood the
artsy thing quite like you did, but you’re so talented. Mark’s incredible, too,
and I’m proud of you both. I’m so glad we were invited to celebrate you both.”

“Me, too,” she lied
as she felt the weight of the box still in her hand.
The boy.
“By the
way, I just found something a little strange in your box.”

“What’s that?” Ann
asked as she fished her earrings into their holes.

“I accidentally
caught my nail in the lining here and uncovered this picture.” Delaney peeled
back the lining and held the photo of the boy in her hand. “Did you know this
picture was in here?”

Ann’s face drained,
turning a ghostly pale color as she gently cradled the picture in her hands. “I
didn’t know it was in here,” she whispered as she fingered the jagged edges. “I
haven’t seen it in so long.”

“Who is it?” Delaney
breathed, feeling the warmth rush to her face as she watched her mother stumble
to put the picture back.

“I wanted to tell you
one day,” she started as her hand fluttered to her chest. “I just didn’t know
how to. We both didn’t know how to. I thought about it before my surgery last
January. Thought I should tell you all in case something happened, but I just
couldn’t. Not then. I don’t know if I can -”

“Are you ready? We’re
going to be late,” Michael yelled from the kitchen.

“Mom, what happened?”
Delaney whispered as Ann finally lifted her eyes from the box. A tear rolled
down the side of her cheek.

“I can’t tell you
tonight. Let’s save it for tomorrow. Tonight is your night. Mark’s night. I
promise you, tomorrow.” Ann pressed Delaney’s forearm with her hand and fled to
Michael’s waiting voice in the kitchen.

It was the second
time Delaney had seen her mother cry.

***

“Mark, it’s amazing,”
Michael said as James drove his SUV to the entrance of Parker Tower where a
student valet was waiting for the next vehicle. “Valet parking and everything.”

“It’s just for
tonight,” Mark said as he eyed up the building from the front passenger seat.
Delaney sat wedged between her parents in the back row. Her mother’s hands
hadn’t stopped fidgeting for the last fifteen minutes. She had wrung,
interlocked and tapped non-stop the duration of the trip.

“Stop,” Delaney
whispered as she grabbed Ann’s hands and shot her a reassuring look. “Don’t
worry about it.”

Don't worry about it.
She should
be telling that to herself. Delaney needed a valium. Or an animal tranquilizer.
Either one would work just fine. Delaney’s chest tightened as she anticipated
the moment when Ann would recognize Holston. Ann had picked him out in the
newspaper picture herself, but had quickly dismissed the resemblance to her
long lost passion “George Boyd.” Delaney turned to her father who was hunched
over, gazing up to admire Parker Tower. She straightened the knot in his tie,
smoothing it down with a pat.

“I don’t tie them
very often,” he said with a nervous smile. Her parents hadn’t ever been to an
event like this, their lives were relatively sheltered from the throws of
prestigious universities and the upper echelons. Although the upper class of
givers in the Appleton area weren’t exactly anything to get nervous about, they
didn’t know that like Delaney did. They didn’t know President Givens and
Holston Parker as well as she did. She didn’t want them to, either.

Delaney grabbed her
newly purchased clutch as they slid out of the SUV and waited for James to
register with the student valet. She watched as the fifty-something, premiere
cardiac surgeon from Appleton Medical Center rolled in with a woman who had to
be younger than Delaney. She couldn’t be a day over twenty-four, her platinum
blonde hair bouncing as she held onto his elbow. A huge diamond gleamed from
her finger. Delaney straightened her dress and glanced down at her ankles which
were struggling in the black heels. Another new purchase. She felt a scratch in
her armpit, the poke irritating her as they neared the entrance.
The tags
.
Delaney ripped the price tags from her dress and slid them into her clutch. She
put on her best smile as they walked through the doors into a roomful of
sickening chatter and dreadful laughter. The soft melody of a violin from a
string quartet fluttered into the air.

A stream of people
bee-lined for Mark, congratulating him as they took turns patting him on the
shoulder and doling out huge handshakes. Delaney was proud of her brother’s
successes. He had worked hard and deserved each pat and form of accolade, but
the congratulations were clouded by the fact that Mark worked for
him
.
So far, from what Delaney could tell, Holston was keeping Mark at a distance.
Not letting him into his true inner circle and she was thankful for that. She
wondered how many people knew the truth.
Tell me, Holston Parker, how many
people know that you are a murderer?

She turned to Ann and
Michael, both beaming like proud parents should. James whispered in Delaney’s
ear and pointed to an opening off to the right. “Let’s give Mark some space.”

Delaney motioned her
parents to follow James, smiling and nodding at the suits and cocktail dresses
filling the large reception area. She eyed a woman as she slipped past her, her
eyebrows much too high for her face. She noted the man to her right; his nose
chiseled to disgusting perfection.
The plastic surgeon group
. She
glanced up to see a ten foot clock serving as a large sculptural piece on the
north facing wall.
6:07.
They had been at the gala for five minutes.
Only one hour and fifty-three minutes left. She had promised herself that she
would stay for Mark until eight o’clock. She would endure the night for him.
Delaney’s cheeks were beginning to hurt from her fake smiles.

“Hors d’oeuvres?” A
student sporting slick hair and a black bow tie held a colorful and exotic
array of toothpicks neatly lined in a tray before them.

“Don’t mind if I do,”
Michael said as he snagged a small toothpick in his hand. “What is this?”

“To be honest, I
don’t know,” the student waiter replied with a sheepish grin.

“Well, that makes
three of us,” Ann said as she picked up a pink roll of her own.

The room ebbed and
flowed, the dresses with their thick makeup and overdone hair chatting just a
little too loudly with each other, commenting on how beautiful their dresses
were and where they’d gotten their nails done. The sparkling jewelry flashed in
the lights of the chandeliers above. How so and so had a nervous break-down and
what’s-her-name started exercising more. The suits gave robust handshakes and
pats, not even pretending to be interested in what the other suit was saying.

Her eyes flashed to a
couple only fifteen feet away, the back of his tall head a stark gray. A petite
woman dressed in a matching jacket and skirt with pearls around her neck stood
by his side.
Helen
. Poor Helen stood next to President Givens, lips
sealed a delicate pink. She was adhered to him, not moving or engaging with the
other women. Her blonde hair curled tightly to her head, a set of matching
pearls in her ears.
Unsuspecting Helen.

Delaney scanned back
toward the hallway that she’d walked with June just a few days ago at the luncheon.
She caught a blonde woman standing by herself, leaned up against the wall. The
kitchen door opened and closed with streams of waiters, temporarily hiding the
woman from Delaney’s view. The woman was incredibly petite, a pencil clinging
to a small, black dress that hung on her body. Her straight blonde hair flowed
to the middle of her back, bangs hanging low past her eyebrows. Delaney
squinted, trying to place her. The stance and body looked so familiar, but the
hair was throwing her off. She blinked, feeling the memory hurdling at her like
an oncoming train. Delaney visually stripped off the blonde wig, cropped brown
hair replacing it.
Evie.

“I’ll go find us some
drinks,” Delaney mumbled as she moved toward Evie. She weaved through the
crowds, bobbing past a waiter with drinks as she neared the east wall of
windows. Delaney had to get to her. Delaney watched as Evie looked down at her
wrist before the door swung open again, and three waiters filtered out. As the
door swung shut, Delaney looked to see an empty wall. Evie was gone.

“Damn,” Delaney said
under her breath as she turned right into the chest of a white shirt.

“Excuse me,” Delaney
muttered, moving to the side as she gazed up at the man’s face. Sanchez’s eyes
stared back at her.

“Dr. Delaney Jones,”
he replied, holding out his hand. “It’s nice to see you again. How did your
session end up at the range? Did you get a few more good rounds in?”

“It was good. Nice to
see you as well,” she lied, holding out her sweaty hand.
Shit.
She
shifted her eyes to the man standing next to Sanchez. He wore a perfect, white
smile that spread across his perfect, smooth face, dressed in a perfect, black
suit and grey skinny tie. His hair was shaped with a light gel, his strands
falling into a natural, easy state. His eyes gentle yet unflinching. He was the
type of beautiful that almost all women and men would agree on; the kind of
beautiful that you didn’t see in Appleton. Perfect.

“I’m glad to see I’m
not the only one sweating.” Sanchez let out a rough laugh as he released her
hand. “These types of things aren’t exactly my cup of tea. Although my lead
guy, Schaefer, over here?” Sanchez thumbed the perfect specimen next to him. Schaefer
perked up at the sound of his name, smiling even wider than he had before,
though Delaney hadn’t thought it possible. “This guy kills it at events like
this. That’s why I brought him along.”

“Dr. Jones.” The
gorgeously sculpted man shoved his hand in hers. She studied his face,
recognizing the perfection that gleamed from his symmetrical face, yet she
couldn’t quite put her finger on why he seemed so familiar.

“Nice to meet you.”
Delaney nodded as she dropped her hand, suddenly embarrassed at the gross
amount of sweat protruding from it. She groaned inwardly at herself; she didn’t
want Schaefer to have that effect on her. Delaney was sure he was used to it.
He
probably enjoys it.
She forced a wide smile back.

“Why did you come
then?” Delaney asked, turning to Sanchez.
To stalk me some more? Make sure
I’m staying in line?

“I can’t deny an
invitation. Mr. Parker asked me to be here as a guest, as a community leader.
He thought it would be important to mingle with the VIPs
of Appleton,
but as you can see, I don’t exactly belong.” He pointed to his shirt, naked of
a tie and jacket.

“I wouldn’t worry. I
don’t fit in either.” She pointed to her ears and neck vacant of the sparkling
jewelry.

“Good, I have a
partner then.” He cracked a half-smile.
I’ll never be your partner.

“How’s the Appleton
police force doing? Anymore drug busts?” Delaney asked, noting Schaefer’s
studying eyes. His head followed her legs down and back up again. He was
confident enough to do it with her watching, but it somehow didn’t disgust her
as it usually did. It actually made her feel attractive.
Schaefer has some
tact.

“No, not much more
after the fiasco with Mr. Olson. The case is closed and the perpetrator is
behind bars. Thanks to the help of our canines, and Mr. Parker’s generous
gift,” Schaefer responded with a serious face as if on cue.
The dog.
That’s
how Delaney knew him. The memory rushed back to her. Schaefer was the officer
with the dog in the Union the day Theron went missing. The dog had sniffed her blood-stained
jacket.

“I heard that. I’m
sure everyone is relieved,” Delany stammered, moving back to Sanchez’s heavy
gaze.