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"Yo, Cyn You gonna sit there all night, or are we gonna do this?"

Cynthia looked up, startled, at Benita’s voice Her car door was open, and a young, buxo her with a mixture of boredo the keys in the ignition, she started to cli again, the sense that soht

"Listen, I’d rather park it roaned She was already out of the car and heading for the front door, the headlights casting unflattering shadows on her stocky forirl your keys Look around, it’s in good coht The yard in front of the house was packed with every model and color of Mercedes, BMW, even a Rolls or two A lot of cars Toodrive back to the canyon road was lined with parked vehicles and a steady strea cars fro party All the more reason to have her own car at hand

She took the keys out of the ignition and walked over to her friend "You know, Benita, I’ood idea, after all It’s been a long few days I ht head on home--"

"And leave irl"

Cynthia frowned The stench of this evening was becoht," she said easily "I wasn’t thinking Look, you go on in, I’et ue, but then shrugged and kept walking Cyn watched her stroll across the dirt yard, high heels exaggerating the sway of her hips in the tight, red sheath she’d donned for the evening’s festivities Cynthia couldn’t re Benita in a dress before She was al But she was a friend, and Cyn wasn’t about to abandon her on a suspicion Circling around the Land Rover, Cyn ignored the i the door half-close over her, she pulled the duffel bag closer and ru the strap securing the Glock in the shoulder holster where she’d tucked it into a corner of the bag Pushing the door open, she sat on the edge of the cargo compartment, kicked off her pretty, new heels and tossed the her cowboy boots instead They weren’t her first choice for a party dress, but they were a hell of a lot more reliable if she had to run for it Next, she pulled on her leather jacket Again, with its buckles and , it wasn’t much of a party coverup, but too bad It had nice deep pockets With a quick check for the valet, she grabbed her weapon and jammed it into one of two inside pockets It didn’t fit, not really, but close enough, and Cyn had no intention of going into that house unarmed

As she closed the hatch and walked around to the driver’s door, the valet reappeared, raising her eyebrows at the changes in Cyn’s attire Right, like Cyn cared what a teenaged car parker thought about her wardrobe "How ht here?" Cyn asked bluntly These kids lived on their tips

"I can’t let you leave it right here," the girl said fully

"Okay How about over there?" Cyn pointed at a fence about thirty yards away "I’ll parallel park right next to the fence, out of the way" She opened her wallet, reen money One lesson Cyn had absorbed from her rare visits with her fatheralways carry cash Her fingers began ruffling through the irl "Couple hundred?" The valet’s eyes widened and she looked around carefully None of the other attendants were in sight

"Sure"

Cyn extracted two one hundred-dollar bills and handed the careful to shield the transaction froirl barely nodded, already tucking the money away

Cyn parked the car and pocketed the keys, then strolled around the outside of the house looking at doors and s before cli the party

Chapter Thirty-three

The third time someone tripped over her feet, Cyn said screw the upholstery and curled her legs up beneath her on the short leather couch Hell, her boots probably cost more than the damn couch did anyhich was odd because the house itself, with its acres of pasturage, hadn’t come cheap Of course, it obviously hadn’t con, it featured every kitschy decorating ele on the walls, interspersed with an assortood Black and white cow patterns graced--if such a word could be used in conjunction with cows--not only the throw rugs scattered about, butthe questionable theme were chairs that looked like tractor seats, saddles and, of all things, calanced at her watch Almost nine o’clock already She’d spent nearly two hours playing wallflower and watching the ebb and flow of the party And there was a lot of ebb and flow going on Russian h rooms packed al suits and women who’d clearly spent a fortune on their clothes, but who’d never ner they didn’t love Which h style involved Not that it seemed to bother anyone but Cyn There was an alaiety, a level of excitement that seeoers kept disappearing into the back roo later, usually after only a few ured there were probably drugs being handed out in the nether regions of the house, but she had no interest in finding out for sure Drugs had never been her substance of choice She didn’t even drink that much anymore It was, as always, a matter of control, and Cyn liked to be in control And then there was the whole disgusting idea of actually snorting anything up one’s nose Ick

She swung her long legs back to the floor with a thu her boots as she did so Maybe they didn’t do much for the narrow, black knit dress, but they sure as hell blended with the decor in this house Time to blow this party, Cyn A vice cop would have had a field day in this place, but there was nothing here for her Time to find Benita and make like the birds She stood and looked around with a frown; she hadn’t seen her friend in sole step toward the back of the house when aher off her feet "Hey!"