Page 116 of Last Girls Alive

She once again fell into bed and was asleep within minutes.

Forty-Eight

Saturday 1715 hours

Katie fidgeted with her black gown for the charity event as she waited impatiently for McGaven to pick her up. She hardly ever wore anything that was dressy, much less this elegant. Her pantyhose hiked up and were bugging her and her strappy heels were already killing her feet. She grimaced. The low neckline made her feel conspicuous but the lady at the store said that it looked great.

It took her almost an hour to sweep up her hair and fight to look like she was some socialite and this party was just another gathering in her glamorous lifestyle. She had make-up that was perfect for such an evening—and it covered her scratches.

In the end, the sheriff’s department had been able to finagle a pair of invitations to the event at the Four Seasons, so Katie and McGaven didn’t have to sneak in with the caterers. The invitations had been delivered to her house. She was surprised that her uncle and his partners weren’t going to fight her on it. She guessed that they figured among themselves she couldn’t cause much harm at a fancy gala.

Cisco nudged his nose against her hand.

“I know, but this isn’t a K9 mission. I wish I could take you but it’s not a charity for rescuing dogs and cats.” She laughed because she was talking to Cisco as if he understood.

Katie felt naked, not due to the neckline, but without her gun, which she wasn’t going to attempt to bring hidden underneath her dress. There was a metal detector at the main entrance so that wiped that idea out. She didn’t predict any trouble.

Headlights appeared, illuminating the front windows, and moved up her driveway. A dark expensive foreign sedan parked. To Katie’s surprise, McGaven, dressed in a black tuxedo, exited and walked to the door.

She opened it before he reached the porch. “My, my, who is this handsome guy?GQor what?”

It was the first time she had ever seen McGaven blush with embarrassment and unable to meet her eye. “I don’t know about that, but you clean up gorgeous, you know. Wow, look at you. Denise made me promise to take photos.”

Katie laughed. “She would, but she better not share on social media. I’ll deny it.”

McGaven took his phone out. “C’mon. Selfie time.”

Katie stood next to him and McGaven snapped a couple of selfie shots of them.

She grabbed her purse and wrap, kissed Cisco, and locked the door behind her.

“Let’s go,” McGaven said dramatically. He opened the car door for her and then climbed into the driver’s seat. “I thought it would be prudent for me to drive.”

“No problem here. I feel like a law-enforcement princess.”

The drive to Sacramento was just under two hours which was mostly freeway, and Katie had time to process the conversations with Candace—her body language and answers. There were some things she had said that Katie wasn’t sure were the truth. There was something about the lack of detail on her boyfriend Ray that didn’t make sense.

“So what’s causing you to fret?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t sayfret, but I’m just thinking about some things that Candace said.”

“Like?”

“Well, she seemed a bit too careless about her ex-boyfriend Ray. He was the one that helped her escape and had everything planned. There was a lot of talk and planning. But she hardly said two words about him.” She sighed. “I don’t know, something doesn’t quite fit. There’s something that she’s not telling us about him.”

“You know, it’s been about five years since he was her knight in shining armor. Feelings fade.”

“That’s true, I guess. But he was such an influence on her; older guy, helping her escape horrible conditions,” she said, watching the cars pass going the opposite direction. “So whose car did you borrow?”

“Police impound.”

“I really like it.”

“Maybe you should get one like it?”

“I’ve been thinking about what kind of car to buy, but this, as comfortable and nice as it is, just doesn’t fit my lifestyle. Plus it’s not in my price range.”

“Oh, I don’t know—you could lease or buy a good used one. I don’t think Cisco would mind.”