Ballroom Bits by Christine Pope

Author:Christine Pope [Pope, Christine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Christine Pope

10

Sick Burn

That single celebratory drink turned into two, along with a round of appetizers. But a little before six, Calvin and Victoria and I drove back to Globe. Victoria had already texted Archie to tell him the good news, and he’d offered to take us all out to dinner at the Gold Dust casino’s restaurant, since nothing else was open in town on a Sunday evening…unless we wanted to hit the local Dairy Queen, that is.

But the occasion seemed to call for something a little more special than burgers and shakes, so we’d all agreed to the plan. Before we left the resort, I’d changed back into my regular clothes, although there wasn’t much I could do about my overdone makeup and competition-appropriate chignon.

Well, it never hurts to shake things up a little bit, I thought with an inner grin. Even though it didn’t seem as if I had much to show for my undercover efforts this weekend — well, except a trophy and a very happy Eddie Bixby — I told myself I could put aside my worry over Archie’s plight for a couple of hours. Obviously, he wasn’t horribly disappointed in me, or he wouldn’t have suggested dinner.

He met us at the restaurant, looking dapper in a sport jacket over a deep peacock-blue shirt. Most of the time, I wouldn’t have thought the casino’s restaurant required such fancy duds, since a lot of its patrons were tourists passing through, but because Calvin and Victoria were already dressed up, and my change of clothes had been a pretty sundress because the day was so hot, we all looked like we matched pretty well.

“First place!” he exclaimed when we met in the restaurant’s waiting area next to the hostess station, then gave me a very uncharacteristic hug. “I’m so proud of you!”

“Well, it was mostly your instruction,” I told him. “And having Eddie as a partner.”

Victoria just shook her head. “And you, too, Selena. You shouldn’t sell yourself short.”

“She’s right,” Calvin put in. “I’m pretty sure Archie could give me five years of lessons, and I still wouldn’t be able to pull off what you just did.”

“Oh, I think I could do it in three,” Archie quipped. He was smiling, but his bright expression suddenly faded…and I thought I knew why.

If I couldn’t find out who really had killed Brad Masters, then Archie wouldn’t be around to teach Calvin…or anyone else…how to do the foxtrot.

The hostess, a cousin of Calvin’s named Janelle, came up to us, menus in hand, so we abandoned the subject as she led us over to a booth in a corner. Because it was a Sunday night, the place wasn’t very crowded, probably the reason why we’d gotten some prime seats at such late notice.

Then again, the casino and restaurant were owned by the San Ramon Apache tribe, and Calvin was their police chief. He and I got a good table pretty much every time we went to the restaurant, so I had a feeling his status with the tribe might also have had something to do with it.

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