The VIP Room(128)

He walked out on the stage like he was Moses parting the Red Sea. His hands were raised to acknowledge the applause of the crowd, a big smile on his full lips. Emma found herself studying the suit he was wearing or, more precisely, the way it fit, before she could pull her thoughts back to the task at hand.

“Thank you, Kurt,” Dante said, gesturing to Michaels as he walked off the stage. “And thank you for this warm reception. Wow, I was not expecting such enthusiasm. But I suppose I should have. We are a tight community, are we not?”

Again, cheers, applause, and comments screamed so loudly and clearly that Dante actually responded to a few before turning his attention back to his reason for being there.

“As you know, my company has often ventured into technology. As Kurt kindly pointed out, we developed smartphone apps that changed the way people looked at their phones. We built computer security software that changed the way banks do business. We’ve worked with the government on encryption software that could, potentially, change the way in which the world shares information. And that, my friends, is just the beginning of what DJC’s software development division has planned for the future.”

More cheers rose all around Emma. But then something changed; something took their attention from Dante’s eloquent speech. As she watched, a huge banner unfurled behind Dante. It was made of two white sheets sewn together, words written in black spray paint. It read: “DJC warps the law to get what they want. Don’t let DJC evict innocent families from their homes!”

A gasp went up in the crowd. Murmurs spread from the front of the crowd all the way to the back. Emma heard some of the comments, mostly shock that someone had the nerve to do such a thing. Others wondering which innocent people DJC was evicting.

Dante didn’t even seem to notice the banner, or the change in the crowd.

But the show wasn’t over yet.

As he began to talk again, the microphone shorted, squawked, and then went out. No one could hear a word he spoke. And then loud music began to play, an old Beatles song, Hello, Goodbye.

That got Dante’s attention.

He looked around, trying to figure out what was happening. Emma was kind of hoping he’d show the crowd his temper. He noticed the banner then, and she could visibly see the tension dropping onto his shoulders, but he didn’t react in any other way. Instead, he gestured to someone off stage. Almost immediately, his blond assistant came out, a small, battery powered mic in her hands. She quickly wired her boss up, sliding the power pack into his pocket with a certain familiarity that made Emma wonder if their relationship was more than just employer/employee. Not that it really mattered.

The music abruptly stopped. They must have found the little computer bug Leslie put into their system.

Dante was so busy watching Emma and Todd, he’d completely missed Leslie coming from the other direction. And he missed the small crew Leslie organized to help her hand the banner just a few hours before dawn.

Dante waved his hands and began to speak again.

“I apologize. These live events never go quite to plan, do they? But if you will allow me—“

“What does that mean?” one clear voice called out from the crowd. “Who are you evicting?”

“That involves another business deal within another division of DJC.”

“But you know about it.”

Dante stepped back slightly, his head tilted downward as he struggled to find the right words to say. Emma loved it, loved that he was unsure of himself for the first time since their fateful first encounter.

“I think it would be best if we stay on topic,” Dante said. “This is, after all, a tech expo.”

“Yes, but don’t you think your supporters are interested in all aspects of your business?”

And that was when Emma knew it was a reporter. She had hoped there would be reporters present, but she hadn’t been sure. Now…there was no way people would not pay attention to this story.

Score one for the underdog.





Chapter 11





Emma was curled up on the couch, a bathrobe wrapped around her freshly scrubbed body, her favorite show on the television. Sophie was at Jill’s, presumably studying for a big algebra test. It was the first time in weeks Emma had the apartment all to herself and she was determined to make the most of it. After all, she was celebrating, wasn’t she?

The fiasco at the tech expo was the lead story on all three of the local channels and she’d seen it headlined on two different internet news sites. There had been more reporters at the event than she had anticipated, some from national outlets who took the story and ran with it. If that didn’t put pressure on Dante to back off, she didn’t know what would.

It had been a good day.

She poured herself a second glass of wine from the bottle she’d had hidden in the back of the refrigerator for more than a year, enjoying the sweet taste of the pink moscato. She didn’t drink often, but when she did, she loved a nice glass of wine. And this…it was an appropriate reward for a job well done.

There was a heavy pounding on the door. Emma jumped, then laughed at herself, telling herself it was just one of the neighbors wanting to talk about the news stories. Three of her neighbors had already stopped by as excited as she was by the national coverage.

She set her glass on the coffee table and went to the door, resting her hand on the knob just as the pounding came a second time. She hesitated again, something telling her this wasn’t a friendly visitor.