Midnight Betrayal (Midnight #3)(59)

Conor laughed. “Damian, you have no idea how happy I am that you’re gay.”

“I didn’t realize you thought there was something going on between me and Louisa. She’s just a friend. A good friend. So if you hurt her, I’ll let you rot in jail.”

“Noted.” Conor nodded.

Damian took his refill and wandered off. Guests drifted toward the lobby. The room emptied out. At a signal from the caterer, Conor started breaking down the bar. He was hoisting a case of glassware onto a rolling cart when he spotted Louisa out of the corner of his eye. She was heading down a corridor. Alone.

He put the box on the cart, glanced around, and set off after her. He caught up with her easily. Her pace was slow and deliberate, as if she was masking pain. “Where are you going?”

“I locked my purse in my office.” She turned and stopped him with a raised hand. “You can’t come back here.”

“Well I don’t want you to go back there by yourself.”

“It’s my office.” She propped a hand on her hip.

Conor crossed his arms over his chest. “It’s dark and empty.”

Impasse.

Louisa humphed. “Fine. I’ll get April to come with me. Go back to your job before someone sees you back here.”

An angry whisper from around the corner stopped them. “I’m warning you.”

Conor held a finger to his lips and pushed Louisa behind him. He peered around the corner. Halfway down the corridor, a door was ajar. He motioned for Louisa to look.

She stuck her head into the hall and pulled it back. “Copy room,” she whispered.

Conor motioned her to stay put. He crept to the open door and listened.

“I’m done with you.”

The slurred male voice sounded familiar. Conor pulled out his cell phone and turned it over. He used the silver back of the case as a mirror, angling it to see inside the doorway. Two figures faced each other in front of an industrial copier. Both presented profiles to Conor. Xavier English and Isa Dumont.

Xavier was swaying on his feet.

Isa stood a few feet away from him, her arms akimbo, her attitude petulant. “Is that a threat?”

“Yes,” Xavier spat. “We’re through.”

“How much do you want to keep your job?”

Xavier’s face darkened to impending-stroke red. “You’re a bitch.”

“Yes, but I’m the bitch in charge.” Isa sneered.

“You took advantage of me.”

“I took advantage of you?” She pointed at his chest. Fury radiated from her eyes, her anger hot enough to scorch the reams of paper stacked on shelves behind them. “How can you even say that with a straight face? From my perspective, this is karma. You got yourself into this mess. Try to exercise a little self-control in the future. In the meantime, you’ll do exactly as I say.”

Xavier’s eyes bugged with rage. Isa brushed past him toward the door.

Conor hustled back to Louisa. He held up an in a minute finger and pulled her into the shadowed alcove that led to the restrooms. Isa blew past. A few minutes later, Xavier followed, his steps rushed and uneven. After he passed, at Louisa’s insistence, Conor waited in the alcove while she hurried back to her office for her purse. She returned a minute later, her purse and a file tucked under one arm.

“Come back to my house when you’re finished here,” she said.

“How are you getting home?”

“Damian and his partner are waiting for me in the lobby.”

“OK.”

They returned to the foyer separately. Louisa headed for the lobby while Conor helped the caterer load the truck parked in the alley before walking down to Rittenhouse Square. Louisa must have been waylaid along the way, because he arrived at her apartment right behind the threesome.

In the kitchen, Louisa gave Damian and Mark each a quick hug. “Thanks for the escort home.”

“Anytime.”

Conor took off his jacket and draped it over the back of an island stool. “Is it normal for Xavier to get that drunk?” Conor steered her across the floor.

“No.” Louisa shook her head. “That’s the first time I’ve ever seen him act like anything less than a gentleman.”

“Same here,” Damian said. “Not that we’re besties or anything, but I’ve run into him at other functions. His behavior is usually professional.”

Conor snorted. “Alcohol turns some people into asses.” Of course, sometimes booze simply lowered a man’s ability to hide his true nature.

“It was appalling the way people were discussing the murders.” Louisa’s mouth tightened with disgust. “It was almost as if they found gossiping about the case exciting.”

“People suck, honey.” Mark rubbed her arm.

“You know what’s really aggravating and pathetic?” Damian’s eyes shifted to angry. “I reported a teen missing the same day as Zoe Finch disappeared. She was one of the kids in my after-school program. She didn’t get a clip on the news. No one cares what happened to her.”

The sudden burst of temper surprised Conor. “Louisa mentioned that you represent disadvantaged kids.”

Mark wrapped an arm around Damian’s shoulder. “He’s trying to open a supervised after-school program for high schoolers in the neighborhood where he grew up. Some of these kids don’t have a safe place to wait until their parents get home.”