The Tower

"But my feet went out, and I swear to God I hit the floor flat on my back. I mean, every part of my back hit the ground at the same time. And the eggs, the eggs…" She covered her mouth, her shoulders heaving again with laughter. "I mean, it was like a cartoon. Up in the air." She imitated her frantic attempt to locate the eggs above her, and then the exaggerated expression of shock that crossed her face once she did. "All over me. My face, my hair, my neck. All over."

Everyone at the table laughed.

"And so Thomas turns around to me slowly and says, 'Darby, honey, if you need more attention from me, all you have to do is ask.' " She laughed and pounded the table again. The men all grabbed their water glasses.

Thomas leaned over, draping his arm across her shoulder. "Dear, why don't we see if the Lawrences have arrived yet? We told them we'd catch up."

"Sure, sure." Darby pushed back from the table and laid her napkin gracefully across her place setting. "Gentlemen, it was a pleasure horrifying you with stories of my ineptitude." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "Now you know the truth," she added to smiles all around.

She followed Thomas through the clusters of tables, the self-assured patrons of the arts, the lipsticked smiles, the jeweled fingers, until they were alone by the bar. Glancing over Thomas's shoulder, she caught Jade's eye.

"How are you, love?" Thomas asked.

She rolled her eyes. "What a chore. I swear to God these people all have large sticks up their asses. I feel like I'm talking to a bunch of corpses." She imitated a wide-eyed stare with an excessive head nod. "'And how are you, Darby? You look great-I mean fantastic. And Thomas is all right? Good, good. And has your son embalmed anyone this week? Oh. Good, good.' " She made a quick gagging gesture, bringing one finger to her open mouth.

Thomas smiled at her, shaking his head. "I recognize that the strain of being charming must wear you down considerably," he said. "But, you know, you do look quite lovely."

"Thank you, honey. I don't mean to be ungrateful, it just seems like there are no real people here. You know what I mean?" Her shoulders dropped. "Not many real people anywhere for us anymore."

She ran her open hands over the lapels of his tuxedo. "And you look very handsome. Are you here with anybody?" Rising to her tiptoes, she kissed him gently on the lips.

Chapter 53

J A D E watched the Atlasias from across the restaurant. They had agreed that they should move to the bar area if nothing happened during the first half of dinner. They'd be more visible there, more vulnerable.

Now that they were in position, Jade was having second thoughts. There was so much activity at the bar that there was no way he could keep an eye on everything. He drummed his fingers underneath the table and grimaced. It suddenly felt wrong again, like it had in the theater. It felt risky.

He moved to a table that was closer to the bar, signaling Travers to head outside and watch the street. He was convinced that everything was safe among the tables behind him, so he wanted to shift their coverage to the front of the restaurant and outside. Travers exited the bar casually, turning a few heads on her way.

With Travers outside, it was up to him to cover the entire restaurant. The other agent, who was casually watching the crowd above the bottom half of the Dutch door, was not to leave her post. They were daring Allander to strike. The Atlasias were dangling like bait on a hook.

After Travers left, Jade felt a sinking in his stomach. The early taste of panic flooded his mouth. As he watched the smiling faces moving in all directions, he felt his control of the situation slowly slipping away.

His sweat seemed to come in waves, as if his hammering heartbeat was pushing it through his pores. He thought of Darby outside the movie theater, her smeared makeup and tired eyes, trying to face the crowd of jostling cops and reporters. We're more than this.

One of the waiters bumped into Thomas, and Jade almost left his seat in a sprint, but the fellow righted his tray, apologized, and moved on.

Once they got to the bar, Darby and Thomas knew not to return to their seats. The front door opened and swung closed slowly, and Darby felt a breeze blow across her shoulders. "Honey, I'm a little chilly. Would you mind getting my coat?"

Jade had told them not to separate, but force of habit made them forget their instructions. A crowd of women headed for the bar to refresh their glasses of wine, blocking Darby and Thomas from view. Jade sat up straight in his chair to keep his eye on them. He felt a tingling down his spine as he waited for his view to clear. When the women parted, he saw only Darby.

Jade stood up, knocking his chair over clumsily and scanning the restaurant for Thomas. Darby looked over at him, concern written in the furrows of her brow. With a tilt of her head, she indicated where Thomas was. Jade turned and saw Thomas heading for the coat closet.