“There’s nothing either one of us can do about that tonight.” Arsenio shifted me out of the way of the mirror. He was that young boy in the bow tie and suspenders once again, except this boy was all grown up and devastating in a Burberry suit with his curls gelled into a bun. He looked like he walked off a modeling shoot.
“You and Ellis planned this dinner. Least we can do is show up.”
I slumped against his dresser. “I can’t focus when all I’m doing is waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
“Gold is fine, de Souza.”
“You’re just saying that.”
“I’m not,” he sliced in. “The crazy fuck you’ve been going up against is enjoying all this. The game, the chase, the clues in the Dante broadcast, the letters taunting you. If he discovered Gold was onto him, I guarantee you’d have gotten another letter filled with promises to make you pay for it.
“He’s not keeping you in the dark, de Souza. He wants the lights on, so you know there’s no chance of escape.”
The silence stretched long past comfortable.
“So what does that mean?” I asked. “What’s stopping Gold from calling me back?”
“You’ll find out when you hear from him.”
He tugged me back in front of the mirror. Grabbing my jacket off the bed, he helped me into it, laying the fabric over my curves.
The guys bought me a new dress for the night’s festivities. A formal dress with a swooping neckline and conservative hem. It was perfect for the dress code I set, in the town hall banquet room I booked, to meet the guests I put on the list.
Jeremy and Micah were all over me the last week and a half pulling things together for the party. Naturally, Daddy Ellis hired an event planner for the fine details, but the person who had to answer her questions, was me.
“Are you nervous?” I asked as he messed with a stray lock of hair that slipped the bobby pins.
“I don’t get nervous.”
“So, what’s all of this?”
He winked. “Can’t a guy fuss over his girl before she meets his mother?”
“Well, now I’m nervous.” My smile didn’t last long. “Jeremy told me all your parents rsvp’d.”
“They’re as invested in the future of this town as we all are. Especially the woman governing it.”
“Steven Ellis will be there. Some of Foundry’s board members too,” I said. “This dinner could be a good thing. Get what’s happening out in the open. Let Steven Ellis come up with excuses to our faces for why his sons are using such extreme methods to push the vote for Crystal Canyon.”
“I’m sure those actions will be introduced as dinner topic in the subtle, backhanded way politicians and businesspeople work.” Arsenio stepped back to admire me. “Tonight, I’ll stick close to Steven Ellis. We can listen to the Crows bluster all day long, but he’s the true power behind this. We’ll probe him,” he said. “Get him to admit what he truly wants to do to this town.”
I cast a glance at the door, imagining I saw through to Cairo getting ready in his bedroom across the hall.
“Do we have a chance of stopping this, Arsenio? The Crows haven’t done a great job endearing themselves lately. Jeremy is convinced they can’t get anywhere without forcing the Bedlam Boys to leave town, and he’s making stupid moves because of it. But I’ve heard what people are saying.”
“What would that be?”
“That Bedlam is stuck in the past and eventually the future is going to leave it behind. People aren’t interested in getting in bed with the Crows, but they are on board with changing the way things run around here.”
“What you’re saying is this little dinner of yours may give Foundry exactly what they want.”
“When you put it like that, I get the impression you’re pissed I came up with this ‘little dinner of mine.’”
He laughed. “I’m not. Honestly, I’m not. Foundry has the forum to defend themselves and their actions tonight, but so does Bedlam. Their claims will be challenged. Their promises will have to come with receipts. All of Bay Avenue and the business owners of Bedlam are coming tonight, yes?”
“Yes.”
“They’re not a bunch of college students dreaming of smoke shops and a Panera Bread. They carry weight in this community, and they won’t be so easily convinced.”
“But there’s something that might end the war for good,” I said. “Stop the collections.”
“Excuse me?”
I closed the distance between us. “Think about it. I know you’ve helped a lot of needy families, but has it been enough? Foundry’s already bought up a chunk of property in this town. The thing is he can’t do anything with it unless the town splits.
“As long as he’s under the power of town hall, he’s stuck, so it doesn’t matter if he buys up every blade of grass. Year after year, we keep the people on our side and ensure they vote no. They’ll happily do so if living here didn’t come with a separate tax and violent collectors.”