“Well, it’s about damn time you showed yourself. You think we got all night to wait on your pretty ass?”
Ignoring him, I pulled the door shut behind me, and as I stepped out onto the sidewalk, Houdini let a loud wolf whistle.
“Come on, give as a turn. Show us what the golden boy of the Elite looks like all polished and spit-shined.”
I flipped Houdini off, and was about to tell him to shove it up his ass, when Whiplash—who was no doubt going to live up to her name tonight—joined him at the window and called out, “Aww don’t be a spoilsport, he made me do it too. Give us a twirl, Panther.”
Shaking my head at Houdini’s bark of laughter, I tucked my hat under my arm and then slowly pivoted.
“Lookin’ goood, my man.”
“He’s not wrong,” Whiplash said, an appreciative look in her eye when I rounded back. “You look smokin’ hot.”
“Uh, hello. I’m sittin’ right here, you know.”
Whiplash looked at Houdini and nodded. “Oh, I know, but you have to admit, the Panther scrubs up mighty fine.”
Serves him right,I thought, as I walked to the limo. As I pulled open the door and slid inside, I took a moment to look at my two traveling companions.
Dressed much like myself, Houdini didn’t scrub up half bad. His blond hair was styled to the side and he was sporting a slight stubble tonight, making him look every inch the Robert Redford doppelganger we always called him.
As for Whiplash, I hadn’t been wrong. With her long hair professionally styled and her makeup flawlessly applied, it didn’t matter that she wasn’t in some elegant ball gown: she was one of the most beautiful women I’d ever seen. Houdini would be tripping over himself all night, and that was enough to make me feel a little better about what I was going to have to endure over the next however many hours.
I pulled the door shut, and as Whiplash settled into her side, Houdini glanced my way and said, “Solo leave already?”
The question was innocent enough, but I heard the underlying meaning and shook my head. “Pretty sure Gucci is gonna come and drag him out.”
“Ahh, okay.” Houdini looked over to Whiplash, busy looking at something on her phone, and then brought his eyes back to mine. “Everything good?”
I nodded. “Yeah. Sure. Why do you ask?”
Houdini’s eyes narrowed and he shrugged. “No reason, just checkin’ in.”
I fiddled with the brim of my hat, wishing I could tell him that the last thing I wanted was to go to this thing, walk the line alone, and then watch Solo from the other side of the room all night. But with Whiplash so close, I forced a smile and said, “I’m good. Just ready to get there and get this thing over with.”
Houdini reached over and clapped me on the shoulder, and Whiplash held her phone up and snapped a photo. “Oh, buddy. I have to say you two are looking seriously hot. I’m telling you, Panther, you might be arriving solo, but by the end of it, I bet you could have your pick of any of the single ladies there tonight.”
My stomach revolted at the inadvertent reference to who I wish I could be arriving with, and also the idea of leaving with anyone other than Solo. “I think I’ll pass. Especially with the old man there.”
“Oh, that’s right. What a drag,” she said, screwing her nose up. “Well, we better get going; we still have to pick up Alphabet.”
I nodded, and as she called up to the driver and the car started to pull away from the barracks, I looked out the window in time to see Solo standing by my door, alone and ever fading as the car pulled further away.
I had the insane urge to tell the driver to stop, so I could get out and go to him, but instead I shut my mouth and did what I knew had to be done, knowing this small distance, this separation, had nothing on what we were going to face the day after NAFTA was through.
36Solo
IT FELT LIKE a gut punch watching Panther drive away. I watched the limo until it was out of sight, standing there all alone.All dressed up and somewhere awful to go.
“I don’t think I’ve seen an uglier mug in all my life,” Gucci called out as he walked down from his room at the far end of the building with a woman I’d never seen before on his arm. He looked sharp, as did his date, who wore a long gown of shimmering gold. When he stopped in front of me, he frowned. “Why do you look like you just lost your best friend? Hello, I’m right here.”
Because I think I did just lose him. And there’s nothing I can do about it.
But I couldn’t tell Gucci that, not right now. So I slapped a more pleasant expression on my face and fist-bumped like I didn’t have a care in the world. At least, until I saw the monstrosity that drove up in front of our building.
“What the fuck is that?” The long black stretch limo wasn’t the classy ride Panther had gotten into, it was—
“A Hummer limo. Nice, right?”
