Free Swingin' in the Rain by Eileen Davidson

As I did, she held my hand just a little too long. Oh right! Girls rule.
      “Thank you,” she said to me, smiling with her dark exotic eyes. “There’s a bar down the hall and to the left, past all the theme rooms.”
      George and I nudged each other. “Theme” rooms? “There’s also a dance floor in there. The DJ will be starting in about...” she looked at her diamond studded Rolex, “...about twenty minutes or so.”
      DJ? Honestly, a DJ? I thought to myself.
      She reached for a crystal bowl that sat on her desk.
      “Just in case?” She passed the bowl to each of us.
      “How nice. Breath mints,” George said reaching into the bowl. P
      Patti swatted his hands. “They’re not breath mints, Fabrizio.”
      “Well, what are they...Vivica?”
      “They’re condoms. Safe sex or no sex.”
      “Of course! Always safe sex,” I said as I grabbed a few. I threw a couple to George and Tonja.
      “Wrists, please,” Natalie said as she opened a drawer and pulled out a stamp. We all dutifully held out our arms as she stamped the fleur-de-lis on the inside of each of our wrists. Whatever they were using made the ink very dark and precise, like a tattoo.
      Patti walked over to another door and opened it. A heavy curtain hung from the ceiling. As she pulled it aside Natalie said, “It’s still early. There aren’t too many people here, yet. Give it another hour. Oh, and have fun.” She had a small smile on her face as she turned back to sit down.
      We walked through the curtain and the door closed behind us. I suddenly felt like I was stepping into another world as I walked into the long dark hallway. It was empty and the walls were painted black and had small dimly lit sconces on either side. I could make out maybe four or five closed doors on the left with signs on them. On the right maybe two more doors. Each door had a small window next to it. 
      George reached for my hand. “What have you gotten me into, you crazy woman?” he whispered.
      “Are you kidding me? You begged to come along. Don’t blame me if this freaks you out.”
    “Just kidding. This’ll be fun.” He looked at me, worried. “Won’t it?” I wasn’t so sure what I’d call it. Patti turned around. “You coming?” she asked me.
      “Yeah, of course. But what is this all about? What does this have to do with Randy’s murder?”
      “Shhhhh.” Patti grabbed my hand pulled me into a corner. “I told you, just like I told the cops,” she insisted, “I don’t know anything about Randy’s death.”
      Just then three couples exited a room down the hallway. They were laughing. Patti abruptly stopped talking and put on a smile. It looked more like a grimace, actually. The couples disappeared through another door further down the hall.
      Patti glanced around nervously making sure no one was near us. “I just thought you should know a little more about your ex-husband. Maybe it’ll lead somewhere. Now, I’ll show you around and that’s that. You’re the amateur detective. You figure it out.” She looked around again. “C’mon. I’m in a hurry.”

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
     
     
      “Let’s go!” Patti whispered as she led the way. I wasn’t exactly sure why we were being so sneaky, but I took Patti’s lead.
      George and I headed down the hallway with Tonja following behind. I stopped at the first door and saw a sign that said Director’s Room. I moved to the window, took a peek and couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There was a raised platform at the front of the room surrounded by maybe 10 – 15 mattresses. One guy was sitting in a director’s chair and a handful of people were on the beds engaging in things I’d only seen on Animal Planet. I must have looked shocked because George took off his hat and used it to push me out of the way.
      “I wanna see! Move over.” He looked in the window and screamed hoarsely.
      “Shut up George!” Patti hissed. “Remember what I said? Get