Free Redemption Key (A Dani Britton Thriller) by S.G. Redling Page B

rumpled, and the accessories the women sported seemed more like hardware than fine jewelry.
    But the people were gracious. They smiled when she said Charbaneaux; they hid most of their surprise when she asked about Choo-Choo. Everyone seemed to know him, or of him, and a few thought they’d seen him at the party. They shared meaningful glances when they thought she wasn’t looking. Passing deeper into the party, through a colossal patio room to yet another array of porches full of lanterns and food and partygoers, Dani sensed she was getting close. The reactions to Choo-Choo’s name became more guarded, the eyebrows arched higher, and more than one person let their gaze drift to a section of porch screened behind a trellis of grapes.
    She headed into the shadows of the trellis, the music growing fainter behind her, the crowd thinning out to nothing. The only light on this corner of the house came from a red Moroccan lantern hanging off the eave. It took a moment to make out the shape in the darkness.
    Choo-Choo sprawled in a deep Adirondack chair. His blond hair caught the red glow and the sliver of his profile was expressionless.
    Dani had seen a man sitting like this before, sprawled in a chair, face expressionless. That had been at Rasmund. He had been shot in the head. That’s when her world had fallen apart.
    It couldn’t be happening again.
    No, something moved. She thought he had shifted but as she regained her nerve and stepped closer, she saw that Choo-Choo wasn’t alone. Someone kneeled between his thighs, a blond French braid visible as it rose and fell in a steady rhythm.
    Oh.
    She must have said that out loud because Choo-Choo turned his head, finding her in the shadows. His expression didn’t change.
    “What are you doing here?”
    Dani didn’t know where to look as the blond girl between his legs lifted her head and wiped her lips. “What do you think I’m doing?” the girl asked, annoyed. “How much have you had to drink tonight?”
    “I’m not talking to you.” He nudged her with his knee and ignored her grunt of protest, staring at Dani. “What are you doing here?”
    “I’ve been looking for you,” Dani managed to say. The girl spun at the sound of her voice.
    “Get out of here,” he said.
    “What?” Dani and the girl spoke in unison.
    “Not you,” Choo-Choo said to Dani and then nudged the girl again. “Get out of here.” He sat straighter in the chair and the girl tumbled backwards. He ignored the long string of profanity that poured out of her mouth, an unrelated string of
fuck
and
prick
and
shithead
jumbled together and trailing behind her as she ran back toward the party. Dani tried not to look too closely as he tucked himself back into his loose linen pants.
    “You’re really hard to find,” she said.
    “Am I? I wouldn’t think so.”
    Dani stepped closer, not knowing what to do with her hands or how to stand. Of all the scenarios she’d pictured, this cold reception wasn’t one of them. Choo-Choo sat in the only chair on the porch, forcing her to stand like a student called to the principal’s office.
    He let her stand there for several moments before he spoke. “Did you know there is not one single Danielle Britton in the entire state of Oklahoma? Not one. It’s not that unusual a name, is it? What do you suppose the odds of that are? And I had it on excellent authority there would be at least one.” He shrugged, the closest thing to an expression he’d shown so far. “I didn’t look any further than Oklahoma. I figured you had your reasons to lie to me.”
    “I didn’t lie to you.” She took a step closer, trying to read him. “I lied to them.”
    “Of course, because that would keep ‘them’ from finding you.”
    “I didn’t know where I was going. They were recording everything we said. They dumped me on the sidewalk with just my car keys. I just—”
    “What the fuck, Choo-Choo?” A tall, bronzed woman stomped onto the porch, her armload of