The Hanging
Page 28
Even Max had misty eyes when we saw the two embrace. It was Michael’s tutoring that got Sly through school academically, and his friendship that buoyed him through life.
Lana, waving an arm, caught my attention as she wedged her way through the press of people. Max melted away into the crowd when he saw her; Lana was not one of his favorites.
“Fabulous, Maggie,” she said, snagging two glasses of champagne from the tray of a passing waiter. She handed one to me. Tipping her glass against mine, she said, “L’chaim.”
“To life.”
She leaned in close. “The French boyfriend is gorgeous—good for you.”
“How do you know which one is Jean-Paul?”
“Guido pointed him out.”
She was searching the crowd. “I saw you talking to that handsome uncle of yours. Where’d he go? We have some business to discuss.”
“Do we?” I asked.
“You’re hot now, honey,” she said. “The network wants to talk about a new series. Where’s Max?”
I pointed. “He went that way.”
Jean-Paul slipped into the space she vacated and slipped his hand under my elbow. He canted his head toward the jazz combo.
“Do you hear what they’re playing?”
It was the old Dooley Wilson standard, “As Time Goes By.”
“What would Bogart do now?” I asked.
He put his lips against my ear. “He would put his arm around the girl and dance her out of the room.”
About the Author
Edgar Award-winner Wendy Hornsby is the author of nine previous mysteries, seven of them featuring Maggie MacGowen. She lives in Long Beach, California, where she is a professor of history at a local college.
She welcomes visitors and email at www.wendyhornsby.com.
Also by Wendy Hornsby
The Maggie MacGowen Mystery Series
Telling Lies
Midnight Baby
Bad Intent
77th Street Requiem
A Hard Light
In the Guise of Mercy
The Paramour’s Daughter
Other Mysteries
No Harm
Half a Mind
Nine Sons [stories & essays]