Page 50 of Mountain Security

“Something’s happening,” Yvette said. She’d stopped moving.

On the dance floor, several other couples had also stopped dancing and stood stock still, staring at their cell phones.

“I need to get to Pierre,” Yvette said hoarsely.

And Alex realized, finally, his mind catching up, that people were staring and pointing at them.

Or rather, some were pointing at him and Yvette. But a larger crowd had formed around Mayor Chevalier. The room filled with loud whispers and shocked murmurs.

Yvette strode confidently towards Pierre, coming close to elbowing several people who didn’t move away fast enough.

Follow her.

Stay with her.

Alex did, his long legs quickly catching up. His bigger bulk helped, opening up the way for her, until, finally, she faced Pierre.

“Pierre?” Yvette’s voice shook.

Pierre stood frozen, his eyes glassy. For once, he was alone, as if whoever he’d been speaking with had moved away, not wanting to get caught in whatever was happening.

Yvette fished in her tiny handbag for her phone. The bronze column of her throat moved up and down as she read something on the screen. He saw her eyes move as she went back up to the top of the screen and read it again. Her voice, when she spoke, was quiet. “Pierre? Is this true?”

By this time, even Alex was curious. Not that he cared that much about whatever gossip had everybody’s panties in a wad. But he cared about Yvette, and about whatever had caused the pinched expression she now wore.

Alex felt a telltale buzzing in his pocket. Whatever the scandal was, it’d taken a bit longer to reach him. The message was from Hugo, who was of course working tonight, because Alex had asked him to research several of the people on Yvette’s list.

The message was short and to the point, because that was Hugo’s style, but also because there wasn’t that much to say.

News just broke.

The mayor’s having an affair with a younger woman.

Yvette’s boss had just become a walking, talking stereotype—the older politician who couldn’t keep it inside his pants.

The crowd around them thickened, like spectators of a boxing match who stood on, half-hoping to get splattered by blood. Alex knew there wasn’t going to be any blood, though. That wasn’t Yvette’s style.

Alex took a step forward. There wasn’t much he could do, except be here for her, and that, he was damned well going to do.

“What happened, Pierre?”

There was an infinite sadness in Yvette’s voice. She wasn’t asking if he’d done it—everything about the man, from his glassy stare to his quivering jaw, screamed his guilt.

Finally, the mayor’s jaw unclenched enough for him to speak. “Life isn’t always black or white, Yvette,” he whispered.

Now it was Yvette’s turn to clench her teeth together. “Maybe some things should be, Pierre.”

Though her words were soft, so only the three of them could hear, the older man rocked back on his heels, as if she’d slapped him.

The mayor looked around them. He had the look of a man whose life was imploding—which his literallywas, Alex supposed.

“You’re going to have to make a decision, Yvette. I wouldn’t want …” He paused as he searched in his mind for the right word. “I wouldn’t want this to splatter you.”

With that, he turned on his heels and left the party. As the man disappeared out the door, the quiet murmurs grew, becoming louder and louder, a cacophony of sound that filled every available space.

16

* * *

---