Finding Elvis Ch. 06

"Not in this crowd," she murmured back. "They're as bad as Ivan. Good thing you have a nice first name. It'll be all over the social pages in the morning. You'll be lucky if you aren't Shauna Werner, too."

I groaned and covered my face. "That bastard. How does this stuff happen to me? What have I done to deserve this, God?"

Gretchen quirked an eyebrow at me. "I assume that was a rhetorical question?" she asked.

"Everyone," Hans said again, cutting off any reply I might have made "I'm not done yet. I have a few more important announcements." The crowd quieted down, wondering what other news could top Hans' first bombshell. I saw Senator Cartwright in the crowd, glaring. Surprisingly, it wasn't us he was glaring at. He was shooting daggers toward Kat who ignored him with more aplomb than I would have been able to.

"The next bit of big news," Hans said, "Is that they are expecting! Shauna is pregnant!"

"Hawk," I protested into the confused good wishes. "My name is Hawk!"

"The child is obviously one that is provided via an alternate fertilization process, but it will be welcomed and loved by all of us as Gretchen's child of the flesh!" Hans exulted.

The crowd was looking less and less certain as the facts started sinking in. This might be the state where it was legal, but I could tell that it wasn't universally accepted. Murmuring was breaking out as they talked about us with each other. I wondered what rumors would be started before dawn.

"And last, but not least, I have one final bit of good news for the happy couple," Hans said, slipping in between us and sliding an arm around each of our waists. "I made a promise to myself a long time ago that when my little girl finally got married, I would show her and her spouse how much I was pleased to see it happen. At that time I had a trust created and I made arrangements to name them both as co-trustees of that trust this afternoon."

I frowned, not really understanding what he was talking about. Gretchen obviously knew more than I did, as she gawked at him in surprise. Whatever a trust was, that seemed to make up the minds of the crowd as they surged forward to heap congratulations on us both.

I fended off the first couple and stuck beside Gretchen with a grip of iron as Hans abandoned us to the sharks. My mind rapidly became numb from all the smooth blather. It was only when I heard a nasty voice that I focused back in on the people around us.

Kat leaned in and hissed at Gretchen. "Enjoy it while it lasts. I know something that will destroy your life and this cow's, too." She deftly avoided Gretchen's grab and pulled back into the crowd. Gretchen bulled after her and I tried to follow, but the people were too thick.

It took me several minutes to finally fight clear and by then, neither of the women were anywhere in sight. I roamed the room, looking without luck. Then I spotted Vanessa talking with Lurch, who was drying his hands with a towel. She looked worried. He buttoned the sleeves on his shirt and slipped his jacket back on as I walked up to them.

"Unbuttoning in a crowd? Pretty informal, Jeeves. Have either of you seen Gretchen or Kat?" I asked.

"I spilled something on my shirt," he sniffed. "The mistress went upstairs a few minutes ago," Lurch told me. "I'm not sure about Miss Gretchen."

I managed to nod my thanks and went out into the hall and up the stairs. This house was so huge; I still might not find them easily. I had just reached the second floor landing when I heard a blood curdling scream from down the hall to my right. I reached for my weapon, which of course I didn't have, and cursed. Then I bolted down the hall and to the only open door ahead.

Inside the bedroom, I saw Gretchen. Her back was to me and she was backing up.

"Gretchen?" I asked, looking around. She was backing up from the door to the attached bathroom.

Gretchen half turned and my blood ran cold. In her hand was a kitchen knife. A long, bloody kitchen knife. Her face was white with shock, and she dropped the knife from her bloodstained fingers. I stepped up beside her and looked into the bathroom, my face grim.

Inside, lying on the floor in a pool of blood was Senator Cartwright. He had been stabbed in the chest. To make a bad situation worse, Kat Werner was sprawled beside him, also stabbed in the chest. Both of them had their eyes open, staring in death with a horrified expression on their faces that I had seen in far too many murder victims.