style="font-size:15px;"> It also had a hardwood floor.
Eduardo wasn’t pleased, but he seemed resigned. Disdainful, but resigned.
Beth managed to get Eduardo to allow her to attend the rehearsal. At first she simply watched the two dances in wonder. It seemed unbelievable that anyone could move their hips as fast as Maria did. On the dance floor, she was ageless. Her face glowed; her elegance was visible in every movement.
“Incredible,” Beth murmured.
“Come on. I’ll teach you,” Eduardo said.
“Oh, no, no,” Beth protested.
But she found herself standing up with him anyway. “It’s all in the timing,” he told her. The music was playing again. Mauricio came up to partner her under Eduardo’s direction, while Maria stepped behind her to show her how to move her hips. She grew flushed and happy as she began to get the timing, so involved that, to her amazement, she forgot the current circumstances of her life.
Forgot that she had first thought of this because she’d wanted to meet Eduardo Shea, suspecting that he might somehow have been involved in the Monocos’ disappearance. To her absolute amazement, she was having fun.
Until Amanda Mason arrived.
Amanda greeted Eduardo with enthusiasm, kissed Mauricio, and did the continental kiss-on-both-cheeks thing with Maria Lopez. At that point Beth excused herself and returned to her office. She was startled when she reached her door to turn around and discover that she had been followed.
By Amanda.
The woman stood there, chin high, hands on her hips—looking much taller than her actual stature—staring at Beth belligerently. “Why do you do that to me all the time?” Amanda demanded.
“Why do I do what?” Beth demanded.
“I walk into a room, and you leave.”
Beth stared at her, stunned. Then she replied honestly, “Let’s see. Maybe because you treat me as if I were a servant or a lesser being of some kind?”
“I do not,” Amanda protested.
“You do, too.”
“If I do, it’s only because of the way you act toward me.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Let’s see. You don’t do anything overt. That nose of yours just goes in the air a little, and you look at me as if I were…the trash of the century.”
Beth could barely believe the conversation.
“Amanda—” She broke off, shaking her head, not at all sure what to say. “Maybe it’s the way you behave.”
“And that would be…?”
“I don’t know! As if the world was your toy, as if men were there for your amusement, whether they’re married, engaged or…taken.”
“You’re jealous.”
“No, Amanda, I’m not jealous.”
She expected anger, some kind of scathing retort. But Amanda just stared at her. “Am I that bad, really?”
Beth sighed. “I don’t know, Amanda. Maybe it’s me, too. I don’t know.”
She didn’t know what she expected then. Certainly not the frown that furrowed Amanda’s brow. “I…I’ll try to be…” She paused, looking for a word. “Better.”
Then she walked down the hallway, and Beth went into her office and sat down, stunned.
KEITH WAITED IN THE Palm Beach deli. At ten o’clock, Laurie Green walked in, just as she had promised. She saw him at the table, and a smile lit her face. “Keith!”
She rushed over and hugged him fiercely. He hugged her back, then disentangled himself carefully. She had lost her parents when the plane had gone down, and she herself had nearly perished in the muck soup of the Everglades. She had experienced agony and grief, but from the beginning, she had been grateful for her own life. Once on the verge of death, her sandy skin and light hair spoke of her health and well-being.
Slightly embarrassed by her show of emotion, he managed to get her seated opposite him. “So everything’s going okay?” he asked.
She nodded. “I graduate from Nova University next spring.”
“That’s great. I’m delighted to hear it.”
She waved her left hand in front of him, showing him the diamond on her finger. “And I’m getting married in the fall.”
“That’s absolutely wonderful,” he said sincerely.
Then she smiled. “That’s not why you called me.”
“No.”
“What’s up? You know that I’ll help you any way I can.”
“I know that, and thanks…. Do you know if your folks were friends with a couple named Ted and Molly Monoco?”
The smiled left her face. “Have they been found?” she asked.
He shook his head. “So it’s true, they were friends of your folks?”
She nodded. “I didn’t know them that well. My parents decided to take dance lessons for some event they were going to. Ted owned the studio they went to, and they got friendly. They were nice. Are nice. I hope. I don’t know what to think.”
Keith nodded. “Did you ever meet a man named Manny Ortega?”
“Oh!” she exclaimed, her cheeks reddening. “I gave him your number. I told him I’d gotten it a long time ago, that it might not be good. Did I do something wrong? I’d forgotten all about it.”
“No, no, it’s fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely. So you know Manny?”
“Yes, he was a friend of the Monocos. I went to a couple of dance parties with my parents, and he was there, playing with the band. I was sticking out like a sore thumb, and he was nice to me. I can’t say that I’ve seen him in…well, in years. But when he called me, saying that Ted hadn’t called in and he’d mentioned something about your name, well…I’m sorry. I didn’t hesitate to give him the number.”
“It’s fine. I just had to make sure,” Keith told her. “So tell me about this guy you’re about to marry.”
He had a firm destination in mind once he left Laurie, and with a two-hour plus—depending on traffic—drive ahead of him, he pulled out his cell phone and put a call through to Mike. “Manny’s information checked out,” he told his boss.
“Any more finds?”
“Not
