Chapter 34
You, me, and your friend, together again in the ballroom, six years after your improbable escape.
Melissa’s words rang in Nicky’s mind and left her wondering what might have been.
She wondered what might have happened had she not gotten up and left the Farm, but instead went further inside to find her family.
She wondered what might have happened had she and Gia spent more time at the lookout post, not just looking for intelligence about Melissa’s side businesses, but actually looking for Frankie and her father.
She wondered how close she and Frankie had come tonight. Had Nicky poked her head into Renata’s kitchen, or out the back door, would she have seen him?
Nicky waited for Jill to get in the elevator, then she got up from the booth in the lobby of the Hamilton and went outside. She walked along the perimeter of the hotel until she was in an alleyway in the back. She checked all around and when she was confident no one was present, she stepped into the shadows behind a dumpster and called Gia.
“Nicky, what’s going on? Aren’t you supposed to be at your party?”
“Frankie’s alive,” Nicky said, savoring the words as she spoke them aloud. She had left Frankie out of the story she told Jill, knowing that Jill wouldn’t understand the significance. But to say the words to Gia, to the only person who had shared in Nicky’s search, it was a moment of pure bliss, even if the next words were as ugly and harsh as the world they lived in. “He’s a slave in Renata’s mansion.”
Silence on the other end.
“And we’ve got a problem with Melissa Mayhew,” Nicky added.
“Nicky, are you telling me you saw Frankie inside?”
She told Gia the story, the complete, unabridged story, recounting her conversation with Melissa word for word.
“Dear God,” Gia said. “You sure know how to make it interesting.”
“I think we’ll need to plan an assassination attempt on Melissa,” said Nicky.
“I should say so. But don’t you worry about that right now. You’ve got a party to get to.”
“And I’d like to be involved when we discuss how we’re going to get Frankie out.”
“I know you do. One thing at a time, though, okay? You’re already late.”
“And I don’t know what to make of Sergio. I swear – I never was able to do the Abbot’s meditation before, but after Sergio danced with me….something changed.”
“Nicky, this is all very interesting and we’ll do a full debriefing later, but right now you are still on assignment. There are people waiting for you on the top floor. You need to get up there. It’s time to hang up the phone.”
“I know,” Nicky said. “I’m just…I can’t believe Frankie is alive.”
“I can’t believe it either,” said Gia. “I’m happy for you, and I’m going to help you get him out. Now get your ass up there and get back to work.”
Nicky smiled. Back to work. Her “job” was to go to a private party with the biggest pop star in the world, a party where she was the guest of honor. Things could be worse.
She said goodbye to Gia and went back to the lobby, where she found the front desk very willing to help her. They escorted her to the luxury suite on the eighth floor and had a stylist come direct to her room to help her get her hair and makeup back in order. It was just before two in the morning when she got back on the elevator and pressed the button for the top floor. She could hear the music thumping on the other side of the door as the elevator came to a stop. Taking a deep breath, she waited for the doors to open, then she stepped out of the elevator and into the party.
END OF BOOK 1 – Keep reading for info about Girls Wearing Black Book 2
*****
Author’s Note
I released The Homecoming Masquerade in January 2012, ending the novel with a promise to have the sequel out by the end of the year. At the time, I figured my small but hard-earned group of fans would be the primary audience for this book and would be more than happy to wait until the sequel was ready.
The response to Homecoming Masquerade in its first week of release dwarfed anything my previous novels had done, and right away my Inbox was flooded with demands for Book 2. As thrilling as that was, the message in those emails gave me pause. Most everybody who took the time to write to me also took the time to tell me: End of the year is too long to wait!
And so, with a tremendous amount of help from my wife, I’ve done a massive rearrangement of my life to allow for more writing time every day, and I’m happy to report I expect to report that the sequel will be out this fall, rather than this winter. As of this writing, the sequel is very close to completion. Please check my web site for updates.
Thanks everyone for your patience. I’m humbled at the response to this novel, and look forward to hearing from you.
Spencer Baum – August 18, 2012
www.spencerbaum.net
*****
Acknowledgements
My cover designer, Chris Stenger, outdid himself with this one. Thank you, Chris.
As he has done for all my books, my friend Rob provided valuable feedback on the story as it was developing, and the manuscript when it was ready to read. Thanks dude.
Thank you Becca Taylor, Christina Grant, and Callie Kourniotis for seeking out those little things in the manuscript that are so easy for an author to miss.
The community at Kindleboards has kept me up to date on the latest trends in publishing and also provided inspiration whenever I needed it. Good luck, everyone.
I feel like every author who is making a go of it in the digital age owes some thanks to Joe Konrath, who has been our advocate and champion from the early days. Same goes for Amanda Hocking, who showed us all that nice girls can in fact finish first.
Kira, Rowan, and Connor – I love you guys.
And of course the biggest thanks goes to my wife, Julie, whose name should appear on the front cover for all the help she provided with this one.
Look for Girls Wearing Black Book Two in Fall 2012!
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