Alien Diplomacy

choice between Guy and the real Pepé, I was voting skunk, all the way.
    “So flattering. You’re quite the Smooth Operator, aren’t you? So, you truly have no idea who was shooting at us earlier today?”
    He sighed again. “None. Your mother asked me, over and over again. But I have no idea.” He grimaced. “I would have liked to have had an answer, especially after she harangued me for an hour.”
    “Poor baby. Maybe you shouldn’t have told lies.”
    “Was it a lie? Someone was shooting at us.”
    I pondered this. “Did you tell anyone else that you either thought Jack was murdered or that you were planning to use the clever ploy of telling me you knew the assassination target and were next on the hit list?”
    “No.” Vance said this with a very straight, serious face. I didn’t buy it.
    Gadoire made the exasperation sound. “Vance, I can always, always , tell when you’re lying. Who else did you share these wild theories with?”
    He looked down. “Just the rest of the guys.”
    “The guys? You mean Abner and Bryce?”
    “Yeah. And Leslie,” he added with a grin. “She’s one of the guys, too, you know.”
    I refrained from comment. “And you told them you were trying to get me into a threesome with you and Guy and that you were going to use Jack’s murder or suicide as a ploy?” On the same day the man had died. A man who was supposedly Vance’s friend. These people were really the exact opposite of “salt of the Earth.”
    Vance nodded. “None of them thought I was right about Jack, and not one of them believes there’s going to be any trouble tonight, either. So no harm done there,” he added to Gadoire. “Your relationships with their sig-o’s won’t be affected.”
    I managed not to say that, clearly, at least one of them had indeed believed Vance’s theory, in which case, Gadoire’s relationship with that significant other could indeed be affected. “So, seriously, neither one of you thinks we’re in actual danger, despite the fact that Jack died after he called and warned all of us?”
    Vance shrugged. “Abner said it wasn’t possible. There’s too much security here for anyone to be able to get away with anything.”
    Gadoire seemed to consider the possibility as real for the first time. He looked around. “I’m sure it’s a ridiculous fancy, but…” He gave me what I was sure he felt was a seductive smile. “Why don’t we all take a room here, just to be safe?”
    “So, you’re suggesting I take off with you two, in the middle of the President’s Ball, to have a wild fling, while my husband and everyone else from our Diplomatic Mission happens to be here?”
    “Yes. It will add to the excitement.”
    “Because a threesome with two guys I barely know wouldn’t be exciting enough, true. And somehow, you don’t think anyone will, say, notice I’m gone?”
    “It’s packed,” Vance said. “If we time it right, we can be backbefore the President gives his speech. No one clears out until that’s over because it’s considered bad form and career death.”
    “Yeah, everyone says quicker is better.” I hadn’t meant to say that aloud. Oh, well. Neither one of them seemed to pick up the sarcasm, so I barreled on. “But you think it’s okay for the three of us to leave and commit said career death?”
    Gadoire nodded. “As long as we’re back in the room when the speech is over, no one is ever the wiser.” He chuckled. “After all, you’ve been with us quite a while, and no one has noticed.”
    “Oh,” a voice said behind us. “I’ve noticed.”



CHAPTER 80
    “K ATHY, DEAR, WHAT ARE YOU DOING with these gentlemen?” White asked, as he stepped around, removed Gadoire’s arm from about my person, and replaced it with his own.
    “Discussing an interesting proposition, Rick, honey.” I wondered where Jeff was but was actually glad he wasn’t the one who’d found me. I wasn’t sure that his reaction wouldn’t have been to pound both Vance and Gadoire into the ground. Not that this seemed like a bad plan to me, but we really didn’t have the time to stop and have fun when we were trying to save everyone.
    White smiled politely. “Gentlemen, allow me to clear up some points of confusion for you. If the ambassador here is having an affair, it’s with me.”
    “Or me,” another voice said from behind. Chuckie sauntered to my other side and took my free hand. “We’ve been having an affair a lot longer. Years, really.”
    “Us