But Riley knew that for all his display of cheerfulness, Thomas Whooteen was ruthless
with a streak of meanness, which stemmed from ill will towards those he felt hindered the
progress of humankind to the will of God.
“I’ll dispense with the question of if you’re having a good time, Mr. Whooten,” Riley
said coolly. “For a man who so energetically decries the reprobate practices of society, you
certainly expose yourself often to such licentious environment.”
Thomas gave friendly smile. “You might say it’s the old adage of keep your friends close
but keep your enemies even closer, wouldn’t you say?”
“I think it more of a man being overly fascinated with what he tries to reject so wholeheartedly.”
The minister’s smile turned a bit nasty. “It would be a mistake to try and find a kinship
with me, Ms. Calderon, in an attempt to have me turn away from my life-long cause.”
“I would never do that, Mr. Whooten. I don’t share in your glee of the type of fun you
like to engage in. Good evening.” Riley walked away, feeling his animosity on her back as he
watched her.
As she tried to make her way to the dance lounge through the thick throng, Riley was
suddenly caught at the waist and swung around. She lifted her face, about to tell off whoever it
was that dared to manhandle her in such fashion, when she saw Tanner’s laughing face.
“Tanner!” She hugged him with welcome gladness. “I was coming in search of you.”
Tanner stepped back and surveyed her and gave her a low whistle. “I don’t know if it’s a
good thing or a bad thing that you are going to be my sister-in-law. Every time I see you, you
make my blood pressure rise.”
Riley wrapped her arm around his waist and the two walked towards the bar. When she
felt his hand at her back slipping to her buttocks, she pulled it back up. “Behave yourself. Now,
tell me, what are you doing here? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? George, can you
make Mr. Wait here a drink?” she asked one of the bartenders. “It’s on the house. What’s your
poison, Tanner?”
“A bottle of Anchor Steam would be good, and put it on my tab. Don’t protest,” Tanner
put a finger to Riley’s lips. “Now, I’m the last person who needs to get his drinks free.” He
kissed her on top of her head.
“You just insulted a perfectly good gesture of friendship and goodwill,” Riley grumbled.
“I hear you’re with friends up here.”
“They were bored in the city. So, I thought I’d bring them here for kicks.”
“By the way, when you see my sister at work, tell her to give her loving sister a call once
in awhile. Being driven to distraction by a wedding nazi is no excuse for her to neglect her
family.”
“Actually, Robbie’s in New York on business. I drove her to the airport two nights ago to
see her off. She won’t be back until Wednesday. She normally hates these trips, but this time, she
was quite relieved to go. You know, to get away from Commandant Hildy. I’ll tell her you said
hi, though, when I see her on Thursday.” Then He smiled down at Riley impishly. “Now, about
me. I’m in desperate need of some entertainment.”
Riley tilted her head to one side and gave him an assessing look. “You know what I think
is the matter with you, my boy. I think you weren’t punished enough when you were younger.”
Tanner’s eyes lit up. “Ah, yes, I think you are right, Ms. Calderon. Severe punishment
has been lacking in my upbringing. I’d be grateful if you would oblige it upon yourself to make
up for what has been remiss.”
“No, no, I don’t partake in these little sessions upstairs. Is there a particular person in
your crowd that you wish to engage in some experiments? If so, I could make private
arrangements. Or, if you wish to explore it in a more anonymous fashion, that can be arranged,
as well.”
“I had a nanny when I was a little boy. She was very beautiful and had these enormous
breasts, and she used to hold me close against them when she was comforting me. I always
imagined what I would do had she been naked while she was holding me. Alas, she left me when
I was ten, because she married.”
“Oh, you poor boy.” Riley put her hand to Tanner’s face. “We’ll see what we can do,
shall we?”
Tanner’s eyes gleamed as he rocked on his heels. “That would be greatly appreciated.”
It took Riley nearly ten minutes but she was finally able to corner Wendy Casper. She
was a platinum blond member of the sex club and a particular favorite for many of the other
members, with big blue eyes, quite buxom and very sweet with a round, pretty face. Riley found
her cozied up in a corner table with a state congressman. She pulled Wendy aside.
“You know he has four children and seven grandchildren, all of whom are older than
you,” Riley pointed out.
Wendy’s eyes widened with innocent astonishment. “I wasn’t going to do anything with
him. He was telling me that he just lost his wife of forty years to cancer.”
“His wife’s in Geneva at a Red Cross conference and in perfect health the last I heard.”
Wendy stared at the older man who was waving at her from his booth. “You don’t say?
Now, why would he have made up all those lies?”
Riley took her by the hand and led her from the lounge. “Now, Wendy, see that young
man at the farthest table on your right?”
Wendy squinted her eyes through the dim light. “There are three of them.”
“The tallest one, very handsome with the light brown straight hair.” Riley gestured
toward Tanner, who was standing beside the table, laughing at a joke that one of his friends had
made.
“Oh, yes. Yes, he is quite good looking, isn’t he?”
“How would you like to play a comforting nanny to him?”
Wendy looked at Riley. “Is he in need of comfort?”
Riley kept a straight face. “Oh, yes, indeed he is.”
“What about Mr. Weir. I can’t just abandon him…”
“This young man’s rich. Very, very rich.”
Wendy looked excited. “Oh, well, a rich man in need of comfort. That’s my specialty.”
Riley smiled as Wendy undulated her curvy form through the crowd to Tanner’s table.
She turned when she felt a tap on her shoulder. “What is it, Joe?”
Her bar manager, looking quite upset, opened his mouth then closed it.
“Joe, what is it?”
“There’s two men here who are asking for you. They’re at the door.”
“Who are they?”
“They’re from the police”
“The police? Now, why would they be here?”
Riley walked to the entrance, where she saw two uniformed men. “May I help you?”
“Are you Ms. Riley Calderon?” one of them asked.
“Yes, I am.”
“We’d like you to come with us, Ms. Calderon?”
“For what reason?”
“We believe there is a minor here who has been forced to engage in lewd conduct against
her will.”
“That’s ridiculous. There’s no minor here. My employees screen every one of these
customers thoroughly…”
“Please, mam, if you could come down to the station quietly for some questioning.”
“Do you have a warrant?”
“No, we don’t.” One of the two policemen leaned closer to Riley. “If you want, we can
make this look quite ugly.”
“And front page news,” his partner said.
Riley was about to tell them where they could take their threats when she spotted Thomas
Whooten several feet away, watching her with a satisfactory gleam in his blue eyes.
She nodded to the two policemen. “I’ll be back,” she said to Joe.
Joe grabbed one of her arms. “Wait. Don’t go with them. They have no right to take you
in without a good cause.”
She shook his hand off. “It’s alright, Joe. It’s better that I go. I’ll be back.”
Joe helplessly watched as the two men escorted Riley outside.
Tanner had been standing a few feet away and had witnessed the whole incident. He
grabbed Joe’s arm. “Where are they taking her?”
Joe shrugged off his hand. “It’s none of your business.”
Tanner rushed outside just as they drove off. He reached in his pocket for his cell phone
and dialed. “Heron, it’s me. Listen, Robbie’s sister is in bit of a trouble up here. The police have
just picked her up at her club and are probably taking her down to their station.”
“For what,” Heron bit out impatiently.
“I don’t know. But, you have to come down here.”
“Why the hell should I?”
“Heron, this is your fiancée’s sister. You have to come down here and help her out.”
“Have they given a cause as to why they’re taking her to the police station? Is she being
arrested?”
“Damn it, Heron, I don’t know. Just come up here and help her out.”
“I’m doing nothing of the kind. It would serve her well to spend some time in jail, if that
is where she is headed for.”
There was a decided click from the other end of the line.
“Shit,” Tanner swore with frustration. He flipped his phone and dialed again, but then
closed it. He paced on the sidewalk. Then he dialed again.
Twenty minutes later, Roberta was pleading with Heron from her hotel room in New
York City. “I know I’m asking you a huge favor, but, please, Heron, please go to Santa Rosa and
see Riley, for me.”
Heron closed his eyes for a moment. “Doesn’t your sister have her own lawyer for this
kind of thing?”
“Yes, I’m sure she does. I tried to get a hold of her, but they won’t let me talk to her. I
would feel much better if you were there with her.”
“Look, there’s nothing to worry about. If they put her in jail, it will only be for tonight.”
“No,” Roberta said desperately. “I don’t want her to spend the night in jail. Please,
Heron, this is my sister. Please go up there and make sure she gets out. Do you know how upset
my parents would be if they found out that she was jailed? I beg of you, Heron, don’t make her
spend the night in jail.”
Almost three hours later, Heron parked his Land Rover in front of the small police
station. Inside the station, he walked up to the customer window.
“I’m Heron Wait. I’m here to see Riley Calderon.”
“Are you her lawyer,” the night clerk asked.
He paused. “Yes, I’m Ms. Calderon’s lawyer.”
The clerk let him through the door and performed a security check on him. A policeman
who looked to be in his forties escorted him through another gate. “I’ll bring Ms. Calderon out.
You’ll have twenty minutes with your client.”
Heron stopped walking. “I didn’t come here to talk to my client. I came here to get her
out.”
“I’m afraid we can’t just yet let her go?”
“Why not?”
“There were some allegations that we need to substantiate, and it seems we can’t do that
until tomorrow.”
“What are the charges?”
“She is accused of exposing a minor to lewd conduct in her club.”
“Who is accusing her of this?”
“A sixteen year old girl.”
“Where is the girl?”
The policeman began to look uncomfortable. “We don’t quite know. We’re trying to find
her.”
Heron looked at him, his face expressionless. “What has the girl said?”
The policeman began to fidget. “That’s just it, we’ve not been able to take down anything
from the girl.”
“Well, then, I’d like to talk to the officer who questioned the girl.”
“No officer has yet spoken to her.”
Heron paused again, staring unblinkingly at the policeman. “Let me get this straight.
You’re saying that you’re holding my client on charges from a girl who none of you have spoken
to yet? Then who has spoken to her?”
“Reverend Thomas Whooten.”
“Who is he?”
“He’s a local minister around here.”
“Does this minister know where the girl can be found?”
“He won’t tell us where she is, because he says she’s frightened of what will happen to
her if she comes forward. She said she was threatened by people at the club, who’ll do things to
her if she told anyone.”
“Do we know her name?”
“Only the reverend. He said he promised he would not give up her name until she decides
to come forward. He’s trying to get a hold of her. He’s been trying all night, but so far he hasn’t
been able to get a hold of her.”
Heron walked a few paces away from the policeman, then back. When he talked, his
voice was chillingly pleasant. “Can I ask you a question, Officer?”
The policeman’s eyes blinked. “Yeah, sure.”
“Did any of your courses at the police academy include a lecture on the basic individual
rights? Such as the Bill of Rights?”
“Ye…Yes, sir.”
“Then I would advise you to release my client before you have a very serious lawsuit on
your hands.”
“Uh, no sir. I…I mean, yes sir.”
The policeman opened his mouth, then closed it. He shut his eyes for moment then
opened them, his face looking sickly pale, sweat forming on his upper lip. He quickly picked up
the phone and talked briefly in it. When he replaced the received, he said wanly to Heron, “Uh,
she’ll be out in a few minutes.”
A female police officer escorted Riley to the lobby. Once she stepped through the metal
detector, she was given her purse back. She was still wearing the fringe skirt outfit with nothing
to cover her up having forgotten to grab her coat when the police had taken her away. The
policeman was careful to keep his eyes averted from her body.
When she walked out, Heron’s back was to her. At the sound of her entrance, he turned,
and stopped dead in his tracks. The cold mask on his face completely disappeared when he laid
his eyes on her. For a moment, all Heron could do was stare down at Riley’s body, his eyes
stunned, as they slowly took in her large breasts that were plumped up high, the corseted bodice
barely covering the nipples, which the small white lace boarding on the neckline teasingly
offered a loose protection to them, and the long skirt of white silky fringe that displayed flashes
of bare thighs and buttocks with each movement.
Riley watched those dark eyes slide ever so slowly over her generous curves and a smirk
developed on her lips. “So, you’re my rescuer. Who would have thought?”
Heron managed to shake himself out of his stupor and, for some strange reason, a slow
rage began to kindle inside him, lighting a slow flame in his eyes, making them hard and cold.
But his face was pale and he looked a little shaken. “You can thank your sister for this. And my
brother. They both begged me to come up here for you.”
“Otherwise, you would have left me here to rot in jail, wouldn’t you have? And you
would have had a perfect night sleep over it, too.”
“You can also thank the fact that the police had made a serious bungle in bringing you
down here without being able to bring formal charges against you.” Then he added with
considerable irritation, “Don’t you have a coat to put on or something?”
“No, I didn’t have time to grab my coat on the way out,” Riley answered with a careless