Taylor flipped her the bird, then yelled, “Put the damn top up. It’s way too cold out here to be buzzing around like this.” She locked the door behind her and walked to the car, a tiny bit unsteady on the unfamiliar heels.

Sam just smiled. “Fine, grump. I figured you’d like the fresh air.” The top whirred into place and snapped closed. “You look nice.”

“So do you.” Sam was wearing a midnight-blue Grecian styled gown, strappy gladiator sandals on her feet, her hair piled on top of her head in a messy knot, the bangs thick and stark across her forehead. As usual, she looked chic and together. Taylor pulled down the mirror as Sam put the car in gear and backed out of the drive, feeling a bit garish with the red lipstick.

“Don’t touch it. You look fabulous.”

Judas Kiss

141

Taylor put the mirror back into place and smiled at her best friend. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome. So, how’s everything?”

They chatted during the fifteen-minute drive, catching up on non-law-enforcement issues. Sam scooted through the light traffic and when they pulled up in front of the Frist valets, Taylor felt as relaxed as she had in days.

They dropped the car, went inside the stunning museum’s outdoor tent. The fête was underway. Blacktie-clad men and elegantly gowned women strolled, drinking champagne and nibbling hor d’ouevres served on silver trays. Sam and Taylor each accepted a flute from a waiter and toasted one another, clinking glasses softly. “Salut, ” Taylor said, the word making her miss Baldwin.

They circulated through the room, greeting people they knew, which was most of the crowd. Several of Taylor’s mother’s friends came up and complimented her on her dress, asked how Kitty Jackson was faring these days. A few deigned to ask about Win, her father. She answered both with equal insouciance—Kitty was fine, she’d met a Swiss banker skiing in Gstaad over the winter and had elected to stay in Europe for the remainder of the spring. Win was in a minimum-security prison in West Virginia, a guest of the federal government. Most people didn’t know all the facts behind the Win Jackson case. The feds had managed to keep his role in a huge money-laundering and human trafficking ring relatively quiet. Win wouldn’t be testifying against his former boss. The man known eponymously as L’Uomo was in a Brazilian jail at the moment, most 142

J.T. Ellison

likely chained to a wall. Good riddance, Taylor always thought. He was human scum.

Taylor felt like her brittle smile was pasted on. The allure of these events had long ago lost their charm. She’d been a good soldier for a long time, attending the parties and the charity events that made up the bulk of Nashville’s social calendar at the behest of her parents. She’d even gone through a ghastly coming-out season when she was eighteen—a year of heavy drinking and petting that culminated with a curtsey at the white tie debutante ball, Sam and Simon snickering at her side. She supposed the companionship made it that much easier for her to rebel against her parents’ well-borne intentions for her; Sam hadn’t wanted a Junior League life either. Knowing it was just a matter of time before they’d be out on their own, in Knoxville at college, away from the prying eyes of Nashville’s glitterati, helped them get through the events.

They both gave back to their parents’ world, but in their own ways. Taylor did her best to protect them. Sam uncovered their darkest secrets. It was a fair trade, really. As long as every so often, they paid the piper. This early spring evening, they did just that. And Nashville society was its always polite self, happy to see both Taylor and Sam playing along for a night, at the very least, and didn’t make too much trouble. Instead, the topic of conversation was the Corinne Wolff murder. Tongues wagged; the Harrises weren’t unknown on the circuit, though they weren’t invited to the best parties either. Corinne ran with the athletic country club set. New money, Taylor heard one Botoxed and plumped woman whisper. The ultimate sin.

Judas Kiss

143

The prevailing opinion was a drug addict had broken into the home to steal money for a fix. Taylor didn’t have the heart to tell them that most junkies were at heart gentle souls who would be more likely to steal a purse than beat someone to death, but hey, let them have their fears.

The Nashville press was in attendance; she and Sam posed for countless photos. She knew she’d be razzed at work tomorrow, but didn’t care. She had a nice chat with Amy Hendricks, a Tennessean reporter and former classmate at Father Ryan. All in all, it was a typical Nashville cocktail party, pleasantly benign, bordering on soporific. After a half an hour of inaneness, the chairwoman of the event, Linda Whaley, came to steal Sam, leaving Taylor cruising the room by herself. She wasn’t alone for long. Within a few minutes, three different men had asked if they could buy her a drink. Though she was gracious and appropriately flirty, she’d started drinking the champagne with her left hand as a hint. The ring wasn’t scaring off any potential suitors. A couple wore wide gold bands themselves. Dogs.

She glanced at her watch. The dinner should start anytime now. On cue, she heard a tinkling. The dinner bell. Tossing off the last of her champagne, she handed the glass to a passing waiter and started for the tables. Linda had told her she’d be seated at the front table with Sam. Great. Just what she wanted, to be at the center of all this attention.

A gentleman done up in full evening kit, white tie gleaming against his black satin lapel, held the door to the dining room open for her. She nodded her thanks and entered the room. She stopped for a moment to get her bearings and a voice spoke softly in her ear, making 144

J.T. Ellison

her jump and clutch at the snap of her bag. Jesus, didn’t people know better than to sneak up on a cop?

“Heya, Tawny.”

She turned and took in the speaker. A heavyset man in his late forties, graying at the temples, loose jowls, buttons on his shirt strained as if it had been seen one too many times at the dry cleaner, or one too many trips to the buffet. Leering at her as if he could lap her up. She had no earthly idea who he was.

“I’m sorry. Have we met?”

The man glanced over his shoulder, leaned in conspiratorially. “Tawny, Tawny, Tawny. My God, I never imagined I’d see you in the flesh. Yet here you are, an angel in red. Or a succubus, I should guess. What do you say you and me split out of here, go have ourselves a little private party?”

Taylor did her best not to laugh at the egregious pickup. “I’m sorry, I haven’t got a clue who you are.”

She started to walk away and he grabbed her arm, pulling her back to him, pressing his body against hers in a much too familiar way.

“Hey there, girlie, I’m talking to you.”

Wrong thing to do. Taylor kept her tone measured, her voice low. “Let. Go. Of. Me. Now. Or I will break your arm.”

He unhanded her, and she whirled away. He followed on her heels.

“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” he snarled at her.

Instead of speaking, Taylor just stopped, casually opened her purse and showed him her gun. The man smiled. His bottom teeth were shaped like pegs and stained brown. She repressed a shudder.

Judas Kiss

145

“Oh-ho, aren’t you a little tigress. Keeping a concealed weapon, are you? I’ve got some friends who I’m sure would like to know about that. You should probably give me the gun, little lady, you wouldn’t want to hurt yourself.” He started to reach for the weapon. Taylor snapped the purse closed, grabbed the man’s hand and twisted, hard. He was forced to spin away from her and she used that momentum to get him moving back toward the door.