Page 139 of Ricochet

CHAPTER FORTY-NINE

Acting like Adelia was supposed to be somewhere was an all-access pass. So long as she kept her head up, smiled, and walked like she was late, no one bugged her. She followed others as they left the locker room, swiped in, and then fell behind those dressed like her with two concerns on her mind. Her name badge had to be tucked in a way to obscure the name and face, andthe tape recorder she’d lifted was easily accessible to stop and start without fuss.

Her plan was scarily easy to enact, and a life lesson she quickly picked up now served her in every inch of this hotel. Act like she should be there, and no one would stop her.

She didn’t recognize the security that occasionally swept by in the back hallways and didn’t see any of Delta team. No one stopped her.Hell, no one talked to her. Her first supervisor ordered her to work, until Adelia found a new job to slip to, getting into the action of the ballroom, and then, her second supervisor passed her a tray, directing her to a quadrant of the large dining area.

Still no Delta team, and that somewhat reassured her. She excelled at her job, making sure she did the best she could without making a memorableimpression, all the time, eyeing the team that served the head table.

Adelia hadn’t had the strength look at the front of the room yet. If she saw Gloria in person without having a strong handle on her reaction, the plan might destruct before it really started.

A speaker took the podium, and as small talk and laughter began, she took her cue from other servers and stepped to the side wall whereshe finally laid her eyes on Gloria Astor.

Adelia’s heart didn’t race. Her pulse didn’t punch. Nothing that Adelia prepared for happened. Instead, a wildly comforting certainty settled over her as she readied for her target.

The speaker concluded to a round of applauses, and Adelia swiftly moved to the head serving table’s staff, smiling confidently as two other servers raised their eyebrowsat their new addition.

“Lenora said to head this way,” she offered, giving no explanation of who that was, but they smiled back, clearly already aware of the smile-like-you-know rule.

Together, they moved to the raised platform, bussing the hors d’oeuvres plates, and Adelia glided past Gloria, not taking hers, but the ones on either side.

A thrill of excitement caught fire in her blood. Shechecked the room. No one approached her. Not Delta team. No one. They had no idea, and she reached into a nearby bin of replacement cutlery, letting her hand find a dinner knife, and slid it in to her pocket, then followed the two others. They lifted trays of beautiful salads, carrying them next to the platform, and set up their spots.

The room bustled with activity and voices. People milledand ate, forks clattered on plates, and drinks were refilled. She turned on the recorder and two her salad plates, leading their group this time, and she moved to the guest of honor, Gloria Astor.

Adelia leaned down as she placed the salad plate in front of Gloria, encroaching on her personal space and drawing an aggravated scoff from the haughty woman as she leaned away. But Adelia wasn’t backingdown. “It’s nice to see you in person.”

Gloria straightened, touching her hair, then casually glancing to her side. Her eyebrow raised, but it was a whisper from under her breath that murmured, “Do you think this is the right time for us to meet?”

Adelia inched back as casually. “Does that matter now?”

“What do you want?”

“A conversation. I think you owe me that much.”

Just like a Fifth Avenueprincess schooled in manners and etiquette, she calmly smiled as though this was a conversation she wanted to have. “That won’t happen now, but my staff would love to meet you—”

Adelia leaned close again. “It’s a shame your thugs didn’t finish their job, isn’t it?”

“No idea what you’re talking about, young lady.”

“Let’s go talk,” Adelia offered again. “But if we can’t talk, I’ll kill you. Ireally don’t care.”

“You’d be dead before you could get to a door.”

“So what?” Adeliatsk-ed. “Mayhem will kill me before the night is over. I’d rather your people do it, and I can go out a martyr.”

“Martyr?” Gloria’s eyelids twitched at the corners. “Spare me the theatrics.”

The gentleman next to Gloria nudged his tuxedo-covered elbow into Adelia’s conversation. She recognized him from newspapersbut had no idea who he was, other than rich and famous.

“Is everything okay over here?” he asked.

Adelia stepped back for Gloria to decide. One way or another, whether she knew it or not, her life would change. Waiting, Adelia pushed her hands into her pockets.

He eyed Gloria, checking her salad as though Adelia had brought the main course instead of what was expected or some other one-percenterhorror, and then his gaze turned upward. “Is there anything I can help you with?”

She tilted her head to Gloria. “I always preferred an audience—”

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