Mike Smith Is Dead—Pt. 32

They found a tux for Roberto, although it had to be altered and for his wife the same difficulty in building a formal gown. The black tie affair at the mansion was a sought after invite. Roberto and his wife served as door hosts for the occasion. In the late evening Marcos arrived with a beautiful blond woman. Kip was busy speaking with dignitaries and didn’t see them approach. Giles tapped him on the shoulder.

“Hello, Sir, might you show a lady to the punch.”

Kip turned and came face to face with Giles and Marcos. He gently hugged Giles and shook Marco’s hand. Giles squeezed his fingers and whispered in his ear. “We have to talk tonight.”

Marco’s eyebrows raised. “Ahem.”

Tours were being taken of the bedrooms and kitchen. Kip was ushered away by a secretary wanting to discuss a particular charity and he promised to meet with her next week and attempted to get back to Giles and Marcos.

Finally, at ten in the evening Kip and another man walked up to the landing on the staircase and someone tapped the bar hard enough that people quieted and looked toward Kip. The other man had a very short speech about the need to help Autistic Children in Costa Rica then commented on the generous support of the Pacific Holding Corporation and Mr. Jay Lefey. Kip in turn handed the man a enlarged check for sixty million Colones, and a pledge to annually donate an equal amount to the research group. “I hope all of my friends gathered here tonight will generously support this cause.” Then he saw Rosa, dressed in a white evening gown, on the arm of a well dressed, but much older man.

“Who is she with?” Kip asked Roberto. “The woman in the white gown.”

“Oh, that’s one of the senior attorneys of a big firm in San Jose.”

Kip smiled. “She picks well, he’s old enough to be her father.”

“Do you know her? She’s quite attractive,” whispered Roberto.

Kip snickered. “I hope so, she’s my wife. I wonder if she has the divorce papers on her.”

Kip was pulled away by one of the couples at the reception and handed a check for a hundred thousand Colons. Before the evening ended he would pick up twenty more checks of fifty and a hundred thousand Colons all made out to the Research group. One older woman stuck a check in his breast pocket and brushed tightly up against him.

She whispered, “Call me, I have a business proposition.”

Kip looked at the check, it was for five hundred sixty thousand Colones, about $1000 in US funds. His accumulation of checks in his vest pocket was growing so he called the man from the association over and handed him the bundle. However as the evening progressed he had to offload the check accumulation twice more.

Finally, someone jerked on his coat sleeve and he turned quickly expecting to see a contributor but instead was nose to nose with Rosa. “Oh.”

“I’m going to kiss you,” she said. “Then if you want me to, I’ll get in the car with my date and he can take me home. I don’t think there’s enough Viagra produced to help him, so I’m in no danger.”

“What?”

Roberto pulled Kip aside. “We’re running out of white wine. And there’s a man here who knew you way back when, he wants to talk to you.”

“Put two bottles away somewhere, put out only blush and red, if somebody cries foul, use one of the hidden bottles. My bet is most folks are winding down and the white under the shelf is in no danger. And see if you can find the guy and get us together.” He turned back around and Rosa was gone. Through the stair railing he saw her as she was walking out the door on the arm of the old man. Kip pushed through the standing crowd and caught up with Rosa and the gentleman. “Excuse me sir. I need to chat with Rosa about the company, I’ll be happy to run her home after our meeting.”

The old man looked at Rosa. “Okay with you?”

Rosa smiled and patted his arm. “Yes, you know his company recently bought mine and we have a few things to discuss.”

The old man walked on and Rosa turned to Kip, put her arms around his neck and kissed him nearly bruising his lips. “Now, if you want me to leave I can still catch Mr. Sanchez.”

“No, I want to personally give you a tour of this delightful bed and breakfast hotel and perhaps have breakfast with you tomorrow.”

To be continued...