The Paper Trail novel · Chapter 19 of 24

Chapter 19: The Gala, First Course

The Pfister ballroom had gold chandeliers, three hundred chairs, and a banner across the stage that said Fifteen Years of Haskell Freight.

I walked in at ten to seven on Lars's arm.

He wore a black suit and a dark tie.

He had shaved the stubble off his jaw, and it made him look younger and more dangerous.

Mavis was on my other side, in silver silk, with her cane.

Dolores trailed us in a tuxedo jacket she claimed she had owned since 1994.

Heads turned as we crossed the carpet.

I heard my own name in three different whispers.

Someone said "the wine woman," and someone said "that's her husband's friend," and I kept walking.

I had walked into courtrooms where men wanted me to fail.

This was only a bigger room.

The tables were round and white, set with silver and little cards with company logos.

The fuel company's owner sat at table fourteen in a green dress, between the tire dealer and the landlord.

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