Poisoned Pawn by Jaleta Clegg Page A

about it. He had me laughing, too.
    Jasyn came by, her current dance partner whirling someone else away.
    “I’m done, Clark,” I said. “I’ll feel guilty if I step on your feet again.”
    “Let me try.” Jasyn led him away as the band started up a faster dance song. They twirled off into the crowd. I watched Jasyn laugh, her steps graceful. She never stepped on his feet even though she never looked down.
    They looked good together, dancing as if they were one person, each step matching the one the other took. Jasyn’s hair slipped out of its pins. Curls swung with each step, brushing her neck. I still felt the warm print of Clark’s hand on my waist. The room felt too small, too hot, too loud. I took my drink out onto a balcony lined with planters of night blooming plants. The smell was heavenly, a sweet blend of fragrance that reminded me of vanilla and lavender, two of the only good things I remembered from my childhood. I leaned over the rail farthest out, watching the ocean far below.
    Waves of iridescent color lifted and ebbed with each breath of the sea. The faint scent of salt water blended with the flowers as a gentle breeze stirred my hair. I leaned farther out, my dress wafting around me in flame colored swirls.
    “Would you do me the pleasure of dancing with me?”
    I turned at the unfamiliar voice, my peace shattered by the intrusion. Three men I’d never seen before watched me, crowding the balcony. They didn’t look like they belonged. They looked like thugs.
    The one in the middle didn’t wait for an answer. He stepped close. His hand was rough on my arm. “Daddy should have never let you out of his sight.”
    Something sharp pricked my shoulder. The world spun briefly and went black. My last conscious memory was of hard arms holding me around the middle before dropping me off the side of the building.
     

 
Chapter Eleven
     
    Clark led Jasyn through a fast dance. She felt good in his arms and her smile was brilliant. The music ended. Jasyn stepped back, Clark let her go a bit reluctantly.
    “Where’s Dace?” Jasyn asked. The table where they’d sat was empty.
    “She must have gone outside,” Clark said, hoping it was true. He felt a twinge of unease. “I’ll go look.”
    No short, slender women in flame-colored dresses waited on the moonlit balcony. He turned back inside. He made his way through the thick crowd and the pounding music, checking every corner of the dance club. Dace wasn’t anywhere.
    Jasyn met him, her dress floating around her in clouds of lavender and blue. She looked worried.
    “Did you find her?” she said, leaning close to talk over the music.
    Clark shook his head.
    “She wasn’t in the restrooms,” Jasyn said.
    “Let’s ask the servers. You start at that end.” He pointed to the far end of the bar. He took the end nearest the doors.
    The server was very busy. She answered his questions in staccato bursts between filling glasses. Yes, she had noticed a woman in a red and gold dress. Yes, she’d gone out on the balcony. No, she hadn’t seen her after that. It was only a few minutes ago, well maybe half an hour ago that she’d gone out.
    Clark checked the balcony again, asking the couples out there if they had seen Dace. Most of them had been otherwise occupied and hadn’t noticed her at all. One woman said she might have seen her, out at the far end of the balcony.
    Clark crossed to where the railings met in a sharp angle, the planters to either side forming an alcove open to the soft night breeze. Below, far below, the streamers of light in the ocean twisted and flowed with the artificial tides.
    Jasyn came up behind him, her sandals whispering on the stone paving. She shook her head. “No one saw her leave. She wouldn’t have gone back to the ship by herself.” She looked like she hoped Dace had, but knew she probably hadn’t.
    “They saw her come out here,” Clark said.
    Jasyn looked over the rail. “What’s that?” She reached farther down