71

ALLIE AND CONNOR DANCED THROUGH A SPARKLING SEA OF BLACK AND white. They whirled, dipped, and swayed in perfect rhythm with each other and the music played by the excellent salsa band a few yards away. Connor expertly navigated them in and out among the couples on the crowded outdoor dance floor and kept Allie’s feet safe from the governor, who was stomping away nearby.

She had never been to San Francisco’s Black and White Ball, which took place in the Civic Center plaza every May. She hadn’t planned to go this year either, but Connor surprised her with a ticket after a particularly rough negotiating session with the Salina, Kansas, DA’s office.

Everyone at the ball wore black and white, so she had needed to do some shopping. She fell in love with a slinky white Vera Wang dress perfect for both dancing and sitting down afterward for dinner with members of Northern California’s aristocracy. The dress was really too expensive, even for a night like this. Fortunately, Sandy Allen and Blue Sea paid for it with the first installment of the settlement Connor and Max beat out of them. The second installment might cover the diamond and sapphire earrings and necklace she wore.

Connor wore a tuxedo, of course. In a nod to the slightly eccentric spirit of the ball, he had picked one with a vintage Jazz Age cut. He looked like he had stepped straight out of an F. Scott Fitzgerald novel, except that he was a lot more sober and less depressed than any Fitzgerald hero she remembered.

The music slowed. Connor took her left hand with his right and slid his left around to her back. Her dress had no back, and his hand was warm against her skin in the cool of the night.

Allie looked up into his brown eyes. “I’m having a wonderful time. Thanks for inviting me.”

He gave a sparkling, effervescent smile. “Thanks for saying yes. If you hadn’t I’d have had to come here alone and spend the night dancing with my mom’s friends.”

“Liar.”

“It’s pronounced ‘lawyer.’ So, what happened to Trudi? Weren’t she and her husband supposed to meet us here?”

“Their kids are sick, and she didn’t want to leave them with a sitter.”

He clicked his tongue. “Too bad. She’s referred us half a dozen good cases, and I’d like to meet her in person.”

After Allie’s exploits splashed all over the news, she had told Trudi about Devil to Pay and her secret life as a whistleblower. She’d never be an invisible accounting temp again, so her qui tam career was effectively over anyway. Trudi had been hurt for about five minutes. After that, she spent two solid hours telling Allie about all the stories her other temps had told her about fraud they had seen at government contractors. A lot of those had been exaggerations or misunderstandings, but not all. Connor had more false claims cases going now than he ever had when she was his only source. And he insisted that all of them be brought through Devil to Pay so that Allie would get a percentage of the proceeds.

“She’s a lot of fun. You’ll love her, and Dave is great too.” She paused. “Thanks for keeping me out of jail.”

He shrugged modestly. “That was easy enough once I finally realized that Kansas has a brand new False Claims Act and an Attorney General’s office with zero experience in false claims law. It wasn’t too hard to persuade the AG’s office that they’d rather have some free expert consulting than another inmate at the women’s prison. Once the AG explained that to the local DA, the negotiations weren’t too tough. I’m just sorry that you’re going to have to spend the summer auditing contracts in a hot, sticky little cow town. I’m sure you’d much rather be on the beach at Tahoe.”

“You know, I’m looking foward to it. I really am. Not the hot and sticky part, but going in there and helping these people. If I can find a couple of good cases for them and shake loose enough money to build a new school or something, it’ll be a good summer.” She thought about the prospects for a moment. “You’ll probably laugh at me for this, but I’d actually choose this over Tahoe.”

His smile returned, quieter and warmer. “My grandfather had a saying, ‘You are what you are when the Devil whistles.’ You show your true colors then, when you’re under pressure and temptation. And ever since the Bahamas, you’ve shown pure gold, Allie.”

A warm glow filled her from head to toe and she could feel the tears in her eyes. “I’d do it all again ten times over just to hear you say that. Thank God you were there for me, even when I screwed up.” She let go of his hand and hugged him tight.

His arms came up and he held her gently. “He was there for you too, you know.”

She didn’t know how to respond, so she put her head on his shoulder and they swayed to the music. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the moment, wishing the band would play this song all night long.

But they didn’t. The song ended and they stopped dancing, but Connor didn’t release her. He continued to hold her close and she looked up into those warm, intelligent brown eyes that had caught her attention when they first met. There was something there she hadn’t seen before—something that made her heart race. “Allie, I think this is the end of a beautiful friendship.”

He kissed her. Somewhere, the music started again, but neither of them noticed.