Mimi scanned the room and shrugged. “I don’t see her either.”
Mimi gazed at the corner, where three men were talking and punctuating their remarks with pointed fingers. She jotted a few notes. Nathan tipped his head toward the congressman. “The great Vittie Zielinski. What is it now, twelve, thirteen elections he’s won? He must have more seniority than anyone in Congress.”
“Pretty close,” Mimi said. “The man he’s whispering to is Senator Paul Douglas, and I’ll wager it’s about the voting rights bill. Vittie’s a cosponsor.”
“Who’s the guy standing with him?” Nathan pointed at a thin, bald man with rimless glasses.
“That’s Vittie’s chief of staff, Mike Stanley,” Mimi said. “He’s been with Vittie a long time. Christine says her dad won’t make a move without Mike. She says he always stays in the background, but he’s really the brains in the congressional office.”
“Preston told me he doesn’t like Stanley.”
“Seriously? Stanley makes all the staff decisions and runs the congressional office. Preston wouldn’t have a job if weren’t for Mike Stanley.”
“Preston has a job because he’s engaged to Vittie’s daughter,” Nathan said. “He’s been a good friend of mine since grade school, but let’s not fool ourselves. All Preston does is greet people when they come into the neighborhood office. He listens to their complaints and writes them down. He doesn’t like Stanley because Stanley treats him like a coffee boy and orders him around. Don’t tell him I said that.”
“Okay,” Mimi said, “I’m going to go find Chrissie.”
Nathan headed toward the bar. Preston saw him coming and gave him a thumbs-up.
“Great party, Pres,” Nathan said.
“My future father-in-law spares no expense.” Turning to the bartender, he said, “A shot of Jack and a beer; one for me and one for my buddy.” Preston downed the shot, took a swig of beer and pointed to a group of naval recruits in their dress whites. “Look over there, Nate. All those guys came down today from Great Lakes Naval Base. Vittie brought them in to present the colors. It gives me the chills. Those poor suckers will soon be shipping off to Nam.”
Nathan shook his head. “They’re not suckers, Preston. They enlisted. I give those guys a lot of credit.”
“They enlisted because they knew that sooner or later they’d be drafted. Bottom line, within six months they’ll be loading and unloading ships in Cam Ranh Bay. Anyway, that won’t be my problem.”
“What makes you so sure? It’s a universal draft. So far, you’ve been lucky; you haven’t been called up.”
“They don’t draft married men. Single guys have to go first.”
“You’re not married yet.”
“I will be in November. Besides, I got an ace in the hole. I work for the most powerful man on the House Armed Services Committee. Did you ever think about that? Vittie doesn’t want his son-in-law shipping off to Vietnam. He wants me home taking care of his lovely daughter.” He leaned over and said, “Christine comes with fringe benefits.” Then he laughed and slapped Nathan on the back.
Mimi and Christine entered the hall, and Preston put down his drink. “Here comes my one and only.” He lifted Christine and twirled her around. “Where have you been all night? Everyone’s been asking. You better not have been talking to Fast Nicky.”
Christine put her hand on her hip and huffed. “I’ve been talking to Mimi! And you’ve been too busy talking to all your drinking buddies to pay attention to me. I want to dance.”
“Me, too,” Mimi said, taking Nathan’s arm.
Away from Preston and Christine, Nathan said, “Do you know who Fast Nicky is?”
Mimi nodded. “Nicholas Bryant, Chrissie’s boss at Bryant Shipping. He’s the guy over there, the one in the checkered blazer. He’s some kind of business associate of Vittie’s.”
“Oh, well then, Preston doesn’t like him either. He thinks he’s too friendly with Christine. He makes her work late a couple nights a week.”
Mimi smiled. “Pres is jealous.”
“True. Preston doesn’t like the fact that Christine spends so much time with him. Maybe he’s jealous, maybe he’s just protective, but Preston is flat-out nuts about Chrissie.”
“And she’s nuts about him. Just look at the two of them. They melt into each other and dance as though they were one. Perfect together. They truly do love each other.”
“They’d better—they’re about to get married.”
* * *
It was ten thirty when the band played a soft rendition of Etta James’s “At Last” and the VFW’s lights blinked off and on. Mimi phoned her story into the Trib, and Nathan offered to walk her home. He pointed to her notebook. “Did you get everything you need?”
“And then some. All the rich and famous. I wish I had a fraction of the money that was in that room tonight. Did you see Grant Thomas, chairman of the board of National Steel? Or Lloyd Davis of Northern Aeronautics?”
Nathan shrugged. “I wouldn’t know either one of them. I’m surprised they all showed up at an engagement party in a neighborhood VFW.”
Mimi’s eyebrows raised. “They’re here to pay homage to the eminent Vittie Zielinski. Each of those men represents a major military contractor. The business their companies do with the Department of Defense is in the billions.”
They reached Mimi’s building and stopped to say good night at the bottom of the front steps. Nathan cleared his throat. “So, um, are you busy next Saturday?”
Mimi smiled. “Nope.”
“Maybe a movie? Want to see Zorba the Greek?”
“Sounds great.”
Nathan pointed to lights coming from the first-floor window. “Does your mom have a new tenant?”
She nodded. “Mr. Rosen. My mom thinks he’s a spy.” Mimi giggled mischievously and bit her bottom lip. “Do you want to meet him?”
“Meems, it’s almost eleven o’clock.”
“I know, but he told me that if he was up, I should stop in for coffee and a piece of cake. His light’s still on. Come on, I’ll knock softly. You can meet James Bond. If he’s asleep, we’ll go away.”
Eli opened the door after a couple of knocks. “I’m so glad you stopped by. Your grandmother’s babka must have been calling your name, am I right?”
“I confess. It’s true. This is my good friend, Nathan Stone.”
Eli showed them into the living room and offered them a seat on the couch while he made a pot of coffee. Mimi gazed around the room. The furniture appeared to be newly purchased and utilitarian. Functional. Nothing fancy. Nothing that bespoke the personality of the tenant, with the exception of two framed photographs: a small, faded black-and-white picture of a woman and a child in a silver frame that sat on an end table and a black-and-white photo of an odd-shaped building that hung above the sofa table. She walked over to take a closer look. It appeared to be an office building, at least five stories tall, with columns in the front and a decorative capstone over the entranceway. There were Hebrew letters scrolled above the doorway. Standing in the front of the building was a short man in a wide-brimmed hat.