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CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

NED

The crowd couldn't seem to tear its eyes from them. Garrett was looking superb in a spendy black tux, his fur glistening in the entrance light so that Ned wondered how people could ever say that coyotes had a dull fur colour - the light brought out the differing shades of sand and golden and beige, glinting in his yellow eyes and off of his earrings. He was wearing the aviator sunglasses again, grinning with his fangs like a movie star at a blockbuster premier and waving to fans and at the cameras that were flashing incessantly. And he was back in the same self-assured confidence with which he'd strode into SF Metro the day Ned had met him, walking assertively with tail and head high. When he lifted a paw to his muzzle and blew a kiss to a couple women guests, they practically swooned.

If Garrett was making the crowd swoon, Olympia had them practically drooling. Actually, some of the male guests were drooling, based on the way they were staring at her and at how several wives gave their husbands dark looks and pushed them back into the crowd.

The white wolf was stunning; even Ned, who now despised her, could not argue that. She was wearing some kind of sleeveless satiny red dress or gown or something, which ended directly above her bosom, leaving her rose-and-thorns dyed shoulders bare. Ned knew next to nothing about fashion, but the gown was almost certainly a multi-thousand dollar variety, like the kind he imagined that actresses wore to the academy awards or other such events; crimson red, drawn close to the fur, and reaching down to cover her paws and drag slightly on the floor. She wore a red ruby dangling from each ear, and a string of black pearls adorned her neck. When she turned, it was evident that she'd had her mane styled especially for the ball, because part of it had been pulled into a narrow braid hanging down the centre of her back, while the rest was threaded with beads as before. As she moved through the crowd with the air of a conquering warlord, Ned felt her strange penetrating eyes meeting his, and wanted to look away.

He gave Scarlett a "wish me luck" look and moved to join Garrett. The coyote grinned dazzlingly. "You look wonderfully elegant, my wolf" he purred softly, pulling Ned along with him and Olympia.

"Speak for yourself" Ned found himself saying. He had to act like everything was normal; just try and enjoy himself. Because what else could he do? Olympia didn't look like she'd arrived to shoot up the place, not dressed as she was, in the manner of a woman who knows she can seduce a man just by looking at him. Not all men, Ned thought thankfully, until he realised that Garrett looked at him in exactly the same way.

"First time I've ever been to an event like this with a handsome wolf as my date" Garrett's tail swished lazily, his words whispered, still smiling at other guests.

"You know we have to wait in line, don't you?" Garrett and Olympia seemed oblivious to that fact; she had already moved ahead of them and was aiming for...the VIP entrance?

He felt Garrett's eyes on him and saw the sly grin. "You're forgetting you're coming with an actor and a millionaire diplomat's daughter."

Ned's ears flicked down, glancing back through the crowd in search of Scarlett, but she'd vanished. "I should be with my friends" he insisted.

"Boyfriend trumps friends" Garrett flicked his ears back indifferently, and then Ned found himself in line behind Olympia, who was saying something to the otter at the door. He thought for a brief moment she wouldn't be let through, but the otter was gaping at her like a kid at a toystore.

"Garrett Dyckert and Ned Parker" Garrett said pleasantly. The otter bent to look at his list.

"I'm not on the VIP list" Ned insisted, but the coyote ignored him.

"Here you are" the otter nodded, checking names off the list. "Have a wonderful evening, gentlemen!" The door block was aside.

Garrett took Ned's paw and they slipped through the door.

"You got me on the VIP list?" Ned asked, although the answer was pretty apparent. He and Garrett had already made their way through the main entry hall, where they'd each picked up a wine glass and a fancy tag that designated them as one of the VIP guests. Now they'd paused near the edge of the ballroom, watching various city officials and police notables and society dignitaries conversing and sipping wine, taking in the atmosphere of the place, breathing in the somewhat overwhelming cocktail of scents, of assorted perfumes and colognes and of several dozen varying species, feeling the soft carpet of the ballroom under their paws. The hotel was abounding with luxury, from the evening-dressed waiters (all of which were otters or minks), to the gold-gilt and mahogany panelling of the walls, the lights of diamond chandeliers casting light over the guests. The ballroom's ceiling was painted with a gigantic mural of San Fernando's history, depicting native foxes and Spanish vaqueros and gold miners and tall-masted ships upon the bay. The space against one wall was entirely devoted to endless tables highlighting a silent auction, at which occasional of the guests were now bidding. The end of the room featured a large stage, with a podium and large urns containing a profusion of exotic flowers and potted palms. To the side of the stage, a small orchestra played waltzes and symphonies and rhapsodies on violin and piano and base, to which a few odd couples were slowly dancing, seemingly lost in their own world. Overall, the influence of the red carpet was everywhere, from the ballroom's décor to the people within it.

"Of course I did" the coyote laughed. "You're my date, and I'm Garrett Dyckert. I had my agent call in to get Olympia and I on the VIP list. And you."

"Those tickets cost a lot of money" Ned muttered. The wine was good, but not as good as what Garrett had brought to their dates. But that wasn't what bothered him so much as what his fellow officers would think if they knew he'd gotten in via the bigwig entrance.

Garrett was shaking his head, probably laughing inwardly at Ned's unfamiliarity to such events. "Oh, Ned, I love you" he smiled, tail wagging. "You have to realise the kind of power my kind of people have."

Ned had a vague idea of what that power was, and he wasn't certain he liked it. "The power to make people obsess over you?"

"Exactly. You know, in historic times, people fawned over kings and queens and nobles, exalting them above their fellow man. These people..." he gestured at the obvious specimens in the crowd, and at Olympia and himself. "We're the aristocracy of the modern day."

Olympia must have decided to play the socialite tonight, because she had managed, without any effort at all, to attract a long line of followers, mostly google-eyed males, who listened to her every word, offering her drinks and their arms and probably other less proper niceties. Even Judge Clay, the old grizzly who would have sentenced Olympia had her secret come out, seemed hypnotised by her beauty or her charm, or, more likely, both. Every one of those men would like to sleep with her, and every woman wants to be her, Ned thought, and she has every one of them fooled.

"You might be" he said at length, "but I'm not. I'm Ned Parker, rookie police officer."

Garrett's eyes were twinkling like they did when he was about to laugh, which he did, although he looked a bit sympathetic too. "Oh Ned, you don't realise it, do you? Don't you understand what happens to ordinary people when they become the paramour of a celebrity?"

Ned tore his eyes off of where Olympia was pretending to laugh enchantingly at something Judge Clay was saying and turned to look the coyote in the eye. "They stop being ordinary?"

He nodded. "I hate to bring up a negative subject here, but remember Claudia Wittmore, and Alana? Before they started dating, do you think anyone had heard of Alana? Yet now that she's married - or was - to Claudia, she's an international celebrity."

Ned was having a hard time digesting his apparent new status as a minor celebrity but Garrett wasn't done explaining, apparently. "Obviously that's an extreme example - I'm nowhere near as well-known as Claudia Wittmore - but that doesn't change that people have Pinterest boards made up entirely of photos of me, and that now that you and I are publically dating, you're going to hear about fans 'shipping' us, or whatever."

It was all hard to take in. Ned wasn't sure he liked the general public knowing that much about his love life, but maybe that was just a side-effect of dating an actor.

The main percentage of the gala's guests had must have entered by then, because the ballroom was more crowded than it had been when they'd first arrived, and the hum of voices rose above everything, mingling with the music of the band. Ned and Garrett were strolling casually among the crowd, keeping within sight of Olympia, who seemed to have inserted herself in with San Fernando's high society as naturally as if she'd lived there all her life. According to the gala booklet they'd been handed at the entrance, Mayor Wong and a couple other notables were supposed to be speaking to the crowd, but that was not scheduled for another half-hour at least, so for the time being, guests were expected to socialise. Garrett was ever charming, offering greetings or stopping to sign autographs for random visitants who recognised him. For Ned, though, the endless line of different muzzles and voices, thrown together so thickly in places that he could hardly move his tail without thwacking someone's leg, was stifling, so he was relieved when he saw Montoya making his way through the crowd.

"Montoya," he breathed, while Garrett looked curiously from him to the jaguar. "Am I ever glad to see you..."

"Ah, so this is your coyote" the detective grinned. "This place is loco, eh?"

Garrett stepped forward and held out a paw. "You're Montoya? I've heard a lot about you."

"All good, right?" Montoya laughed, shaking Garrett's paw. "I've got someone else wants to meet you." He stepped aside, revealing the same pretty black jaguar whose photo he'd shown Ned at the office. "My girlfriend, Sofia Gallo. She was hoping for your autograph."

Sofia was a slinky little woman, shorter than Montoya by a head, and the teal outfit she wore was probably just barely legit for a black-tie affair, judging by the amount of breast and leg visible. She rolled her eyes and gave Montoya a dry look. "I can talk for myself, you idiota" she told him, in a heavy accent that wasn't quite Mexican - something South American, probably. She turned back to Garrett. "You are that cute coyote chico from Carmen Barbosa, yes?"

Garrett grinned. "I sure am, señorita. Garrett Dyckert, at your service" he mock-bowed, grandly sweeping his arms out to the sides. It was times like this that Ned really noticed why Garrett was a good actor.

"Oh, and such a caballero" Sofia purred. "Tulio, do take notice" she glanced back playfully at Montoya, who was looking on to the scene with amusement. Garrett had taken a card from the breast pocket of his tux - he seemed to keep a selection there, for this purpose - and placing it against Montoya's shoulder, wrote To Sofia: all my best, Garrett Dyckert.

The little jaguar clutched the autograph like a prize jewel, then turned back to the two canines. "So you two are novios?"

Ned looked over her shoulder at Montoya, who winked at him, probably having noticed Ned's failure to keep his tail from wagging. "Yes, this studly wolf is my boyfriend" Garrett explained, the smile never wavering. "Montoya's co-cop Ned, although you probably know that."

She nodded. "Yes." Her eyes were drifting between them, glimmering with leisurely interest. "Two sexy canine boys getting it on with each other? Sofia likes..."

"You sure picked a wild one, Montoya" Ned teased, noticing the way the jaguar's grin seemed to widen at every scandalous remark from his girlfriend.

Garrett hadn't flinched at Sofia's mention of sex. "Just so long as you aren't trying to steal my wolf" he laughed, setting his wine glass on the tray of a passing otter and grabbing another.

"Oh no," Sofia purred, throwing her arms around Montoya's neck. "Wolf boys are nice, but I love my Tulio, don't I my sugar bun?"

"Of course, my sweetie-pie" Montoya purred back.

Ned couldn't help laughing, causing a several of the guests to give him a brief glance. "Sweetie-pie? Oh, Montoya, you're in love."

"Takes one to know one!" the jaguar pointed a claw at Ned, but Sofia had let go of Montoya and was gazing intently off to the side.

"Tulio? Check out the loba..."

Ned followed her gaze and found it resting on Olympia, who by this point was now surrounded by a virtual crowd of admirers, including not only Judge Clay but also Spencer Douglas, the District Attorney, along with several other lawyers (including JJ Maxwell, who was supposed to be gay) and a couple cops Ned recognised from other divisions. He forced himself not to frown.

"That's Olympia Rogan, my roommate" Garrett said.

"Sweet baby Jesus, that is one good-looking woman" Montoya muttered.

Shocked that the jaguar would make such a comment while his girlfriend was there hanging on his arm, Ned gave Montoya a surprised look, but instead of getting annoyed, Sofia just nodded and turned towards Garrett. "Is she into threesomes?" she asked breathily. "Or girls?"

Garrett's eyes got big and he grinned with all fangs. "Not so far as I'm aware."

"What a shame" Sofia whispered regretfully. Ned glanced at Montoya, who just grinned devilishly and gave him thumbs up, nodding rapidly and licking his lips.

"You sure know how to pick them" he repeated, finishing the wine. Up on the podium, a member of Mayor Wong's staff whom he didn't recognise, a raccoon, was announcing that the Mayor would be taking the stand in thirty minutes, and that until then, guests were advised to enjoy themselves. The band had started playing something slightly livelier, so Garrett begun to nudge Ned towards the dancefloor, Montoya and Sofia following. He stopped short though when they suddenly faced Diego, Milo, and Jason.

"Is that Diego?" Garrett asked with interest. "...delicious..." he grinned wolfishly.

"Yes, that's Diego." The wolfdog had spotted them and pushed through the crowd to join the little group of officers and their significant others.

"Hey, finally found you guys" he growled happily, tail swishing casually, looking debonair in a jade-green suit. He pointed a finger at Milo and Jason. "Found these two looking like new recruits at bootcamp. Jason's date already ditched him for...who was it again?"

The cougar's eyes narrowed. "I may not have a date, but at least I'm not making an exhibition of my deviancy" he hissed lowly, shooting Ned a hostile look.

"This what you're worried about?" Impulsively, Ned dropped a paw to Garrett's crotch and groped him briefly.

Wow, wolf, watch yourself. He'd only had two little glasses of wine, but that shouldn't have been enough to make him start groping his boyfriend at a formal event though, was it? Maybe Garrett's and Olympia's fearless attitudes were washing off on him.

Jason looked mortified, even more so after Garrett humped lightly into Ned's paw and rolled his eyes at Jason. "Make a mockery of yourself if you wish" he hissed, ears pinned. "At least I have some decency."

Milo gave them a helpless I'm sorry shrug of his paws as Jason turned tail and vanished, following him. Good riddance, but Ned was still feeling strangely giddy after disposing of the hostile cougar in the way he had. Maybe it was only the wine, but he felt confident. Especially now that it seemed pretty evident that Olympia had no intentions of anything but wrapping San Fernando's high-and-mighty around her finger.

Ned felt Diego's eyes on him. "Nice show, guys" the wolfdog smirked. "They serving anything but wine here?"

"Alas, no" Sofia murmured mournfully. "I already asked."

"Damn" the wolfdog swore, but the others did not say anything, because all around them conversation was dimming, and heads turned in the direction of the main entrance. When Ned looked himself, he saw what had got the others attention: Mayor Wong and Captain Williston, flanked by a variety of aids and underlings and a couple reporters. Almost simultaneously, Ned became aware that Olympia had finally managed to detach herself from Judge Clay and the lawyers and moved to join his and Garrett's group, watching the Mayor in the same way a falcon watches a duck.

Ned had a brief impulse to stop her, but he needn't have bothered. Mayor Wong was moving slowly among the guests, stopping to shake hands or inquire about this or that, but Captain Williston had spotted Olympia, and in his eyes Ned saw the expression of a man who's seen something he desires.

"Now who might you be?" the big Doberman inquired, in the same charming tone of voice he used when speaking with the Mayor or other officials but never bothered to put on when dealing with his subordinates. The Mayor himself had also stopped and was staring captivated. Probably even more so, Ned thought, as the Mayor himself was a wolf.

Olympia smiled beguilingly. "I am Olympia Rogan, daughter of Nigel Rogan, the future Prime Minister of Great Britain" she said, using just the right amount of her accent to make the two men's eyes water.

Both Williston and the Mayor blinked. "Nigel Rogan's daughter, here in my city?" the wolf asked, shocked. "I am the Mayor, David Wong, and this is Captain George Williston, our chief of police."

"Enchanted" Olympia held out paw and Ned almost laughed as the Mayor and Williston both bent to kiss it. "Such gentleman you have here in San Fernando."

"How did you come to be here in San Fernando, Miss Rogan?" the Mayor asked, oblivious to the look of annoyance Captain Williston was giving him. She's got them both under her spell instantly, Ned thought. Both are tripping over their heals trying to get her interested in them. It was almost comical the way the Mayor's tail was wagging; the silly grin spread across his muzzle. He glanced at Garrett and was rather surprised that the coyote was wearing a determined expression of...accomplishment?

Olympia turned towards Garrett. "I am staying for a time with my dear friend and associate, the actor Garrett Dyckert" she explained, "along with his boyfriend Ned Parker, of your own SF Metro Homicide."

Mayor Wong was quick to shake Garrett's paw. "I'm absolutely thrilled to have so many people of note here on this amazing evening!" He shook Ned's paw too, thanking him, and Ned saw that Williston was looking at him with new interest, as someone with powerful friends. Annoying, that; how the Doberman had been scornful of him when Garrett was merely the nameless coyote he'd been screwing, yet now that he knew Ned was dating an actor and could count Olympia Rogan among his friends, he was somehow worth of notice.

"It's truly amazing" the Mayor went on, looking over his shoulder at his staff. "Dena, add Miss Rogan and her friends to my guest circle, please?" He turned back to Olympia. "You must join me tonight, Miss Rogan."

Captain Williston moved like lightening. "But not before you dance with me, Miss" the Doberman growled, holding out one of his enormous paws. "May I have this dance?"

"I would seldom be inclined to pass by a dance with a handsome captain" Olympia murmured, giving the dog a smile so condescending that Ned was astounded at how Williston could be fooled so easily. "But do not worry, Mr Mayor, I will certainly find you afterwards."

The Mayor looked slightly irritated, but he grinned, nodding. The wolf actually looked a bit foolish, with his tongue almost hanging from his muzzle and the nervous wag that he seemingly couldn't help every time Olympia looked at him. What a quandary this is, Ned thought. Both of these men had dedicated themselves to fighting organised crime, including putting the Chinese Triad out of business, and yet now they were like puppies with a new toy, making fools of themselves in attempts to impress the very woman who was the Dragon Master herself. The irony was almost humorous, or would have been if he'd been viewing it from the outside.

The Mayor had started talking to Garrett after Olympia allowed Williston to lead her away in the direction of the dance floor, so Ned excused himself. All the stress complied from being the only person - well, excepting Scarlett, who was who knew where - the only person who knew that Olympia Rogan was really Xang Lan, was making him feel very much in need of a drink. Besides that, the gala had a hors d'oeuvres table next to the one severing the wine; a white-clothed affair covered in little dishes of olives, cocktail shrimp, baby corn, exotic cheeses, small sausages, various crackers with sauces on them, and other tiny delicacies that were not messy and could be eaten off of a toothpick. For a moment Ned stuck to the table, watching the dancefloor where Olympia and Captain Williston were occasionally apparent amongst the other dancers. The food was good, no surprise, and he'd drained another of the wine glasses, by the time he spotted two familiar couples: Lennox, with her brown-furred husband, Captain Finn Lennox of the US Air Force, and Arkady, along with his wife Moira, an attractive cross-fox. "Hello, Parker" Lennox smiled calmly, eating shrimp off a couple toothpicks. "Didn't you come here with a date?"

"He's off with the Mayor" Ned explained, watching both the Lennox's eyebrows arch in interest. "And Olympia Rogan has run off with the Captain."

"Olympia Rogan?" Lennox asked curiously. "The same one we almost arrested?"

"The same. She's the daughter of a famous British politician, apparently. Kind of a socialite. The Mayor and the Captain are both...enamoured with her, might be a nice way to put it."

Finn Lennox smirked, but his wife did not seem amused. "Typical men" she muttered. "At least I've been able to avoid their notice this far."

Ned's eyes had strayed to the other end of the table, where Arkady was talking quietly to his wife while filling a small plate with food for her. Arkady's subordinates at SF Metro did not often see the Sergeant's wife, but when Arkady was with Moira, it was pretty much a guarantee they would not see much of the fox; he had eyes for his wife, and her alone. "Good luck with keeping that up" he said, although he thought with the way Olympia had the Mayor and Captain bewitched by her charm, Lennox probably would get ignored, which was just what she wanted.

He'd just ate his last baby corn when the music stopped for a moment while the band switched songs, and Ned suddenly saw a chance. Mumbling a goodbye to the Lennoxes, he hurriedly made his way to the dancefloor, nearly stepping on the tail of a wayward lioness as he did so, and stepped up just in time before the music started. "Captain, I'd like to steal the lady from you, just for one dance" he growled elegantly, holding a paw out to Olympia.

Williston's eyes flared and his lip raised just enough to show part of a fang, but Olympia turned her dark eyes on Ned knowingly and murmured "Thank you for dancing with me, Captain....I'm sure no other man can live up to you."

That seemed to restore the dog's goodwill, because he shrugged, grinned, and muttered something about "thought you didn't go for that," presumably meaning Ned and women. The band was playing a rhapsody or something, couples beginning to move to the tune, and confidently Ned let Olympia into the centre of the floor. One paw resting over one of the roses on her shoulder, the other around her narrow, red-wrapped waist, he leaned in so his muzzle was an inch from hers, smelling the wine on her breath.

"So are you enjoying yourself, Olympia?" he took the paw off her shoulder just long enough to dramatically bop himself on the forehead. "Oh, I forgot. Is that the right name? Or is it Miranda Ryswell? Or Lissette Fratelli? Or," he narrowed his eyes, "is it...Xang Lan?"