Shadows of Deception

Whitman's estate loomed majestically against the night sky, its majestic architecture illuminated by the soft glow of lanterns lining the driveway. As Jane Parker stepped out of the sleek black car, a doorman in a crisp uniform opened the door for her and bowed. She joined the stream of late arrivals, her green cocktail dress hugging her figure perfectly, a striking contrast to her fiery red hair.

She entered the ballroom, immediately enveloped by the buzz of laughter, clinking glasses, and classical music playing softly in the background. The room was a glittering sea of the country's elite, but Jane's focus was razor-sharp. She scanned the crowd, her eyes narrowing as they settled on the man who had ruined her life.

There, towards the back of the ballroom, stood Sean Bennett. He was engaged in conversation with a young noblewoman, his demeanor relaxed and charming. Sean, a man suspected of killing nobles but never caught or found guilty, was the ghost she had been chasing for years. Jane had first encountered him while investigating a private case early in her career. She had seen him at the crime scene, and despite her best efforts to apprehend him, he always slipped through her fingers.

Her pursuit of Sean had turned into an obsession. She had come close to catching him twice, only to end up humiliated and with her reputation in tatters. The latest failure, just twenty-four hours ago, had been the final straw for her superiors. They deemed her unfit and handed down a demotion and a two-week suspension.

Before she knew it, she was walking toward him. She had questions and wanted answers. As she approached, Sean sensed her presence. He looked up from his conversation with a young woman, and his lips curved into a knowing smile.

Jane’s heart pounded, but she kept her voice steady. “Good evening, Mr. Bennett.”

“Lady Parker,” Sean greeted her smoothly, his eyes glinting with amusement. “What a pleasant surprise.”

“Yes, well, I could say the same.”

“I bet you could,” Sean said, turning to Nicole. “Nicole, this is Jane Parker. Jane, this is Nicole Whitman.”

“Whitman?” Jane questioned, recognizing the name as one of the elite noblewomen at the party. Her question was ignored.

“Is this a friend of yours?” Nicole asked.

“Just professional acquaintances,” Sean replied, his gaze never leaving Jane’s.

“Oh, and just what exactly do you do, Mrs. Parker?”

Jane snapped out of the stare-off with Sean as the woman inquired about her, “Pardon me?”

“I was asking what exactly you do.”

“I’m a detective in law enforcement,” Jane answered.

“Was a detective,” Sean added.

Jane glared at Sean.

“What do you mean, was a detective?” Nicole asked.

“I mean, she was a detective up until about yesterday afternoon when she was stripped of that title,” Sean explained.

“And how do you know that?” Jane asked, trying to keep her anger under control.

“Is it untrue?” Sean questioned, knowing it wasn’t.

Jane ignored Sean and turned to Nicole, complimenting the woman and buying some time to regain her mental faculties. “Lady Whitman, this is a lovely party you have put together.”

Nicole waved a hand to brush the compliment away, “I had nothing to do with this. This entire party cost thousands of dollars and is nothing more than another excuse for my father to show off.”

Jane was surprised at the response. She was hoping to strike up a conversation, maybe pull Nicole to the side, and warn her about Sean. Instead, she paid a useless compliment, losing her favor with the young woman.

Another man in a suit approached before she could say anything to improve the situation. He held his hand out and asked if Nicole would care to dance. She smiled, nodded, and followed the man to the dance floor.

“It seems your date has left you for another,” Jane said.

“She is not my date,” Sean said.

“My apologies. Should I have said your target or maybe victim? Would one of those have been more accurate?”

Sean sighed, “Would you like to dance?”

She gave him a questioning look, “You're asking me to dance?”

“Well, I invited you here, and you accepted that. Why should it be strange to expect you to accept my invitation to dance?”

Jane's jaw dropped. “You sent me the invite?”

“You really are struggling with the detective thing, aren’t you? Who did you think sent you the invitation?”

Jane shook her head in disappointment.

Sean smirked, “Did you think Nicole or another noble invited you in the hope you would show up and keep them safe from me?”

“You make it seem like that is an absurd notion to believe. Your reputation isn’t exactly a secret, which makes me wonder why anyone in their right mind would invite you to an event like this or anything at all."

“I got a letter with an invite to a nobleman’s party. There was no information on who sent it, but the letter said you would be here, and I could get answers if I went.”

“First, let me just say that I get invited to almost every noble social event. And it's because of my reputation that I do. It shows the common folk and other nobles that they are not afraid of me or any rumors that people spread.

“Second, who else but I would be able to provide you with the answers to your questions? I would also like to point out that I am still waiting for an answer about the dance.”

She stared at him with a stern look, trying to figure out her emotional state. She was not sure if she was more curious than angry or more angry than curious. And when it came to being angry, she wasn’t sure if she was angrier with him or more with herself for making so many elementary mistakes.

He held his hand out, waiting to see if she would take it or leave it. After a long second, she sighed, took his hand, and followed him out to the dance floor. She shook her head in disappointment with herself as his smug smile told her that he knew she was going to accept his offer.

His hand held hers while the other held her waist. They started to dance, and she couldn’t help but think of the absurdity of the situation. She was dancing with a man that she swore to bring to justice, a man that she was beyond certain was a murderer; and a man that she could no longer legally pursue.

“You seem tense,” he told her.

“I was just thinking of my current situation.”

He looked around at the venue and its extravagant decor, saying, “Yes, it is quite nice here, but I’m sure that’s not what you meant.”

“No, it’s not,” she said flatly.

“Are you still upset that it was me who invited you?”

“No. To be honest, I don’t think I cared who invited me. I knew you were going to be here, and I felt like I needed to be here as well.”

“Why? You have no authority to take me into custody, even if I were to do something that was unpleasant.”

“I would stop you.”

Sean smiled wide, “And how would you do that?”

Jane gave a slight shrug, “Maybe I’ll kill you first.”

“Then you would be no different than the man you hunt. In fact, I think you would be worse.”

“Worse?”

“Yes, worse. You would kill for your own selfish reason. To please only you.”

“I would be preventing the death of innocents.”

Sean laughed out loud at the comment, attracting the attention of other guests for a moment. He then stopped dancing and walked off the dance floor, with Jane chasing after him.

“You just stop and walk away in the middle of a dance?” Jane asked when they stepped off the dance floor.

Sean turned to her, “My apologies. That was rude of me. However, I think my assumption of you was off. I was under the impression that you were smart and capable while also possessing a sense of righteousness for the true innocents. That was my mistake, and I’m sorry to have invited you out,” he said in a calm manner before turning around and heading to the bar.

Jane stood there feeling the sting of his words. Words from someone she had no respect for and that shouldn’t have mattered but did for some odd reason.

“Wow, you seemed to have disappointed him,” Nicole said from behind Jane.

Jane turned and saw Nicole standing there, holding a drink in hand. “Where is your dance partner?” Jane asked.

“He is at the bar and will be back shortly.”

Jane noted how Nicole seemed at ease, despite the weight of their conversation. The young noblewoman’s poise was unsettling.

“May I ask you something?”

Nicole nodded, “Ask away.”

“What is your relationship with Sean?”

Nicole raised an eyebrow, “Are you interested?” she asked teasingly.

“What? No. I asked because of his reputation. I know it is no secret, but the two of you seemed a little closer than acquaintances, and I was just curious about how you felt about it or even if you believed the rumors to be true.”

Nicole smiled and waved her hand for Jane to follow. Jane did, and the two of them ended up at a small table in a cozy corner of the room, out of earshot of guests passing by. Jane felt a sense of foreboding as she sat down.

“I don’t think the rumors are true. I know they are,” Nicole said as they each sat down.

Jane’s mind raced. She had anticipated Nicole might dismiss the rumors, but this candid admission caught her off guard.

“And it doesn’t bother you to have a murderer at the party? One who hunts your kind?”

“My kind?” Nicole asked with an evil smile.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that…”

“My kind preys on your kind without a second thought. We walk over common people like they are an entirely lower species. We will start wars over something silly and meaningless and then send thousands of your kind off to die to keep our pride intact. And you want to know if it bothers me that one of your kind is standing up for himself?”

Jane sat there, not knowing what to say, but Nicole continued.

“We are not all like that; most of us aren’t, but a few are. My father is one.”

“I don’t understand. If he is, and no disrespect to you, but why doesn’t the law stop him?”

“Because it’s different with us nobles. We are rich and influence the lower class to do as we wish. If we want justice, then we must police ourselves,” Nicole said.

“And how do you do that?”

“To be blunt, with assassins. Do you want to guess who is my favorite?”

Jane's eyes went wide, “Sean works for you?”

Nicole laughed, “I wish. He is more of a freelancer but will often listen to my requests.”

“Is that why he was here tonight? Were you requesting something?”

“No. He was fulfilling my request,” she said casually.

“Was?” Jane asked.

“Yes, he is done and free to enjoy the event. But that’s all I will say on that matter.”

Jane let out her breath. “Well, I’m surprised you told me what you did.”

Nicole laughed, “Why? You are no threat to me. Do you know why you could never catch or get close to Sean? It’s because Sean and your boss are close friends. You can try to do something, but as long as you go through the legal channels, you will be stopped before you ever get going. That’s just how it is.

“Almost seems like you are trying to discourage me.”

“Not at all. I’m trying to get you to see the world you are trying to get involved with.”

Jane said nothing and thought about that for a moment before asking Nicole a question that popped into her head. “Did Sean cause me to lose my job position?”

Nicole shrugged, “I don’t know. That would be something you need to ask him yourself. Perhaps you should ask him why he invited you here as well.”

Jane took the hint. She stood up, thanked Nicole, and looked around for Sean. It took a minute, but she found him flirting with another woman. Steeling her nerves for the second time that night, she walked up to Sean and interrupted his conversation with another woman.

“Did you get me demoted?” she asked.

“I’m sorry, but will you excuse me for a moment?” Sean asked the woman with a charming smile.

“Of course,” she told him and walked away, but not before staring daggers at Jane.

“That was rude,” Sean said.

“Did you get me demoted?”

“I see Nicole didn’t feel like leaving things alone,” he said to himself and then answered Jane. “No, I told your boss to leave you as a detective, but they worried you would cause more harm than good, and you were too fixated on something you knew to be true to pursue anything else.”

Sean gave her the answer and walked towards the woman he was talking with. Jane had more questions and didn’t want him to keep trying to escape.

“You owe me a dance!”

He turned to her.

“You didn’t finish the last one, and I am owed at least that much.”

Sean nodded and walked onto the dance floor with Jane, where they resumed where they left off.

Jane broke the silence. “I’m sorry. You were trying to have a conversation with me, and I was being childish.”

“When in Rome,” he said jokingly; implying all the nobles are childish.

“Can I ask some questions?”

“Yes.”

“Why did you invite me?”

“To see if you were interested in working with me.”

Jane nodded at that, “Becoming a murderer or assassin?”

“There's more to it than that, but there will be people who need to be deleted.”

“Nicole said you fulfilled a request for her already, but she didn’t say who, why, or anything about it. Can you?”

“It was Charles Whitman. I poisoned him and left him in his room lying in bed. They won't find him till morning.”

“Nicole's father?!” Jane said a bit too loud.

Jane bit her tongue, and the two looked around and made sure everyone was out of earshot before continuing.

“It's not her real father. Her mother had an affair with one of the princes. Charles found out last year that Nicole wasn’t his and had her mother killed. Nicole was to have an accident next but needed to space it out so as not to draw too much suspicion. He just had an accident first.”

“What happens if I say no? Do I have an accident?” Jane asked.

Sean shook his head, “You have done extensive research on me…”

“There is very little I can find on you, but I have a feeling I know why that is now,” Jane said, cutting him off.

“You still did your research; you know the type of people I go after, and you know you're not one of them. If you refuse and can focus on other cases besides me, then I will see that you're reinstated, and you go back to detective work as usual among the common folk.”

“You make it sound degrading.”

“If you say yes, we will proceed from there, but there is no going back if you accept.”

“Were you recruited?” Jane asked.

Sean thought back, “Not the same way you are. Thirteen years ago, I was a new detective like you. I was looking into private security members who were getting killed on jobs. After a few months, I found out that Baron Daniel was hiring private security to test his personnel to join his group, The Guard. The private security was being executed as they trained with practice weapons, and The Guard used live ammo.

“I went in and made the arrest. I had more than enough proof that it was no accident, but in the end, the Baron was let off with a warning. He gave a public apology. When he did, he found me in the crowd and gave me a smile that said he was untouchable.

“Your boss and my partner at the time decided it was time to take it into our own hands. We headed to his estate, just the two of us. He came to the door himself, knowing it was us, his guard scattered around. He opened the door, and I am sure to this day he was going to make some smug comments about how great he was, but he never got the chance. I drew my gun and shot him in the face from a foot away.

“We thought for sure members of The Guard were going to start yelling and shooting at us, but it just so happens that there was no one in that area. We just turned and went to get something to eat. An hour later, we were called to investigate our own handiwork.”

Sean finished his story, and they danced in silence for a while.

“I want to reject your offer. Everything about it tells me it’s wrong,” Jane confessed.

“I know.”

“However, there is something else, something stronger, that tells me I should accept your offer.”

“Do you need time to think about it?” Sean asked.

Jane shook her head, “No, I made up my mind but something tells me you already knew my answer.”

Sean just smiled.