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wear went unanswered. Thirty minutes later, she covered her hair with a short-brimmed black hat, donned a pair of black linen tailored slacks and a plain white blouse, and left her room.
    All I need is a tommy gun, and I’ll look like the Godfather
, Kate decided as she moved toward the garage. She hoped this excursion wouldn’t take too long.
    A short time later, Kate realized that unless she allowed Mrs. Jarrett to lend her the money for a dinner dress, they were likely to be there until the next week. After pushing Mrs. Jarrett through every exclusive dress shop along the Carnival Strip, Kate finally gave up and let Dorothea select a dinner gown for her. Following that ordeal, she was held hostage for two hours by a scissors-wieldingblonde Viking, André the Giant, who cut and styled her hair.
    Afterward she was turned over to a female version of André who created a new face for Kate. But Kate drew the line at having artificial fingernails attached to her own ragged ones. She was a maintenance worker, and those plastic things would last about five minutes. They reached a compromise with a manicure and clear polish.
    Finally, Kate was allowed to view the finished product. She was thunderstruck. The dark-haired woman facing her in the mirror was stunningly alive and mysterious.
    “I can’t believe that’s me,” she whispered softly.
    “It’s you all right, girl. Now let’s go home and get ready for that dinner party.”
    “I don’t understand why you’ve gone to all this trouble just so that I can act as your companion for the evening. Probably nobody there would have noticed me.”
    “You’ll be noticed all right. I may be a wildcatter, but I don’t drill dust holes.”
    “If you wanted my help, fine. But all this wasn’t necessary.”
    “Well, let’s just say that I’m a meddling old woman, Kate. You remind me of myself a long time ago. Humor me, will you?”
    All the way back to the hotel and up to her room, Mrs. Jarrett was quiet. She seemed lost in thought, and Kate didn’t press the elderly woman. She was probably just trying to get her nephew’s attention because she was lonely. She’d done Kate a good turn, and Kate couldn’t be rude. What difference could it make? She’d go.
    Kate stepped into the empty elevator and headed for her room. In her mind, she could see Max inhis skimpy bathing suit standing there next to her.
    She groaned. Her mother had never told her that there’d be days like this. And the night was yet to come.
    Kate looked at herself in the mirror. The dress that Dorothea had chosen was unlike anything Kate had ever owned. The clinging blue-green garment was held at the shoulders by two mother-of-pearl shells and draped gracefully over her breasts. The resulting V-neckline would have been outrageous were it not for a silver swatch of transparent material that covered it. There was no back to the dress. The slim underskirt was slit to the thigh, revealing a scandalous expanse of bare flesh.
    The hairdresser had swept her hair back behind one ear and caught it there with an alabaster shell. From the moment she’d looked in the mirror, she’d felt a strange surge of excitement. There was an aura about her that seemed to whisper of the unknown. At five minutes of eight, Kate applied fresh lipstick, a hint of fragrance, and left her room before she changed her mind and fled into the night.
    Through the lobby and into the elevator she marched, determined to explain to Mrs. Jarrett her misgivings about the coming evening. She felt like a con artist involved in some great scam. This was a mistake. She’d just have to be very firm and explain that she was an employee, and the gown wasn’t appropriate for a companion.
    “Fiddlesticks, my dear. Lucy always dresses as if she were an invited guest. Clothes are one ofthe perks of her job,” Dorothea told Kate moments later.
    “But I’m not Lucy, and I’m certainly not an invited guest. I wear a uniform. I’m a plumber, for