Inside the club, the party was starting to break up. Delinda and Mary were chatting meaninglessly when the bartender called Mary to the phone. Delinda could hear the anxiety in Mary's voice.
"Yes, I know it's late. I'll be home soon, I promise. Is he okay?...Thanks, I'm on my way." She hung up and turned to Delinda. "Is it okay if I take off?"
"Sure, the cleaning people are about to take over. Is everything okay?"
"Yes, I just need to get upstairs."
"Upstairs? Oh, are you in a suite?"
"Mr. Deline offered me one until I can find an apartment. Look, I have to go…I'll see you tomorrow." She race out of Mystique, leaving Delinda standing alone in surprise.
She was soon joined by Danny and his father.
"Delinda, have you seen Mary?"
"Danny, no, she doesn't want to talk to you. Hi, Mr. McCoy."
"Hi Delinda."
"Look Delinda, I know she doesn't want to see me. But she'll want to talk to Dad."
"Danny…" Delinda began.
"Delinda, please." Mr. McCoy pleaded.
"She's staying in one of the suites. I don't know which."
"I'll find out." Danny stalked off, his father following.
Mary had changed into her comfiest flannel pajamas and was contemplating soaking her feet when there was a knock at her door. Groaning, she went to answer it, muttering "that better not be Danny" under her breath. She opened the door partway and squealed when she saw her visitor.
"Papa Larry!" She cried out and gave Danny's dad a huge hug. He squeezed her tightly in return.
"Mary my girl! It really is you!"
"Yep, really is. Come in." She checked the hallway. "Danny's not with you, is he?"
"No, I made him wait downstairs."
They stood in the living room, Mr. McCoy staring, stunned, at Mary.
"You look wonderful."
"So do you. So, how's the construction business?"
Mr. McCoy sat down, Mary opposite him. "It's good. There's a new subdivision going up in North Vegas and we're working on that."
"That's wonderful." She fidgeted a bit. "I suppose you want to know why I left."
"We don't have to talk about that yet. What have you been doing?"
"Well…I went to college in Washington, working at a hotel to support myself. And when I finished my degree my counselor told me about the opening here. So I figured it was time to come back. Of course I didn't expect Danny to be here."
"I didn't either."
"I'm sorry Papa Larry, I had to leave."
"I'm sure you did. I don't need to know why you left, but I wish you would have said goodbye."
"If I had, I wouldn't have been able to leave."
"Metro still has you listed as a missing person. Every so often Luis calls me to see if I've heard from you."
"I'll have to call and tell him I'm found."
"You really scared me Mary. For a while I thought maybe your dad had come back."
"You knew I would never…"
"Right. But just the idea terrified Danny."
"It did?" There was hope in Mary's voice.
"Of course it did. What did you…"But he was interrupted before he could finish his question. His eyes were drawn to a young child, between four and five year's old standing in a bedroom doorway.
"Mommy?" called the child.
