"We have to talk, Alex."

Alexandra stopped digging through her purse for her lipstick and looked up to find Paul Drake sliding into the booth across from her.

"About why you're late?" She teased.

Drake shook his head, though his expression did soften slightly with a barely there smile that still touched his blue eyes. "No. I'm afraid it's not that trivial."

"Oh? Sounds serious," the pretty blonde smirked. "Are you dumping me for Margo?"

The handsome detective couldn't have looked more shocked if she'd slapped him.

"You know about that?!" He practically yelped.

She motioned for him to lower his voice before he drew more attention to himself than he wanted. They were still undercover and keeping an eye on a particular individual. An individual who seemed to really love this restaurant.

Soon Alexandra would have to hop up on stage and sing again. It was part of their cover. She provided the entertainment which also did double duty as a distraction and Drake could explain his frequent presence there by saying he was there to listen to his girl.

"I may have encouraged her to confess her feelings for you…," Alexandra admitted slyly as she resumed the hunt for that elusive tube of lipstick. "Confession sort of worked for me and Mr. Burger though I didn't mean for it to reach his ears. I thought maybe it would work for her too. We're not getting any younger. Ah ha! Here it is. Found you, you elusive little thing. Purses are black holes, I swear…"

She touched up her cherry red lipstick as the server dropped by their table to take their orders.

Not having time to glance at the menu, Drake ordered the same thing he'd had a few nights prior and then ordered for Alexandra. The waiter bustled off and Alexandra dropped her lipstick back into her purse.

"Well, thank you for that. I suppose I should let you meddle more often," he smiled at her gratefully. "Margo isn't the only reason though."

That made Alexandra cock her head in confusion.

"Really?" She asked curiously. She picked up her glass of ice water and took a long sip.

"Mr. Burger stopped me after court was over. He is concerned that moonlighting with me undercover in the evenings could put you at risk and he's worried for you," Drake explained. "He wants me to release you from it."

Alexandra's mouth dropped open in stunned disbelief as she set her glass back down on the table a little harder than she meant to.

"He can't dictate what I do after work!" She said, dismayed.

Drake sighed and reached into his pocket for a cigarette. He lit it up immediately and took a long drag as he pondered how to respond in a way that would calm her before she hunted down the District Attorney to confront him herself.

And she would be just bold enough to do it too.

He exhaled smoke and flagged down the waiter for a martini.

"Alex, men don't talk about their feelings much, especially to each other, but I can tell you this," Drake said seriously. "We know when a man has feelings for a woman and we know when to back off. It was crystal clear to me that he returns your feelings. At the very least, the interest. If you and I were an actual couple, I'd stand my ground, but we're not. And I respect him enough to honor his wishes on this."

Alexandra exhaled and took another sip of her water. She was practically sulking as she pondered his words.

"I was enjoying this…," she pouted.

"So was I, Alex," Drake admitted. "But look on the bright side. The four of us can double date now."

Alexandra brightened at the suggestion.

"Oooh, triple date if we get Perry and Della to come along!"

"That's the spirit!" Drake crowed, clinking glasses with her."

Wmwmwmwm

Drake waited impatiently for Alexandra to come out after her set. She had done a beautiful rendition of Doris Day's You Do Something To Me to end the evening and then disappeared to the powder room. That was 20 minutes ago. He was starting to wring his hands with worry.

Finally, he flagged down a waitress to go check on her.

After a few moments the waitress rushed back out to him. She was pale and frightened and beckoned frantically for him to follow her. Another waiter noticed and joined them. Together they hurried to the back and found the emergency exit door wide open.

A high heeled shoe that looked like the pair that Alex had been wearing was laying sideways in the middle of the hallway between the bathroom door and the exit door. It looked as if it had fallen off or perhaps was kicked off on purpose.

"Did you see her purse in the ladies room?" Drake asked, his heart racing.

The waitress shook her head insistently.

"No, but I didn't look to see if it was hung up on the back of the stall doors. I came back out here when I couldn't find her in there and the exit door was wide open."

Drake nodded.

"Go check please."

She hurried off.

"And with the necessaries back here there's no telling how many people were back here in the last 20 minutes. Could have been anyone," he exhaled in frustration.

"I'll go get the manager so he can see this and call the police if necessary," the server said, rushing off.

Drake stepped outside, finding himself in a dark area of the parking lot. The cool night breeze wrapped itself around him as he looked around for clues.

Alexandra's lavender hued purse was a few feet away, almost upside down with a strap broken as if there had been a tug of war over it. Drake didn't touch it, but at first glance it appeared nothing was missing. Even her car was still where she'd parked it.

The manager jogged up beside Drake and seeing what the private detective was seeing simply said he'd call the police and moved to hurry back inside.

"Better make a few more calls for me too while you're at it," Drake sighed. "Perry Mason and the District Attorney. Thank you."

As the manager rushed off, Drake continued looking for clues all the while trying to keep his emotions in check. Alexandra's best chance rested in him keeping a level head, but it was difficult.

Shreds of material several feet away drifted by him in the breeze. Purple like the dress Alexandra had been wearing and Drake swallowed hard as he jogged after them before they blew any further away.

His last thoughts as he noticed the blood stains was that Hamilton Burger was going to have him lynched. Or worse… Alexandra was dead.