Night Music

Chapter 3: Doppelgangers

El wasn't surprised when she heard Henry's exasperated voice on the phone, although it would have been a positive sign if he hadn't called. It would mean that Henry was no longer obsessing so much about Neal's dates. But this was Henry, after all.

She smiled, mentally patting herself on the back for working at home in the morning. She had a cup of tea beside her. Satchmo was sprawled next to her fluffy slippers. It was a blustery, wintry day outside—ideal conditions for a Monday morning break to engage in matchmaking while blowing a little innocent smoke.

"I knew something was up when Neal didn't take me up on my offer to have dinner with Eric and me. Eric was making mole poblano and Neal loves his food. He said he already had plans. Hah!"

Did you ask him what those plans were? According to the rules of Operation Checkmate, lying was forbidden. If Henry would simply ask Neal if he was dating Sara, or Alex for that matter, the game would be over.

"I bet he was seeing Alex," Henry continued. "No point in asking Neal for details. He would have simply deflected or invented some tale about Alicia. But he can't outfox me. We had Richard and Travis over yesterday evening. Did you hear about their commitment ceremony?"

"Peter told me. Plighting their love for each other under the stars is such a romantic moment."

"Commitment, that's what it's all about. Eric and I have discussed it. What if Neal is doing the same thing with Alex?" Henry's voice grew louder and he gave a thump on a drum. El had learned to recognize the sound. It meant he was calling from a huddle room at the Win-Win office.

"I find it hard to believe Neal's ready to talk about commitment with anyone," El said, trying to calm him down. She thought that was true, although she couldn't help hoping that he and Sara ... She quickly slapped down on that errant thought. This was Henry she was talking to, not Neal. "I saw him at an opera reception on Thursday night. He was with Sonya Pashkina."

Silence for a moment. "Is she the viola player who had the Fabergé egg?"

"That's right. I provided the catering services for the event. We chatted for a few minutes."

"He told me about her. Huh. Is he still playing the field? This could mean he's not serious about Alex. Sonya on Thursday, Alex on Saturday. Or could Sonya be a decoy?"

El winked at Satchmo. Time for an extra helping of smoke. "Why do you think he was with Alex on Saturday?"

Henry chuckled. "I have an unwitting spy. Richard's studio is next to Neal's. He's his closest friend at Columbia. The guy doesn't have a devious bone in his body. I was able to lead him into disclosing that Neal had a date this coming Saturday night. I made a joke of it, saying with all the dates Neal's having with Alex, things must be getting serious. Do you know what his reply was?"

"No," said El breathlessly, glad Henry couldn't see her smile.

"He said, and I quote, 'I should have thought of that! I've heard him mention Alex on the phone. I thought he was talking about a guy.' " Henry paused for a moment as if to let El absorb the revelation. "We got him!"

No, we've got you. Neal was sure Henry would try to take advantage of Richard and had conducted a practice session with him beforehand. Now that Henry was convinced he'd solved the mystery, would he finally talk to Neal about it?

* * * * *

He'd arrived at the vampire's quarters above Riffs in a foul mood, and what better person to vent at than Electra's pure-blood. They were brothers in having to put up with a capricious goddess who seemed hell-bent on making their lives miserable. Jeremy's cold-as-ice reaction was oddly soothing. Crowley had never met anyone with so much sang-froid. Up to now, though, Jeremy hadn't had any better luck than Crowley in cooling Electra's over-heated passions.