"Surprisingly little noise," she thought as she cruised slowly past looking for a parking spot. She pulled in behind a red Ferrari, about a block from the house, and parked. Sitting quietly she wondered if she should forget the whole thing. She had no desire to walk a block, at two in the morning, on a dimly lit street even in the swankiest part of the San Fernando Valley.

A tapping on her window roused her from her reverie. A good-looking woman stood beside her car door and motioned for her to roll the window down. Chris could see the woman was nicely dressed and decided to at least discuss her predicament through a partly opened car window.

"Yes," she said.

"Hi. I'm Marilyn Short. If you're here for the party let's go in together. I was waiting in the Ferrari for someone to walk me down the street."

"Oh great," Chris said taking the keys out of the ignition. "I was just about to leave because I didn't want to walk the block alone. I'm Chris Diamond by the way."

"Hi Chris," Marilyn said as she hooked her arm into Chris' and led the way to the party.

They entered the front room of the house. There was the smell of cigarette smoke and the sounds of soft music and whispering voices coming from somewhere nearby but the well lit room was devoid of human occupants.

"Well Chris, ever been to one of these before?" Marilyn asked as she walked to a table loaded with hors d'oeuvres.

"Nope. I haven't a clue as to what one does at theses things," Chris answered spearing a shrimp and dipping it in cocktail sauce.

Marilyn was shorter than Chris and older. She had thick, dark, tousled hair, a pretty oval face and a full figure attractively encased in leather pants and silk blouse.

"She looks as if she just woke up," Chris thought as chewed the seafood morsel and studied her new found friend.