Going Out To Sea

by Vy Kava

About the Author: 2016 Derringer winner, Vy Kava's stories have appeared in various anthologies and in Flash Bang Mysteries-"Date Night"-Autumn 2018-was picked as Editor's Choice. She also was the winner in Alfred's Hitchcock's "The Photo that Won" in the July-Aug 2016 issue. Her story "Exit Plan" was a finalist in the Writers Police Academy Golden Donut Award in 2014.

Excerpt

I’m not one to rub shoulders with the superrich nor attend their extravagant events, but a free ticket, along with a catalog, had arrived two days earlier inviting me to preview twenty paintings up for auction at the Gallagher’s Museum of Art, about a half-hour’s drive from my home in Clinton. While perusing the catalog, one of the paintings had caught my eye: It had been more than six years since our paths had crossed.

I found the white and red banners, that stretched across the front of the museum, out of character for the old, stuffy building whose rooms are filled with relics and faded tapestries. The banners welcomed all to their annual auction and gala fundraiser.

A college lad dressed in a guard’s gray uniform took my ticket and directed me to the marble stairs to the second floor. Music and laughter echoed through the halls and pulled me into a festive mood. A jazz ensemble played one of my favorite Dave Brubeck’s songs—“Take Five.”

I walked up to the buffet line. A slender woman, wearing a long, French white apron, welcomed me and handed me a plate with two mini bruschetta toasts topped with grilled shrimp under a bed of pesto—famished, I gobbled them down—and a glass of white wine.

Story Comments