Shattered Perfection by Heather Guimond

paperwork.  She had a very no-nonsense look about her.  I marched forward, intent on resolving matters as quickly and efficiently as possible.
    “Excuse me, ma’am.  I’m here about a gentleman who was brought in about forty-five minutes to an hour ago.  His name is Vance Ashcroft.  There has been a big misunderstanding that I’d like to help clear up.”
    She gave me a look that told me she was going to be less than helpful. 
    “There is no misunderstanding.  Mr. Ashcroft is considered a threat to one of our guests and will remain detained until the authorities arrive to take him into custody.”
    “That is completely unnecessary.  If only I could explain to someone in charge—“
    “As far as you’re concerned lady, I’m in charge.  You can bond your friend out once he’s been charged and his bail has been set.”
    “Jail?  Bond?  Bail!!!”  I sputtered.  “This is absolutely ridiculous.  This is really all one colossal mistake.”
    “Mr. Ashcroft was attempting to follow one of our jackpot winners.  He admitted it himself.  There is no mistake, Miss…”     I finally reached the end of my patience with this aggravating woman.  “Bishop!  My name is Mimi Bishop!  I am that jackpot winner!  Mr. Ashcroft is my boyfriend!” 
    I heard Pete and Laurel mumble “Jackpot winner?” behind me.  I turned and shushed them with an exasperated look.     
    The security officer snorted.  “Sure you are.  Like I said, you can help your friend once he’s down at the police station.  Now, please leave.”
    “There would be a problem with that, since Mr. Ashcroft is our ride!  Please call Mr. Deangelo.  I’m sure he will be happy to help sort this matter out.  He will definitely confirm my identity for you.”  I motioned to the telephone on her desk with my hand.  “Go on, call.  I’ll wait.”
    She rolled her eyes at me.  “Fine.” she said tersely.
    I turned my back on her and joined Pete and Laurel as we waited for Mr. Deangelo to show up.  I gave Pete my best stink-eye. 
    “You could have stepped in at any time, Mr. Police Officer.  Couldn’t you have thrown some weight around or something?  Used some of your connections to spring my boyfriend?”
    “We’re not downtown yet, Mimi.  Once the police show up, I might be able to do something, but with these guys I don’t think my badge would get us very far.  Besides, you just marched right up there like a little tyrant and started making your own demands.  You seemed to be doing just fine.”
    “Hmpf.  I think Suzie Security would have been far more impressed with you than you think.  She obviously wasn’t with me.  Still isn’t.  I think she’s expecting Deangelo, the casino supervisor who helped me earlier, to throw me out of here.”
    “So you won a jackpot?”  Laurel did her best to interject casually.
    “Not now, Laurel.”  I gave her my best withering stare.  She raised her hands in submission.
    “Fine, fine.  You can’t blame me for being curious.”
    The door opened and Mr. Deangelo walked in looking just as fresh as he did earlier.  It was amazing to me that anyone could look so polished at nearly two-thirty in the morning.
    “Miss Bishop!  What a surprise to see you again so soon.  I hope you haven’t had any issues in our casino since you left the office.  I heard about the unfortunate event with the gentleman who was attempting to follow you.  You can rest easy knowing he was easily subdued and detained.”  Mr. Deangelo did his best to look concerned and reassuring at the same time.
    “Yes, about that.  There has been a terrible misunderstanding.  The man that has been detained is my boyfriend, Vance Ashcroft.”
    He frowned heavily, his brows drawing together, causing deep grooves in his forehead.  “No, that can’t be possible.”
    “I assure you, not only is it possible, it’s what happened.  He was only following me because he saw you and the security officer