Deadly Dozen: 12 Mysteries/Thrillers (251 page)

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

THAT NIGHT AT THE BAR, I caught Joshua’s eye a few times. And it appeared Becky had noticed. It wasn’t as if we were openly flirting or anything, but during our afternoon together, we’d clearly begun a friendship, and it seemed Mama Bear was not too happy about it.

Every time Becky trained her eyes on me, she gave me a piercing look bordering on a fierce scowl
. Protective much,
Becky?
Her expression reminded me of a story I’d read as a child about a mother dragon who almost reduced a nearby village to ashes in an effort to protect her young offspring from the local (and somewhat overzealous) knight. That thought led to shape shifters which then led to me envisioning Becky suddenly morphing into a huge dragon here in the bar (and would her clothes, like those of the Incredible Hulk, simply shred to pieces or vanish?). I started giggling to myself.

“What’s so funny?” Joshua, who had sidled up next to me, gently nudged my ribs.

I startled and shot a guilty look at him. “Oh nothing. I was, uh, I was just thinking about something my mom told me about my dad.” This lying thing was coming a bit too easy for me. My father’s face popped into my head. He did not look happy.

“Got it.” He was pouring a couple of drinks for last call. There weren’t many patrons left. Even Candace and Mumbles had stumbled out a couple of hours earlier. They’d been acting a little bit strange lately. I wasn’t sure if it was because of the changes to the bar or something else.

Becky had, thankfully, left as soon as the kitchen stopped serving. But not before shooting me a parting death glare and claiming she had a migraine. I can’t say I was unhappy to see her go. It bothered me how her personality seemed to have turned on a dime. When she’d first come into the bar and Nick had made introductions, she’d acted like the two of us were buddy-buddy. But after Nick’s death, something had changed. And her attitude towards me took an even bigger nosedive once Joshua arrived on the scene. Maybe she was one of those extremely overprotective mothers and saw me as a potential threat to her relationship with her son. In any case, I felt sorry for the future Mrs. Joshua Styles, whoever she was. And as far as I was concerned, I was certainly no threat.

Joshua handed me a round of drinks meant for a table of what looked like out-of-town, business types. I set their drinks down and, as I turned back to the bar, one of them patted me on the rear. I swung around to meet the flirtatious eyes of a handsome thirtysomething year old wearing a blue, button-down shirt, and a platinum wedding band on his ring finger.

“Excuse me?!” I was
so
not impressed.

He held up his open palms and smiled. “My friends and I were just commenting on what a pretty girl you are and how well you sing. You’re also a wonderful waitress. I bet there are other things you do well, too.” He looked around at his colleagues and the group laughed.

It’s not often I lose my temper but when I do, watch out. I reached down, picked up his drink, and poured it down the front of his previously clean shirt. He stood quickly, knocking back his chair, eyes wide with surprise and anger.

“What the fuck?!”

I placed my drink tray on the floor next to me and rested my hands on either hip. “You’re right, mister. I do lots of other things real well, like get rid of jerks like you. Get out of here. You and your friends are no longer welcome.”

He shook his head and smiled again. This time, it wasn’t very friendly. I glanced at the three other men with him and their expressions ranged from agitated to eager. Nasty Business Man took a step closer to me and threw a glance back at his colleagues.

“Looks like we have a feisty one, boys.” He turned back to me, his eyes narrowed into slits. “I like them feisty,” he growled.

He picked up his chair from the floor and spun it around, then reached out and pushed me down into it. I struggled to get back up as the other men laughed and Mr. Nasty held me down by placing his hands on either side of my shoulders.

“Hey! What the hell?” Joshua yelled. “Get the hell away from her!” I could hear him come up behind me, and I noticed the other three men stand up. The man still holding me maintained his snarky grin. The blood began rushing through my ears and I could feel the pounding of my heart heavy against my chest— and that’s when I heard it.

The soft but unmistakable click of a gun.

Anyone who grew up in Texas hill country, like myself, knows exactly what that sound is. The three men facing Joshua went pale, one of them dropping back into his chair like a rock.

“I said, get the hell away from her … now. Or your next trip home will be in a body bag.”

The man facing me quickly yanked his hands off my shoulders and backed towards the table, away from Joshua and the gun.

“Hey man, no harm. We were just having some fun.”

Joshua’s calm, I-mean-business tone didn’t waver in the slightest. “You have ten seconds to get your drunk asses out of my bar before I pull the trigger. And I better not see any of you in this establishment again.”

The men grabbed their coats and moved quickly out of the bar. Joshua rushed over to me as I slumped against the back of the chair. I refused to start crying, but that had scared me pretty bad. I kept thinking back to Lucas’s warning about the Black Tier wanting a piece of me. Could these guys be just another attempt to intimidate me, like Pierre and Anastasia? Thank goodness for Joshua and his gun.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

JOSHUA’S HANDS WERE FIRMLY planted on his hips and he looked at me the way one might at a recalcitrant child. “For the last time, Evie, you don’t need to stay. You’ve had a rough evening and I think you’re entitled to an early night. I’ll walk you to your car and close up.”

“No, really, Joshua. I’m okay.” I’m not certain who I was trying to reassure more—him or me, as my hands were still shaking from the encounter. “Doing some work might help. And I don’t want to leave you here to do it all alone.”

The truth was, a part of me didn’t want to leave
him
all alone. He had intervened in what otherwise might have become an ugly situation, and I felt I owed him something. Also, I kept wondering if those men or whatever they were would be back for Joshua, or for me. I didn’t know if I could prevent anything bad from happening, but if it did, Joshua wouldn’t be alone— like Nick had been.

Like my sister had been.

“You sure?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

He looked down at the carpeted floor for a moment. “I hope I didn’t scare you even more, you know with…” He held up the gun, the dull gleam of black metal catching my eye and making me feel uneasy in spite of myself.

“Uh, no. But if you keep waving it around like that, I might change my mind.”

He laughed suddenly. “Oh sure. Sorry!”

Joshua walked back behind the bar and took out a box, where he then placed the gun and locked it. I wondered if the gun had been there when Nick was alive.

After giving myself a few more minutes to regain my composure, I decided to go to the kitchen to make sure everything was squared away. More and more people were coming in to eat at Nick’s—wanting the famous fish tacos. While I didn’t have the recipe, it appeared Becky did. I guessed Nick must have shared it with her considering the nature of their relationship. But all those tacos made for a less-than-clean kitchen by the end of the day.

“I think I’ll make sure the kitchen is clean and ready to go for tomorrow.” I started for the door, when Joshua reached out and touched my arm—again the flash of him in the back of the police car. I pulled my arm away.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean…” We shared an awkward few seconds between us as I’m sure my reaction caught him off guard. It wasn’t as if he’d grabbed me hard or anything. “I was just going to say, I’ll go with you. We can get it done together. The bar is clean now, so let’s get the kitchen sorted out and I’ll walk you to your car then.”

“Okay.” I nodded and smiled weakly at him, trying to soften the negative response I’d had to his touch.

We put away any food that’d been left out. Truth be told, Becky wasn’t exactly the most detail-oriented person when it came to cleaning. I swept and wiped down the counters. Joshua mopped. We didn’t say much while we worked, but his presence was comforting.

Joshua picked up a large box and headed towards the walk- in storage closet.

“Do you need help?” I asked.

“No, I’m fine. Well, maybe if you can get the door for me…”

“Sure.” Happy to provide any assistance I could, I stepped behind him and swung open the door. The large closet was a bit disorganized and filled with bottles of liquor, plates, dried foods, canned goods—that sort of thing. I quickly stepped in, moving some items around to make room for the large box.

Suddenly, I felt something icy reach out and touch my neck. I whirled around and looked at Joshua. He stood behind me, still holding the box in his hands. He started to set it down in the newly cleared space as he did so, the door to the closet slammed shut behind us.

“What the … ?” Joshua turned and tried to open the heavy door. Nothing. “That’s weird.”

I agreed, but then again, everything about my life had pretty much been what I would consider weird, especially lately. “Are we locked in here?”

“No.” He laughed nervously, and I wasn’t sure if I should believe him or not. “I may have left the back door open and the wind blew this one shut. It’s just old and heavy.” He pushed against it hard, putting all of his weight into his shoulder. The door didn’t move.

Perspiration started to trickle down my neck and slink its way down my backside. What if those guys had come back? What if they’d locked us in here? Joshua tried again and again. I came over and put my weight into the door as well. Nothing.

He shrugged. “I don’t know what to say,” he said. “We might be stuck here until tomorrow.”

“What?! I have to get home to Mac and Cass.” And what if Lucas showed up? What would he think if I didn’t come home all night?

Joshua let out a deep breath. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep trying. Just let me sit down for a minute and think this through.”

I nodded, telling myself to chill out. I knew I was tired and no doubt he was exhausted too. And, let’s face it. If I was going to be trapped in a storage closet, one with a working light, lots of food, and alcohol was certainly better than nothing.

Joshua glanced around the small area and took down a set of dish towels, spreading them out on the concrete floor. “Well, it’s no sofa, but I guess it’s better than cold cement.”

I laughed, in spite of my anxiety. “I come from a hick town and I’ve sat my butt down on the hard ground more than once in my life. I think I can handle this. But I have to tell you, I am not sure how my animals will fare through the night without me.” Not, of course, that I’d have to worry about either of them starving to death … especially not Mac.

“The good news is my mother will likely come looking for me if I’m not home in an hour. I may be almost thirty, but she treats me like I’m five.”

I nodded, not wanting to say I’d noticed. “Wait, do you have your cell phone on you?”

He shook his head resignedly. “Left it on the bar. You?”

“Nope. In my purse in the kitchen.”

“Worst case scenario then, we have to wait a couple of hours at the most before my mother figures out I’m MIA and comes on a rescue search.” He waved his hand at the dish rags on the floor. “Seat?”

“Sure.” It’s not like I had any other options.

Joshua tore open the box he’d just set down and pulled out a bottle of wine. “Want some?”

“How do you plan to get the cork out?”

“I’m a bartender now, remember?” He took a corkscrew from the front pocket of his jeans.

I nodded. Kind of late for wine, but since we were stuck …

“Are there any wine glasses in here?”

He reached up onto a shelf above him and took down a couple of Styrofoam cups. “No … but beggars can’t be choosers.”

“They’ll do just fine.”

He opened the wine, poured us each a cup full, and sat down next to me, placing the bottle on the box next to him. “So, here we are.”