Diners, Dives & Dead Ends (14 page)

“Ah man.”  He pounded his
little fist on the table.  “That sucks!”

Roxy nodded.  “That does
suck.”  She pulled out a piece of gum and stuck it in her mouth.

“Can I have a piece of gum?”

“No, this is special gum. 
I’m trying to quit smoking because it’s a bad habit, so I chew the gum
instead.”

He paused for second, his
blue eyes narrowed.  “Maybe if I quit picking my nose, I could eat candy.”

I grinned.  “It doesn’t hurt
to have dreams.”

We played Old Maid and Go
Fish until it was time for Scotty to go to bed.  Normally we’d play Candy Land,
but since sugar was a forbidden substance, I didn’t want to rub it in.

At eight-fifteen, I watched
him brush his teeth, listened to his prayers, and together, we read his
favorite book.  By that time, he’d just about conked out.  When I kissed his
forehead and left the room, I felt a pang in my chest.  Sometimes I envied my
sister.

Back downstairs I flopped
onto the sofa next to Roxy.

“Okay,” she said, “spill.”

I filled her in on the decrypted
list—‘Names, dates, and numbers?  WTF?’—my conversation with Sheila—‘Packard’s
totally getting some on the side’—and my run in with Manny—‘Maybe he’s a pimp
in charge of a secret prostitution ring.’

“A prostitution ring in
Huntingford?”

She lifted a shoulder. 
“Stranger shit has happened.”

“I just want Axton back.” 

“You’ll find him.  In the
meantime, if you want to know what’s going on in that tanning salon, we could
always break in.”

“Who are we, Charlie’s
Angels?  With my luck, I’d get caught.”

“I never get caught.  Well,
not since I was twelve.”

“Is that why you spent time
in juvie?”  I knew Roxy had a tough childhood.  She’d mentioned her stay in
Juvenile Hall over the years, but never told me why. 

She shrugged.  “I put syrup
of Ipecac in my foster father’s beer.”

“Oh.”

She played with a flounce on
her skirt.  “He deserved it, trust me.”

“I do.”

“Seriously, though, if you
want to break in after hours, I’m your girl.”

“I will keep it in mind.”

Roxy and I watched TV until
Jacks and Allen came home an hour later.  I gave them an update as Roxy pulled
on her cardigan and I grabbed my purse and dug out my keys.  “Okay sis, I’ll
call you next week.”

“Rose, I’m sorry about
tonight.  I should have told you we were going to Mom and Dad’s house.  It’s
just after the salmon incident the other day—”

“It’s okay.  Really.”  I
gave her a quick hug. 

She kissed my cheek and said
goodnight.

Roxy and I were walking
toward our cars when she glanced over at me.  “Sorry you didn’t get invited to
the hospital thing.”

“No biggie.”

“Yeah, well, if you were my
daughter, I’d be really proud of you.”  She grabbed a piece of my hair and gave
it a tug.  “Even though you still don’t have your degree, you loser.”

I drove out of my sister’s
neighborhood and hooked a left on Crabtree Lane.  When I pulled up to the cigar
bar, Dane was waiting for me out front, looking handsome in a dark jacket and
slacks.  He smiled when he saw me pull into the lot and headed over, opening my
door after I parked. 

His blue eyes sparkled as
his glance took me in from head to toe.  “You look beautiful.”

I pushed a lock of hair
behind one ear.  “Thanks.  You look nice, too.” 

He leaned down and kissed my
cheek.  When he pulled back, his hand lingered on my shoulder.  “Still no word
from Ax?”

“No.”

“Let’s have a drink and you
can fill me in on the latest.”  He slipped his hand around to my lower back and
escorted me inside.

Penn’s Cigar and Fine
Tobacco was a one story mellow brick building near my parents’ country club. 
Arched leaded glass windows looked out onto the street and the golf course beyond. 
The warm lighting inside made the club chairs and round mahogany tables seem rich
and inviting.  Expensive-smelling smoke hung thick in the air.

Dane helped me out of my
coat and handed it to the check girl.  Then he cupped my elbow and guided me to
the bar.

I gracefully slipped onto a
tall barstool and arranged my dress so I didn’t flash my official sexy panties
to the world.  I smiled at Dane as he slid an arm along the back of my seat.

“Mind if I smoke?”

I shook my head.

“Order me a Hennessy?  I’ll
be right back.”  He slid off the stool and walked toward the humidor.

The bartender made his way
over.  I ordered for Dane and ordered myself a glass of wine, feeling like I
was in over my head.  I knew my parents would have felt at home here, but I
didn’t know anything about cigars or cognac.  Most of the wine I drank came out
of a box.

I took out the picture of
Axton from my purse.  The bartender placed our drinks in front of me and set a
cigar cutter next to Dane’s snifter. 

“Have you seen this man in
here?” I asked, handing him the picture.

“Sorry.  Why are you looking
for him?”

“He’s missing.”

He handed back the photo.  “I
haven’t seen him.”

I tucked the picture in my
purse.  “Thanks, anyway.”

I swiveled on my stool and checked
out the place.  The room was full, and I saw at least four of my parents’
friends.  I swiftly turned back toward the bar so I wouldn’t inadvertently make
eye contact and have to participate in small talk about my career choice.  Or
lack of one.

Fifteen minutes later, Dane returned
a little flushed and out of breath.  “Sorry about that, I ran into a client and
everybody wants free advice.” 

“No problem.”  With my elbow
propped up on the bar, my chin in my hand, I watched Dane grab the cutter. 

He held up the cigar.  “You
have to snip the end off like this,” he said demonstrating.  “Then you light
the edges.”  He proceeded to rotate the cigar, charring the edges he’d snipped.

“Seems like a lot of work.”

“It’s worth the effort.” 
With narrowed eyes he put it in his mouth and gently puffed.  I got a little
turned on, watching it.

We started chatting and Dane
was good at drawing information out of me.  I found myself telling him
everything, from the decrypted list, which I pulled out of my purse and handed
to him, to BJ, to the tanning salon visit, but leaving out the bitch slap I
gave Manny.  He glanced through the pages, then looked over at me.

“I don’t understand.  What
does this have to do with Axton?  And why the hell didn’t you call the police
when those two men broke into your apartment?”

Good questions.  “BJ made it
sound like going to the police was a really bad idea.  And I have no proof he
was even there.  He may have broken in the first time, but there wasn’t any
damage.”

“And you still don’t know
what he wants?”

“I’m pretty sure he’s after the
hard drive.”

“This guy means business or
he wouldn’t keep showing up.  You have to go to the police with this, Rose. 
Please.  I know some cops, good men.  They’ll be discreet, I promise.”

“I don’t know…”

“Maybe they’ll take Axton’s
disappearance more seriously if you report this.”

What if that was true?  Time
was getting away from me.  Axton had been missing for five days and I wasn’t
any closer to finding him now than I had been on day one.  Besides, he needed
to show up for that drug test on Monday or he’d be out of a job.  Then how
would he pay his mortgage, his car payment, or keep Stoner Joe in chips and
ganja?  I missed him so much I ached with it.  But the police?  I wasn’t convinced
it was the right move.

“Trust me.  Please,” Dane
said, taking my hand. 

Tears stung the backs of my
eyes.  I was so tired, so weary, and I missed my friend.  I cleared my throat. 
“I need to use the restroom.” 

As I made my way toward the
ladies lounge, a door on my right opened and a server stepped into the hall.  I
peeked in before the door closed.  Through the thick gray haze, I made out a
group of men gathered around a table, playing cards.  I wondered how they could
breathe through all that dense smoke. 

After making use of the
facilities, which turned out to be larger than my apartment and much, much
nicer, I checked myself in the mirror, making sure my mascara hadn’t smudged
and touched up my lipstick before heading back to the bar.

I sipped my wine and Dane
swirled his cognac and smoked.  While he was occupied I turned things over in
my mind.  Where did this whole NorthStar thing fit in?  Just because Axton wrote
it down didn’t mean it was connected to all this.  Axton would no more have
been at home in this place than he would have at Honky Tonk Heaven or Chucky’s
or a pseudo-antique store.

“You know, I can’t help but
wonder if this is a waste of time,” I said.  “Axton doesn’t hang out in places
like this.  He doesn’t even go to bars much, except The Carp.  The thing at the
tanning salon could just be a coincidence.”

“The man who broke into your
apartment, how did he know you’d been looking for Axton?  Have you noticed anyone
following you?”

“No, and I’ve been checking,
believe me.  Unless they’re ninjas, no one has been tailing me.”   

“Do you think someone from
one of the businesses tipped this guy off?”

“It’s a possibility.”

“What about Packard or
Axton’s roommate?  Could either of them be working for BJ?”

“Stoner Joe?  He can’t
remember what day it is.  Packard?”  I thought about Manny’s reaction to
hearing Packard’s name.  But Pack knew Eric had the hard drive.  He would have passed
that info on to BJ, so no need to harass me.

“I don’t know what to
think.  I just know that I have to find Ax.  And wherever he is, I hope he’s
safe.”

Dane slipped a hand down my
back.  “You’re a good friend.”  He looked into my eyes and leaned in.  Our lips
almost touched when my purse vibrated.   

“Sorry,” I whispered.  I dug
my phone out and glanced at the ID.  It was Roxy.

Joe Carpino, also known as
The Carp, opened his bar when avocado green was all the rage, burnt orange
counter tops seemed like a good idea, and fake wood paneling was somehow more
attractive than real wood paneling.  But he featured live music and had cheap—albeit
watered down—booze.

Roxy waited for us outside
the bar, where smokers huddled in circles and people drifted in and out of the
building.  Each time the door opened a wave of music and a roar of chatter
spilled out onto the sidewalk, where Roxy paced, chewing a wad of gum as if her
life depended on it.  She kept smoothing her hands down the black ruffled skirt
and her large hair bow was a little cockeyed.

“Jeez, Rose, what took you
so long?”  She didn’t even glance in Dane’s direction.

“Dane,” I said, “this is
Roxy.”

He seemed stunned, but he
recovered quickly.  “Hello, Roxy, it’s nice to meet you.”

“Yeah,” she said, smacking
her gum.  She grabbed me by the shoulders, her mouth tilted down at the
corners.  “I am so sorry.  I mean, I had no idea this would happen.”

“Okay Rox, just calm down
and tell me.”

“I came to The Carp tonight
because TurkeyJerk was playing.”  She glanced at Dane and angled her head
toward my ear.  “And I didn’t want to drag you along because of
you know who
. 
But I wanted to meet Spork, the drummer.”

“Okay…”

“But then I saw
you know
who
,” she said in a low voice, “and he went ballistic.  He was all ‘Where’s
Rose?  I know she was with someone.  Some guy answered her phone the other
night.  Who was he?’  And I was all, ‘What the hell does it matter to you?  She
dumped your lame ass.’  And then Spork was all ‘Hey man, don’t talk to Spaz
that way.’  I’m really sorry.” 

I guessed Kevin—let’s face
it, I was never going to call him Spaz—was upset because BJ answered my phone. 
Why the hell had he answered my phone?  And what else had he done while he was
waiting with Henry in my apartment? 

Roxy squeezed my shoulder
and I filed BJ away for now.  “Okay, that doesn’t sound too bad.” 

“Here’s the bad part.  Kevin
is all ‘I’m going over to Rose’s right now’ and Spork is all ‘Don’t let that
bitch get you worked up’ and I’m all ‘Don’t you call my friend a bitch’ then
Kevin is all ‘Yeah, don’t talk about Rose that way’ and then Kevin punched
Spork.”

I looked up at the night sky
and sighed.  This was my life.  I couldn’t believe this was my life. 

“Is everything all right?”
Dane asked.

I turned and looked at him. 
He was so handsome.  And normal.  “It’s fine.  There’s a guy inside that I
broke up with.  We barely even dated.  But he’s harmless.  I think I just need
to go talk to him.  I’ll be firm, make him understand it’s over.”