“Well what the hell is wrong with you?” she asked while closing the office door.
“Something from my past just reared its ugly head.”
“You’d better tell me about it,” Jo said and smiled.
The smile was just a little too condescending to suit Zander.
“Not now. Maybe someday when I sort this whole thing out, but not just yet. Besides, you said I’ve got to get to work,” he said and stood.
“I’ll call them and let them know you can’t make it if you want. I don’t think you’re up to doing much of anything. You look terrible.”
“Gee thanks. You ought to try looking in the mirror yourself Josephine,” Zander smiled, then softened his tone a bit, “Seriously, I’ll be fine. I just had a shock and I promise to share it with you when I feel the time is right.”
“Well get going then and stop being such a dead weight.”
Jo stood and open the door.
It was an interesting turn of a phrase Zander thought. He hadn’t even pieced together the body found in the basement until now. There is no statue of limitations on murder. This whole thing was getting more complex by the minute.
“See you tomorrow,” Zander said and walked out of the office in front of Jo.
Fats hadn’t returned so he just walked right through the bar and out the swinging doors. He dragged himself over to the van, got in and rolled down the window. He needed the fresh air.
After a stop at his cabin for a shower and change of clothes, he swapped the van for his T-Bird.
Zander was in no hurry to get up to Breckenridge so he took a few of the back roads and drove slowly trying to get his head on right.
He got to The Bridge just a few minutes past the start of his shift. The manager smiled.
“Glad to see you, Zander. Jo called and said you weren’t feeling well. I didn’t really expect you.”
“I’m alright now. Maybe it was something I ate on the road.”
“Damn restaurants.” The manager laughed at what he thought was a great piece of irony.
Zander laughed to be polite.
“Well, clock in and get behind the bar. We are absolutely slammed tonight,” the manager replied and hurried off. Jo had told him to keep an eye on Zander and he hoped he had time to do so.
Zander punched in and put on a black bar apron around his waist. There was another bartender on duty to help handle the increased business.
He had worked with her before. She was quite a bit younger and they were friendly but he hadn’t pursued a bedroom adventure. She seemed a bit needy to Zander and although he liked her and they were pretty good friends, she scared him just a little.
“Hey, Audrey, you look like you’ve been rode hard and put up wet,” Zander said and he hated what he said after it came out. He always disliked that horse analogy. It was over used and sounded a bit trite and a whole lot sexist.
“Damn it, Zander! We are so freaking busy today I just want to scream.”
“If you have to scream, do it in the mountains. If you scream here, no one will have any hearing left.” He winked at her and got busy.
He thought he’d get started by cutting some lemons and limes but changed his mind when he saw the number of drink tickets still needing to be filled.
The two bartenders flew around mixing drinks for the better part of an hour until there was finally a short lull.
“Jees, Audrey, what’s going on up here? We’re not this busy in Frisco. At least I don’t think we are.”
“Everyone is having a big week. Breckenridge, Frisco, Silverthorne and even Dillon. Its some kind of national week seminar for women in the tanning bed and massage industry. They’ve taken over that big tent on the river walk.”
“Tanning beds?” Zander asked, not really understanding.
“It’s huge. It’s really catching on nationally and especially on the coasts. People are making a lot of money.”
“Must be a female thing,” Zander said.
“Guys are doing it too,” Audrey shot back.
“Not this guy.”
“I’ll bet you’d like the massage end of it,” Audrey teased.
“I will never tell.”
Audrey realized he was talking about a whole other kind of massage.
“It’s not that kind, Zander. This is legit. These people go to school to learn it. It’s an art.”
Zander smiled broadly. He supposed there was an art about it. He might have had a little art himself once or twice.
“You are a pervert,” Audrey laughed.
“Guilty,” was all Zander needed to say.
The night raced by for them both. Zander liked it that way. When he was busy the time flew by and he didn’t have to look for things to do or think about things he didn’t want to deal with at least right now. Tonight it was all he could do just to keep up.
Ten o’clock rolled around and things started to slow down. Zander had an opportunity to look things over. He decided that most of the women were in their early twenties. They were all knock out gorgeous and had huge knockers to round them out. He saw low cut tight Breckenridge sweaters, Breckenridge zip up sweatshirts that were only zipped up two-thirds of the way or less, and long sleeved Breckenridge t-shirts with nothing underneath left for the imagination. The retailers had been having a good start to the winter presale season. Of course the bigger sizes always cost more as well.
There was so much cleavage hanging around, that Zander imagined he could have rafted the Arkansas River through them and never touch a breast on either side. It was a good evening to be a bartender.
The bar area had been slow during dinner but now it was starting to fill up and seemed to be mostly women and just a few men. Zander wondered if they were the owners of the salons. Maybe they were taking their employees out to the seminar as a reward for good service.
“Zander, your tongue is hanging out. Put it back in your mouth. You look like a sheep dog,” Audrey whispered as she passed him to draw a beer.
“I know. I just can’t help myself. I’ve never seen so many big busted women all in one place.”
“Best that money can buy. How many does one man need?” she asked, sounding innocent.
“As many as he can handle.”
Audrey would have jumped in bed with Zander in a second if he had showed the slightest interest. She was pretty and had a great body but there never had been any chemistry between them. That was okay with Audrey. She was doing just fine in the bedroom without him.
*****
The woman came into The Bridge much later then the rest of her group and sat down at a table that was in the process of ordering dinner. From the moment she walked in, there was no doubt that she was in charge.
She was older than the young women at her table and all the silliness stopped when she sat down.
She ordered a drink, a martini with Beefeaters gin. Without looking at the menu, she ordered a Caesar salad, a small tenderloin fillet, no potato and no desert. She was sitting at the only chair at the head of the table and after dinner was ordered, she turned to the girls and smiled. That was a cue allowing them to resume their conversations but at a much lower decibel level.
She appeared to be bored, showing only a minimal amount of interest in what was happening around her.
The woman wasn’t tall but she had a presence. She could have been anywhere from thirty to forty-five. It was hard to tell. She had long light brown hair that stopped just below her neckline. She had a small nose, hazel eyes and a face that oozed beauty except for her mouth, which had a permanent frown that made people uncomfortable around her. Her aura suggested she should be avoided or become the recipient of a systematic verbal unhinging. Most people could read that in her face, those that failed suffered. Maybe that’s why some of the young women kept looking over at her seeking affirmation. Seeing no denigration, the group of young women continued the merriment but in a more guarded fashion.
The bar area was large but still somewhat separate fro
m the restaurant. It was after ten and many of the servers had already checked out. Audrey had picked up a few tables close to the bar. Zander had taken a few earlier as well. On one of her many trips to her tables she said something to Zander as she passed him.
“I hate waiting on women, they are so damn needy.”
Zander just smiled. Sometimes he knew when to keep his mouth shut.
“What’s even worse, they’ll just give me a dollar tip each,” she continued, “I hate waiting tables. That’s why I became a bartender. This just sucks.”
“Tell me how you really feel,” Zander teased.
Audrey just blew by him with a tray of drinks heading back to her tables.
Zander had been keeping his eye on a couple of beauties sitting at the bar. He checked on them a few more times then necessary. One of the girls was drinking heavily and getting quite drunk. The other was keeping a watchful eye on her friend even though she had a few drinks herself. Zander liked that in a friend.
“So you two seem to be having more fun than normal people should having,” he said smiling.
“Yeah, well, us two, we ain’t so n-n-normal,” the drunk one, said, slurring.
“I think we’ve had enough for one night,” the other said and smiled at Zander.
“That can happen. Especially in this mountain air,” Zander said trying to sound sympathetic.
“We should probably go back to the hotel,” the other girl said.
“Can I call you a ride?” Zander asked.
“No we’re just across the street.”
“Do you need some help? I’m Zander, by the way.”
“Thanks so much but I can manage. I’ve done this before.”
“You are a good friend.”
“Co-worker really. I’m Lilly and this is Sherri. She likes to drink a little too much.”
“It happens.”
“Too much for my taste.”
Sherri had almost passed out. She had her head on the bar and was lecturing her margarita glass.
“Everyone thinks I’m drunk but I’m really just a little tired.”
Zander understood three or four words and before he could say anything, she looked at him and said:
“You’re so darn cute. Here you go.”
She handed him her room key.
Zander smiled and handed it over to Lilly.
“You sure you don’t need help?” he asked and winked at Lilly.
“I’ll take her back right now. Are you working late?” she asked.
“Looks like it’s starting to slow down. Audrey over there gets to close tonight.” He motioned toward where Audrey was standing. “So I’d say another forty-five minutes.”
“I want to come back and buy you a drink after I get Sherri to bed if that’s not being too pushy.”
“I’ll be here.” Zander smiled.
It might turn out to be a good night. He was tired but willing to stay to see how this might play out.
The two women stumbled out to the street and Zander went over to the door to make sure they got across the street safely. When they reached the other side, Sherri lost her dinner and all her drinks on the curb. The hotel staff would be hosing it off in the morning. It was something they were accustomed to doing. It was actually worse in the winter. After the skiers were on the slopes all day, they come into the bar to drink profusely. The heat of the bar and the drinks generally make many of them sick and it is always harder to clean frozen puke off the concrete.
Audrey had been busing her two tables. Some of the women had moved into the bar, the others had paid and left.
“Did you see that older woman at table 20?” Audrey asked Zander.
“How old?” Zander asked back.
“Your age.”
“Ouch. No I guess I didn’t notice.”
“Well she noticed you. She was asking all kinds of questions. I think you gave her the hots.”
“Of course I did. See what I can do without even trying? What did you tell her?”
“Not much. I know you don’t like people sharing your personal information.”
“Good girl.”
“She asked your name and I had to tell her I didn’t know what it was. I don’t think she believed me. I wasn’t lying either. I really don’t know your name.”
“I should kiss you, Audrey.”
“You should. The interesting part of this whole thing was that when I told her everyone called you Zander, she stopped talking and just drank her cocktail.”
“So what happened then?” Zander was interested.
“Nothing. She finished her drink and called me over and just asked for the check. She paid for the whole table. Zander it was close to five hundred bucks and she gave me cash.”
“Where is she?”
“She left. But get this, she left me a two hundred and fifty dollar tip.”
“Damn it! I should have taken that table,” Zander said laughing.
“You should have. She was interested in you. Who knows how much you would have made?”
Zander didn’t have much time to think about it. Lilly returned and sat down on a bar stool right in front of him. Audrey knew it was time to leave and she goosed Zander as she went over to the back bar to cut up more fruit.
“So did you get Sherri all tucked in?” Zander asked.
“She is down for the count, and she won’t be drinking much of anything tomorrow I would suspect.”
“It looked liked she lost most of it on the road. She might just wake up feeling like a champ,” Zander shared as he wiped down the bar in front of Lilly.
“I’m here to buy you a drink. What will you have?” Lilly asked.
“I usually ask that question. Seems wrong somehow when it comes from the wrong side of the bar.”
Lilly looked into Zander’s eyes and smiled. She was definitely on the prowl. Zander walked back to Audrey.
“Hey I’m going to have a drink with this beautiful lady if you think you can handle it all by yourself.”
“Watch me,” Audrey shot right back.
“I’ll clock out but we’ll stay in the bar. If you need me just yell something.”
“Asshole?”
“That’ll work.”
Zander went back to the spot where Lilly was sitting.
“What are you buying me tonight, Miss Lilly?”
“It’s your drink. I’ll have what you’re having.”
Zander usually stuck to beer and his choice was “Avalanche” from the Breckenridge Brewery. Tonight he thought he should be more adventurous.
“How about we do a shot of Don Julio tequila?”
“I’ll get a table. You bring the bottle,” Lilly commanded, “We’re going to have more than one I believe.”
Zander put some lime wedges in a bowl and found a saltshaker. He grabbed two double shot glasses and the tequila. He put them all on a tray and carried it around the bar.
Lilly was sitting at a small table with two chairs against the wall and out of the way of most of the other people. It was a nice little cozy place near the fireplace that was on but not throwing out much heat. It was there mostly for the ambiance.
They put the salt on their wrists, shot the tequila and then sucked on the limes. Zander could tell Lilly had experienced this type of drinking before. She was good at it. The Don Julio reposado was smooth. Zander didn’t need the salt or the lime but it was part of the process so he played along.
“This is way better stuff then I’m used to drinking,” Lilly said while looking at the bottle.
“It’s probably as good as we can get in this place,” Zander said and poured them another double shot.
“Let’s try this one slowly without the salt or the lime,” Lilly stated.
Zander liked her already. They took down the second shot slower and it was even smoother then the last. Zander could feel the warmth spreading to all the parts of his body. It felt good especially after a long day.
Lilly was actually a good conversationalist
. She paid attention and didn’t talk too much. She asked good questions and put Zander first and herself a distant second.
Zander found out that she was twenty-eight which surprised him. He always prided himself in knowing how old people were by their looks and actions. Lilly hadn’t appeared to be older than twenty-two or twenty-three.
The evening slipped away and soon Audrey was announcing last call. She always called last call at 1:30. Most of the other bars gave the patrons fifteen minutes but turned the clocks ahead twenty minutes. Audrey did both. She wanted people moved out and doors locked by 2:00.
Zander grabbed the tequila bottle and glasses and started to get up. Lilly grabbed his wrist and turned his hand palm up. She pressed her room key into his open hand.
“I’ll be waiting,” she said and smiled broadly while looking right into his eyes.
Then she got up and walked right out the door. Zander watched her leave. It was unexpected. He thought earlier that if he were lucky, they would leave together and maybe find some little after hours place. It appeared that Lilly didn’t want to waste anymore time. It suited Zander just fine.
Audrey had been watching Zander with some amusement.
“Left you flat, huh?”
“Do not fear,” Zander replied and showed her the room key.
“You are the luckiest guy I know.”
“We’ll see.” Zander laughed.
“So are you going to help me shut this place down or is your pants getting a little to tight for you to do anything?”
“Let’s do it,” Zander said, moving toward the bar.
It took them until 2:20 to clean up and get ready for the following day. As they were walking out of the front door, Zander looked at Audrey and said:
“Too bad you weren’t invited to join us.”
“A three-way? I think not. I like them one at a time thank you very much.”
“Never know until you try,” Zander said smugly.
“Who said I haven’t? I just said I prefer one at a time,” Audrey snorted and then was gone.
Zander locked the door and walked across the street to the hotel. He looked at the key. It had room 232 stamped on it. He liked the fact that she wasn’t on the first floor and yet not so high up that he would have to take the elevator. He could climb the stairs where there would be fewer prying eyes.
Always a Kicker Page 10
