“Thanks.” Although my hands itched to open the envelope, I stuck it under the counter. I had too many customers and couldn’t afford to get distracted.
“Sure. Rose?”
“Hmm?”
“Are you going to pass this information off to the police?”
I quirked my brow.
He sighed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Just promise me you’ll be careful?”
“You bet.”
He narrowed his eyes at me. It was almost as if he didn’t believe me.
“I swear,” I said, raising my right hand, “I will be careful.”
“If you need anything at all, just call me, okay?”
“Thanks, Dane. I really appreciate all you’ve done.”
“So have I redeemed myself for shushing you all those years ago?”
I stepped closer to him and in turn he leaned his head toward me. “Nope. You still have a lot of kissing up to do.”
He leaned down further, his lips tickling my ear. “Kissing up, huh? Sounds like torture. But if that’s what it takes…”
I slapped at his shoulder.
He dimpled and strode out.
I smiled for a good thirty minutes after he left.
The diner was hectic for the next couple of hours. Ma ran to the warehouse store while Roxy and I held down the fort. Traffic finally slowed down by midmorning. When only two customers remained, Roxy bussed tables and I wiped down the counter. I was scrubbing away when my ex-boyfriend, Kevin, walked through the door.
He wore ratty jeans and a blue t-shirt stretched across his broad shoulders. He was tall and cute with dark brown hair that stood up every which way and had ear gauges the size of quarters. Exactly my type. Unfortunately, we had no chemistry. That fact was obvious to me, but to Kevin, not so much.
“Hey, Rose.”
Roxy stepped out of the kitchen with an empty bus tub and leaned against the stainless steel counter beside me. “Hey, Roxy.” Kevin tipped his chin in her direction.
“Rox, I think my stragglers could use some more coffee,” I said.
“Sure.” She set down the tub, grabbed the coffee pot, and walked to the table by the front window.
“What are you doing here, Kevin?” I asked.
“It’s Spaz now. I changed my name to Spaz. Like, legally and everything.”
“So is your last name still Wilkins?” Spaz Wilkins sounded pretty lame to me.
“No, it’s just Spaz. Like Bono or Prince.”
I pressed my lips together to stifle the giggle that wanted to escape. “Well, good for you.”
“Thanks,” he said with a smile. “I tried calling you, but since I hadn’t heard back I thought I’d stop by, see how you were doing.”
“Yeah, I got your message.”
He leaned across the counter. “The thing is, I miss you.” He brushed his knuckles over my cheek.
I sighed and leaned away. “Kevin, we only went out for a few weeks.”
“Those were the best three weeks of my life. Just give me a chance. Whatever I did wrong, I’ll fix it.”
“I’m sorry…Spaz, but I just think of you as a friend.” I hated break-ups. Especially prolonged ones.
“You introduced me to your family. Doesn’t that mean something?”
Actually it didn’t. I took him to my second cousin’s wedding. If I hadn’t been dating Kevin at the time, I would have taken Axton. I never knew Kevin — excuse me, Spaz — would read so much into it.
I stared at his pierced lip because I couldn’t look him in the eye. “I’m really sorry,” I said.
“I’m not giving up that easily.” He reached out and took my hand in his. He kissed the back of it, stroked it. “I’m playing at The Carp this week. Will you come? Please?”
I snatched my hand out of his grasp and opened my mouth to decline, but Roxy chimed in.
“She’ll be there.” She stepped behind the counter and put the coffee pot back on the burner.
“You come too, Roxy.” He stared into my eyes. “I’ll see you soon, Rose.”
After he left, I turned on her. “Why did you do that? I don’t want to hear him play. I broke up with him.”
“He’s sweet. And he’s crazy about you.”
“I’m not interested in him and I don’t want to lead him on.”
“Well, if you go, you could introduce me to TurkeyJerk’s drummer.”
“Oh, now I see. It’s not about poor Kevin at all. It’s about you.”
“Um, I believe his name is Spaz, and yeah, it’s always about me.” With that she flounced back to the kitchen.
Chapter 11
We finally took a break at one when Ma flipped the closed sign. Roxie grabbed a doughnut from the cake stand and tore it in two, giving half to me.
“Boy, I need a cigarette,” she said.
“You’re doing fine, honey. Just keep up the good work.” Ma reached out and patted her back.
“I’m very proud of you. You’ve gone five days this time.” As I devoured my half of the doughnut, I described the hellacious dinner with my parents and Packard’s assholiness. I was soon covered in glaze flakes. I wiped my hands on a towel and pulled out the envelope Dane had left. “And Dane found out that NorthStar Inc. owns a bunch of businesses around town.”
Roxie finished licking the glaze from her fingers. “Let’s have a look.” I handed her the envelope, stood over her shoulder, and perused the list.
“Some of these places are in pretty rough neighborhoods.” She lifted a shoulder. “But I’ve been to a couple.”
“Wow, I’m shocked. Anyway, I’m going to skip my accounting class tonight and hit a few of those places. You in?”
“But you never skip class.”
It was true. No matter how boring the subject — hello, Statistics 101—I always went to class. And even though I had a test coming up, Axton beat spreadsheets, hands down.
My phone vibrated. I glanced at the number then used the phone next to the kitchen door.
“Hey, Jacks, what’s up?”
“Hey there, favorite sister, how would you like to babysit tomorrow night? Our sitter just canceled.”
There’s nothing I’d rather do than spend time with Scotty. But I had this Axton situation on my hands and a list of businesses to check out. “Sorry, Jacks, I’m busy.”
“I already told him you would. He’s going to be just heartbroken if Aunt Rose doesn’t come over.”
Jacks didn’t play fair. “What time?”
“Be here at six and we’ll probably be home before ten.”
“Fine.” I glanced over at Roxy. She had another doughnut — chocolate with sprinkles this time — halfway to her mouth. “I’ll probably bring Roxy. She seems to be in the middle a carb crisis right now.” Plus, I figured we could check out some more NorthStar places on the way home.
“Is her hair still blue?” Jacks whispered, as if Roxy had radar hearing.
“Yeah. And you’re starting to sound like Mom.”
“That’s a low blow, Rosalyn.”
I grinned as I hung up. “Hey Rox, I have to babysit Scotty tomorrow night. You want to come with?”
“They’ll leave you pizza money, right?”
“You’re going to gain four hundred pounds if you keep at it.”
She waved the doughnut at me. “It’s either this or smoke. Pick one,” she said. And by ‘said,’ I mean she growled and her head rotated like that girl in the Exorcist movie.
“Do we have anymore doughnuts in the back, Ma?” Roxie asked.
Behind her back I shook my head at Ma and made the throat cutting gesture with one hand.
Ma looked at me, then Roxy. “Sorry, hon. I think you ate the last of them.”
“Okay, I’m off to the grocery store.”
“No, Rox, you’re coming with me. I’ll even buy you a meatball sub.” I had to keep her away from the baked goods.
She stuck out her lip. “Fine. But I have to go home and get some more gum.”
&n
bsp; “We’ll take my car, okay?” I used the same placating tone of voice when Scotty got cranky. “You’re doing great.”
After we cleaned the diner, we drove to Roxy’s apartment. She grabbed a pack of gum off the small dresser and tore into it. “I hate this gum,” she mumbled.
“Are you supposed to be chewing that when you wear a nicotine patch?”
“Are you going to bug me all day or what?”
Smoking Roxy was a lot nicer than nicotine patch Roxy.
We stopped by the sub shop and I picked up three meatball sandwiches. Eric was going to have to suck it on the ham because meatball was the special of the day. I didn’t buy one for myself, mainly because I wanted to keep a roof over my head and couldn’t afford to do both.
We drove to the college and Roxy kept pushing the buttons on the radio. “All this music is shit. And you should get a better stereo.”
“You’re right.”
“You’re just humoring me.”
I shifted my eyes from the road to her and back again, afraid to say much of anything at this point.
“I’m sorry I’ve been so bitchy. I just really, really, really, really want a cigarette.”
“I know.” I patted her knee.
I parked two blocks from campus. The day was cool and bright and a breeze teased my hair as we made our way to Blake Hall.
The guys stood up when we walked into the IT room. I introduced Roxy and handed out sandwiches.
Roxy and I each pulled a rolling chair up to one of the desks and the two men joined us. Steve sat so close his leg brushed mine. I subtly shifted away.
“Thanks, Rose,” he said. “This was really nice of you.”
“Sure. Please tell me you guys found something on Axton’s computer.”
“Not the computer,” Eric said around a meatball, “the internal hard drive. I’ll show you in a minute.”
Roxy pushed her sandwich toward me. “I’ve eaten enough today. Besides, every time I eat, I want a cigarette.”
“I’ll split it with you.” I tore the messy sandwich in half.
When we were done, Eric returned to his desk, wadding up his napkin and lobbing it in the trashcan. Then he tapped on the keyboard. “This is what I found. That hard drive came out of a laptop. Does Ax have a second one?”
“No.” I leaned over his shoulder. “This must be what BJ has been looking for.” I stared at the computer screen looking at…well, gibberish. “What is it?”
“It’s encrypted. I haven’t broken it yet.” He raised his brows. “Who’s BJ?”
“The Bossy Jackass who broke into Rose’s apartment,” Roxy said.
Eric stared at me for a second. “You didn’t tell me he broke in. You just said some guy was asking about Axton.”
“BJ wants this back and he’s willing to hurt Axton to get it,” I said.
He scratched his jaw. “I’ll keep working on it.”
“You should call the police if this guy shows up again,” Steve said.
“Tell them about NorthStar,” Roxy said.
“Right. I got something that may be nothing. Axton wrote down the name of this business that owns a bunch of other businesses. NorthStar Inc.” I pulled out the pages and unfolded them.
Eric stood and he and Steve read through the list.
“Sports clubs? Country bars?” Eric looked up at me. “What does this have to do with Axton or his disappearance?”
“I’m not sure. But it’s the only thing I have to go on at this point. Why did he write it down? Why did it matter to him? He sure didn’t mention anything about NorthStar Inc. to me.” Axton had been hiding quite a lot from me apparently, and if I wasn’t so worried about him, I’d be pretty pissed.
“We’re going to go check out some of those bars tonight,” Roxy said. “Maybe we’ll figure it out then.”
“Where are these bars?” asked Steve.
Roxy popped another piece of gum in her mouth. “Downtown, mostly.”
“Maybe you could use some backup.” Steve adjusted his frames. “You don’t know what you could be getting into.”
She raised a brow. “I know exactly what I’m getting into.”
“Well, I think it’s a great idea,” I said with a smile. If nothing else, it would keep Roxy’s wrath away from me. “How about you, Eric? You in?”
“Sure,” he said rubbing his eyes. “What the hell.”
Roxy and I spent the rest of the afternoon checking out a few of NorthStar businesses. One store sold comic books. I thought Axton would have been there for sure, but when I showed the pimply-faced kid behind the register a picture of Axton from my phone, he just shook his head and stared at Roxy’s boobs. And the antique store — and I use that term loosely, unless you consider a clock of Elvis and his swinging legs an antique — was likewise a waste of time.
We stopped by my place for a bite to eat, and it was seven when I parked in front of Eric’s two-bedroom stucco cottage. By the glow of the porch light, the exterior looked dark yellow. Eric opened the screen door for us.
“Hey, guys.” He stepped aside to let us in.
Most of the space in the tiny living room was taken up by a flat screen TV and two mossy green loveseats. The shiny hardwood floors stood out against unadorned white textured walls. And not a picture or knickknack in the place.
Steve smiled and stood when we entered. “Hi Rose, Roxy.”
“Okay, are we ready to go?” Eric asked.
“Yep,” I said. “Why don’t you guys follow us?”
I’d Googled directions to the first place on my list, a small seedy bar called Chucky’s. The freestanding building sat on the outer road of the highway. We weren’t quite downtown, but the clientele was definitely downscale.
Chucky’s was filled to capacity with people who took their drinking seriously, hunched around their glasses as if protecting them from booze bandits. The scattered tables were full and the two pool tables were in use. Nearly everyone looked up when we entered. Gazes lingered on Roxy and her Catholic-skirt-slash-goth-boots ensemble before returning to their treasured drinks.
“Okay,” I said, “what’s next? How do we find out if Axton was here?”
“Maybe we should ask the bartender,” said Steve.
Roxy rolled her eyes. “Where’s a picture of Axton?”
I pulled out the photo I stuck in my purse when we stopped at my place. It was much better than the one on my phone. Roxy took it on my birthday, and both Axton and I wore stupid party hats and had big margarita-fueled grins on our faces.
Roxy grabbed my arm and dragged me behind her as she walked toward the bar. “Hey,” she said to the bartender, “what’s your name?”
“Who wants to know?”
“She does.” Roxy tipped her head in my direction.
He gave me a once over. “Brad.” Brad reminded me of a squirrel. Bald with a severe overbite.
Roxy shoved the picture under his nose. “This guy. He look familiar, Brad?”
“What’s in it for me?”
“I’m trying to quit smoking and you do not want to piss me off.” She slammed the photo down on the bar. “Now look at the damn picture.”
I nudged her aside. “Hi, Brad. Sorry about her. She’s having nicotine withdrawal.”
He filled an empty bowl with pretzels. “Uh-huh.”
“The thing is, my friend here is missing. His name is Axton.”
He popped a pretzel in his mouth and chewed it. With his mouth open. “Uh-huh.”
“So does he look familiar?”
He picked up the photo. “Nope.”
“You’re sure?”
“Look lady, what do you want from me? I haven’t seen this guy, okay?”
My shoulders slouched as Roxy and I walked back to the guys. “Nope, nothing.”
“That guy was a jerk.” Roxy gave him the stink eye.
“You know, there are over two dozen places on that list,” Steve said. “It may take some time.”
“You’re right,�
�� I said. “Should we move on to the next one?”
Roxy flew out the door like a shot, then slowly strolled through the smokers out front who puffed away in the chilly air. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “Smell that, Rose. Doesn’t that smell fantastic?”
“It smells like lung cancer. Come on.” I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the car.
We stopped at the next bar, which occupied the corner of a brick building in a scary part of town where shootings occurred with regularity. Steve parked behind me, but I didn’t turn off the ignition.
“Are we getting out?” Roxy asked.
Before I could decide, Eric and Steve ran up to my car and Steve tapped on my window.
“You guys, I really don’t see Axton coming here,” I said.
Everyone spoke at once.
“No you’re right…”
“I don’t either…”
“Not Axton’s type of place…”
“Should we hit the next bar?”
I glanced at Roxy and she nodded. “Let’s get out of here. This place scares me.” I didn’t know anything scared Roxy.
“Next place,” I said to the boys.
They ran back to their car and followed me out of the lot. We backtracked and took a two lane highway just outside Huntingford city limits to a two-story steel building called Honky Tonk Heaven.
The large parking lot was packed, but I finally found a spot around back next to the dumpsters. The guys parked near us and we all made the long trek around the building to the front entrance. The music was loud. Even through the gravel I could feel the bass thumping beneath my feet.
The temperature had dropped about ten degrees and as I rubbed my arms against the cold, I wished I had worn something warmer than my black blazer. Steve noticed and took off his fleece jacket, settling it over my shoulders.
I looked up at him. “Thanks.”
He smiled and continued walking.
There was a short line to get in. The girls in the queue dressed in either tight jeans and cowboy boots or tiny skirts and cowboy boots. The guys skipped the skirts. Roxy received her usual warm welcome. The girls eyed her suspiciously, then whispered about her amongst themselves while the guys seemed a little turned on and scared at the same time.
Diners, Dives & Dead Ends Page 7
