A Knight In Cowboy Boots (9 page)

Chapter Six

“What are you drinking today, Zach? Kinda early to be starting Snakebites,” the bartender said as Zach straddled a stool.

“No Snakebites today, Pete. That was … an occasion. Kind of a remembrance.”

It was still afternoon. Soon, the out-of-town business types would finish up their work days and the nearly empty bar would start to fill up.

“Sol’s friend? The one that used to stay here?”

“Yeah. I was out on the rig, so last night was kinda my memorial for him. Jake and I thought it would be appropriate to drink his favorite drink. Gimme a Lone Star long neck.”

“Sorry for your loss,” Pete said, getting the beer from the cooler. He popped the top and set it in front of Zach. “Kinda odd though. Hardly ever get asked for Snakebites, and then you boys and the lady on the bar are both drinking ‘em on the same night.”

Zach stopped with the beer halfway to his lips. “The lady on the bar? The one who applied for a job here today?”

“Yup.”

How weird was that? It couldn’t mean anything though. Unless it was a sign from God. If it were a sign from God, Zach had no idea what it was a sign of.

“Do you still have her application?” Zach asked.

“Claudia took it. It’s probably in her office.”

“Is she in there?”

“I think so. But she might have left while I was getting drinks for the table on the patio.”

Zach left his beer on the bar and went looking for Claudia. There was no answer when Zach knocked on the office door. He tried the knob. Finding it unlocked, he stepped in. The lamp on the corner of her desk was on, and papers were stacked tidily on her desk. She’d probably stepped out for just a minute. Maybe a quick trip to the ladies room.

Zach picked up the application on the corner of Claudia’s desk. Applicant’s Name: Susan M. Grey. Above the block containing the middle initial, Claudia had written in blue ink “Maddie.”
Pay dirt.

Heart beating a little fast for fear he’d get busted, Zach ran a copy, front and back, of the application and then of the sheet clipped to it. He put the application back on Claudia’s desk and started folding the copies on his way to the door.

He braked hard as it swung inward, just missing his nose.

“Zach!” Claudia said in surprise.

“Hey, Claudia.”

She frowned. “What are you doing in my office?”

“Just needed to copy something.” He held up the folded sheets for her to see.

“There’s a copier in the main office you could use.”

“I know, but I didn’t remember I needed a copy ‘til I had a beer in front of me. I didn’t figure you’d mind.”

“I don’t like people in my office when I’m not here, Zach.” Claudia stepped behind her desk. “I know you feel at home here because your sister is the concierge, but please ask next time.”

Zach did his best to look abashed. “Sorry. Next time I will,” he promised as he skated out the door.

He finished folding the sheets into eighths. They were bulky but they fit into his shirt pocket. After he finished his beer, Zach went up to his room, eager to examine them.

Right off, he saw the street address Maddie had given him had a zero in it; the one on the application had a tail that made it look like a six.

Only a six block difference.

It could just be an accident, but Zach didn’t think so. He was pretty sure the one she’d given him would turn out to be real. Claudia would likely never know she’d been given a phony address, but Zach would since he was showing up for supper.

Her work history listed two bars in Oregon. Zach furrowed his brow. A couple of roughnecks he’d worked with were from Wyoming. The plates on their cars had the same silhouette that was on Maddie’s. He looked over her application again, searching for any mention of the state, but there wasn’t one. So where’d the plates come from?

Just to confuse things further, the reference she gave was neither Wyoming nor Oregon.

Under education she listed a high school in Oregon. He’d never realized how little actual information job apps required. Starting from the top, Zach went over it again, trying to glean something useful. Aha! Her social security number. There was information imbedded in the number. The first three identified the state where the number was issued; the second two, he thought, at one time had been the year it was issued, but he wasn’t sure if that still held true. He could either go downstairs and get Rachel to let him use a computer or he could find a library. He winced at the thought. They’d made him learn computers in school and, for the most part, he’d done okay with spreadsheets and such, but he hadn’t got along well with the Internet. As he was debating his choices, someone knocked on the door.

“C’min.”

His brother Jake walked in. “Hey, bro!”

Zach put Maddie’s application down. “What are you doing here? No, let me guess.” He eyed the backpack Jake carried. “Rach wants you to check my arm.”

“Got it in one.”

“It’s no big deal, just a flesh wound.”

“That’s what I told Rach when she said the bullet went clean through.” Jake sat down on the edge of the bed and got a pair of scissors from his bag.

“She called you last night?”

Jake nodded. “Let’s see your arm.”

Zach held it out. Jake started snipping at the bandage Rachel had put on the night before.

“I thought it took her a long time to come back with the first aid kit, but I told myself it just seemed that way coz I was in shock.”

“You’d’ve been in an emergency room before you knew it if it wouldn’t have caused a big dustup. They report gunshot wounds, you know.”

“Rach’d let me bleed to death on the floor before she’d bring that sorta trouble into her hotel.”

“Yup.” Jake examined the hole in his brother’s arm. “So this was the hot brunette at the bar?”

“Yeah.”

“How far away was she when she shot you?”

“About six feet.”

“Hell, if she can’t shoot any better than this, you oughta marry her.”

“She didn’t really mean to shoot me—”

“Of course she didn’t; she’d only just met you.”

“Thanks a lot.” Zach paused. “You ratted me out, didn’t you? You told Rach I had my eye on her.”

Jake sighed. “I didn’t mean to. I was hoping you’d connect with her, but you know there ain’t no delay between my brain and my mouth when I been drinking. I ran into Rach on my way out. She came up to your room to make sure you weren’t fornicating in her hotel, didn’t she?”

“No, she called my room to make sure I wasn’t fornicating in her hotel. That’s what got me shot. It must have sounded like I was arguing with a suspicious wife.”

“How come she’s like that?”

“Rachel? She’s scared of Mamma.”

“Mamma? What’s Mamma got to do with it?”

“You know Mamma’s always been suspicious of what goes on in big city hotels. Rachel don’t care what anyone else thinks, but she wants Mamma to approve of what she’s doing with her life.”

“She’s never going to get that less’n she gets married and goes to having bambinos.”

“She knows that. It don’t keep her from wanting Mamma’s approval. But if she can’t get it, at least she can make sure Mamma’s suspicions don’t turn into outright censure. Truth is, I kinda get where she’s coming from.”

“You do?”

“I’m not married, am I?” Zach said. “In Mamma’s eyes, it’s okay for a man to wait longer to marry, but sooner or later, I’m going to start feeling the pressure, too. You, you’re lucky. Eight years of schooling’s gonna buy you a truckload of extra time.”

Jake paused in wrapping Zach’s arm. “Surely Mamma don’t think we’re gonna save ourselves for marriage?”

Zach shrugged his free shoulder. “Maybe. Or maybe everyone just figures if Mamma don’t know about it, she can keep on believing whatever makes her happy. I do know Rachel don’t wanna take the chance Mamma’ll blame her for corruptin’ any of us.”

“Do you think Rachel’s still a virgin?” Jake asked.

“If you asked me that about any other girl her age, I’d say ‘hell, no.’ But Rachel?” Zach lifted an eyebrow. “I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Well, at least we can presume your hot brunette ain’t no virgin.” Jake finished securing the bandage. “That is, if you’re sure she shot you on account of Rachel’s call and not defending her honor.”

Zach felt his lips pull into a smile. “I can pretty much guarantee that her honor was well on its way to being compromised. Not as compromised as it was about to be, but at least she’s no virgin.” Thinking about Maddie again reminded Zach about his current problem. It occurred to him that he had another option for finding out about her. “Hey, I need you to look something up for me on the internet.”

“Whadda ya need?”

“I need to know,” Zach picked up the application, “what state issues social security numbers that start with zero-zero-six.”

“Is that all? Thought you was gonna give me a tough one.”

“Little brother, they’re all tough ones to me.”

Jake craned his neck to see what Zach held. “Is that a job app?”

“Yeah.”

“
Her
job app?”

“Yeah.”

Jake took the paper from Zach. “How’d you get this?”

“It was sitting on Claudia’s desk, so I made a copy.”

“She applied for a job here? Before or after she shot you?”

“After. This morning, in fact.”

“That’s nervy.”

“Not really. I got Rachel to arrange the interview.”

Jake laughed. “I ain’t even going to ask how, but if I ever need Rach talked into anything, you’re gonna be who I come to. How much do you wanna know about this girl?”

“Whatever I can find out.”

“You thinking of marrying her? Seems kinda quick. Unless Mamma’s already on your back?”

“No, she’s not on my back. At least not too hard. And I’m not planning on marrying the girl. It’s more … hell, it’s probably just my imagination running wild. There’s just things about her that don’t seem to line up right.”

”You know, for forty or fifty bucks, there’s places on the internet where you can find out all sorts of stuff about folks if you’ve got their social security number.”

“Really? What kinda things?” Zach said as he pulled a hotel notepad out of the bedside stand.

“Mostly official stuff. Things like birth records, marriage records. Is it worth it to you?”

Zach paused. He’d be invading Maddie’s privacy, and she’d probably be madder than hell if she ever found out. But if she checked out, there’d be no reason for her to know. And if she didn’t … well, he’d deal with that then. “Yeah, it’s worth it.” He wrote the number on Maddie’s application down for Jake. As an afterthought, he added the number from the Lincoln. “I got her license plate, too. Can you find out about that?”

“I think that’s tougher,” Jake said, “but I’ll see what I can do.”