Diners, Dives & Dead Ends (11 page)

“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.

When we finally made our way
to the front of the line, we had to pay a cover charge of ten bucks.  If we
didn’t find Ax soon, I was going to have to get a second job.

I flashed Axton’s picture at
the bouncer.  “Have you seen this man?” I asked. 

He scratched his dark buzz
cut and shrugged. 

After curling my lip at him,
I trudged inside.

Like most clubs, the
lighting was low.  A long wooden bar took up the left side of the building and
two dance floors stretched out before us.  On the upper floor, people were line
dancing and the lower, larger dance floor held a mass of people moving in a
circle.

I grabbed Roxy’s hand and we
jostled our way to the bar. I figured the guys would follow. 

The wait at the bar was
three people deep, but Roxy just shoved her way forward, edging people aside. 
She got several dirty looks and so did I.  I think I was the only one bothered
by it. 

“Hey,” the bartender, a
woman in a Honky Tonk Heaven t-shirt, yelled over the music.  “Wait your turn.”

Roxy snapped her fingers in
my face.  “Picture.”

I handed it over. 

“Have you seen this guy?”
she asked.

“You have to wait your
turn,” the bartender yelled again.

Taking over for Roxy, who
was obviously at the end of her patience, I said, “This is my brother.  He’s
been missing for over a week.”  I gave her a very sad, yet worried face that
mainly involved furrowing my eyebrows.  “He loves line dancing.  It’s his
passion in life.  Please, take a look at the picture.  Have you seen him?”

That wiped the scowl off her
face.  “Oh, honey, you must be worried sick.” 

I nodded.   At least that
part was true.  

She took the picture from me
and held it closer to her face and squinted.  Shaking her head, she frowned. 
“I’m sorry.  I haven’t seen him.”

I nodded and mustered up a
brave smile.  “Thanks anyway.” 

We spent the next three
hours winding our way around the place, flashing Axton’s photo to waitresses,
bouncers, and people in cowboy hats, but no one recognized him.  “I think this
place is a bust,” I said.  “I just want to go home.”

“Me, too.”  She tugged at
her skirt.  “I’ve had enough of this shit for one night.”

We made our way through the
crowd and found the guys exactly where we had left them, standing against a
wall by the door.  Frankly, they’d been pretty useless.

 We all headed out to the
parking lot and I handed Steve his jacket, then climbed into my car.  I dropped
Roxy off at her apartment and even though it was only ten-thirty, I looked forward
to crawling into bed.  The past few sleepless nights had left me exhausted. 

I made sure there were no
strange cars in my parking lot, no menacing bad guys lurking in the shadows. 
When all was safe, I darted out of my car and ran to my building, sprinting up
the stairs to my thankfully empty apartment.  After washing my face and
brushing my teeth, I grabbed my blanket and pillow, left the lamp on, and fell
onto the futon.

I had just dozed off when something
startled me and I bolted upright.  I glanced around the room, my heart pounding. 
I didn’t know what had awakened me. 

Then I heard pounding on the
door.

“Open up, Rose.”

It was BJ.  I debated what to
do.  Open the door or ignore him?  Open the door, and I’m an idiot.  Ignore
him, and he’ll just break in.  While I’m standing here in my underpants.  I
didn’t like either option.

“Go away,” I said in my
sternest voice.

“Let me in.”

“No.”

“This is me, asking nicely,”
he said.

“Why should I?  You
threatened Axton.”

I swear I heard him laugh. 
“Are you still holding that against me?”

“Not funny.”  I was tired
and out of sorts and the last time I saw him I was all pressed up against him. 
It made me hot and cold and embarrassed at the same time.  I threw on some
sweats and opened the door.  But kept the chain on.

He sighed.  “Come on, Rose. 
I’m not going anywhere until we talk and I don’t want to wake your neighbors.”

Since most of my neighbors
were barely functioning alcoholics who passed out before ten o’clock, I wasn’t
worried.  “I’m listening.”

He reached a finger through
the crack of the door and touched the bridge of my nose.  “You get a crinkle
right here when you frown.”

I jerked out of reach and
tried to slam the door on him.  He anticipated my move, because he pulled back
his finger and wedged his foot between the door and the jamb.  His lips
flattened into a straight line.  “You have quite a temper.  Have you thought
about anger management?”

I just glared at him.

He sighed.  “Open the door,
Rose. This is getting tiresome.”

I didn’t want to let him
into my apartment.  I didn’t trust him.  Yet I still wondered if I could get
information out of him.  Maybe he would slip up and tell me something useful. 
Besides, his asking to come in was just a formality and we both knew it. 

“Just a minute.”  I shoved
at his foot, shut the door, and grabbed my cell phone.  I dialed Roxy’s number.

She picked up on the fourth
ring.  “This had better be good.”

“BJ’s at my door,” I
whispered.  “If you hear me scream, call 911.”

“What?  No, don’t be stupid.”

“He might know something
about Ax.”

“Hang up and call the police
right no—”

“Calm down and be quiet.”  I
tucked my phone in the pouch of my sweatshirt, then unhooked the chain to let
him in.  “Five minutes or I scream the place down.” 

“Okay,” he said.  Putting
his hands up in a placating gesture, he stepped into the apartment.  He was
dressed in an expensive suit with a red striped tie. 

“I’m not crazy about that
tie.”

He looked down and fingered
it.  “Why not?”

“Did I say that out loud?” 
God, I
was
tired.

“Yes, you did.”  He walked
toward the kitchen.  “Got anything to drink?”

I trailed after him.  “Not
for you.”

He stopped at the sink and
turned, wagging his finger in my direction.  “I thought you and I had come to
an understanding.”

“If that were the case, I
think I’d remember it.”

“I remember it quite
clearly.  You were going to mind your own business.”

“I have.”

“No, you haven’t.  You’ve been
quite a busy little bee, dashing all over town looking for Axton.”

How the hell was this guy
tracking me?  I’d checked my rearview mirror frequently all day.  I hadn’t seen
anyone following me, hadn’t seen Henry lurking about. 

He moved toward me and even
though I wanted to back up, I held my ground.  “You have my property.  Or you
know where it is.”  He stood so close, the front of his chest skimmed my
breasts.  I stopped breathing for a second.

I craned my neck, looking up
at him.  “I already told you, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I think you’re lying.”

He was so close I could see
his pupils contract.  And that spicy, citrusy smell enveloped me.

“Tell me what you’re looking
for and maybe I can help you find it.”

His eyes narrowed.  “If
you’re lying to me, you’ll regret it.”

Yeah, he scared the hell out
of me, but he also made me angry and a feeling of helplessness got tossed into
the emotional mix, too.  All of it was boiling inside me.  This was exactly how
I felt when I tried to pummel him.  I found myself wanting to do it again. 
“Listen, you bastard, this is my house.  You can’t just keep barging in here
and bossing me around.”

He took a step closer and
leaned down until we were nose to nose.  “Want to bet?”  He smirked and his
nose bumped mine.  “Tell me, Rose, if you went missing, would anyone care?”

I flinched.  “People would
miss me.  My family…” I clammed up when I realized what I’d almost revealed to
him.

“You’re a waitress.  You
live in this shithole.  Except for your sister, Jacqueline, and her son,” he
paused, tapping his mouth with one finger, “what’s his name?”  His eyes
hardened.  “Oh, yes, Scotty.  Except for Jacqueline and Scotty, you don’t have
much of a relationship with your family, do you?  Would they even bother to
look for you?”

I was suddenly freezing.  I
rubbed my arms, comforted that Roxy was only a phone line away.

He walked around me to the
door and opened it, but turned back.  “Why don’t you like my tie?”