Alex Kava Bundle - Alex Kava [183]
“Tessy,” he said, then waited as the window hummed opened. “What the hell you doin’ here?”
She noticed the beginning of a smile before he wiped at it, pretending instead to scratch the five o’clock shadow.
“Hi, Louie.” She got out of the car.
“Fuckin’ nice ride ya got here, Tessy,” he said, checking out the shiny black Miata.
She let him examine and admire it, neglecting to tell him it was a company car and not her own. One of Delores’s mottoes was that to be successful you must first look successful.
Finally, Louie turned his sights on Tess. She felt his eyes slide down her designer suit and his whistle made her blush. She should have felt proud. Instead, his attention made her feel like a fraud for a second time in the same day.
“So whatcha doin’ here? Slummin’?”
Immediately, her face grew hot.
“Of course not,” she snapped.
“Hey, I’m just jokin’ with ya, Tessy.”
“I know that.” She smiled, hoping she sounded convincing and not defensive. She turned to the car and pretended to lock the door, though the remote could do it from ten feet away. “I need to pick up a bottle of wine. Just thought I’d give you the business rather than Shep’s.”
“Oh really?” He stared at her, his eyebrow raised, but quickly gave in to a smile. “Well, I appreciate it. And you never need no excuse to come see us, Tessy. You know you’re always welcome.”
“Thanks, Louie.”
Suddenly she felt like that restless, going-nowhere bartender she had left here five years ago. Would she ever be rid of her past?
“Come on,” Louie said as he swung a muscular arm up around her shoulder.
Wearing heels, Tess was a couple inches taller, making the dragon tattooed on his arm stretch its neck. The smell of body odor and French fries made her stomach turn, only she was surprised to find it was homesickness she was feeling instead of nausea. Then she thought of Daniel. Later, he would smell the cigarette smoke and the greasy burgers. She realized that would be enough to ruin the celebration.
“You know what, Louie. I just remembered something I forgot back at the office.” She turned and slipped out from under his arm.
“What? It can’t wait a few minutes?”
“No, sorry. My boss will have my ass in a sling if I don’t take care of it right now.” She bleeped her car door open and climbed inside before Louie had a chance to do any more objecting. “I’ll stop in later,” she said through the half-opened window, knowing full well she would not. The window was already on its way up again when she said, “I promise.”
She shifted the car into gear and carefully maneuvered the narrow alley, watching Louie in the rearview mirror. He looked more confused than pissed. That was good. She didn’t want Louie pissed at her. Then immediately wondered why it mattered. She didn’t want it to matter.
She turned the car onto the street, and when she knew she was safely out of sight, she gunned the engine. But it took several miles before she felt like she could breathe and before she could hear the car radio instead of the pounding of her heart. Then she remembered that she had passed Shep’s Liquor Mart. She didn’t care. She no longer felt as if she deserved a celebration, yet she tried to concentrate on her recent successes and not the past. In fact, she remained so focused, she hardly noticed the dark sedan following her.
CHAPTER 7
Before the pizza or Gwen arrived, Maggie poured a second Scotch. She had forgotten about the bottle until she discovered it staring up at her, safely stored in the box—a necessary antidote accompanying the contents of horror. The box was labeled #34666, the number that had been assigned to Albert Stucky. Perhaps it was no accident that his file number would end in 666.
Assistant Director Cunningham would be furious if he knew she had copied every last piece of paper from Stucky’s official file. She would have felt guilty if each report, each document, each note had been recorded by someone other than herself.