Thirty-Two and a Half Complications
Page 39

“What do ya mean?” His body weaved on the stool and his words were slurred.
“If someone offered her a part, say to play a prank on someone, would she take it?”
He grinned, nodding. “Yeah, she sure would.”
“Even if it was illegal?”
His eyes narrowed as he tried to study me. “Like sex stuff?”
“No, more like robbery.”
He nodded so vigorously he almost fell off his stool. “Yeah, if they paid her enough.”
Neely Kate’s face had a green tinge to it. “Thanks.” She stood, looking a little frantic. “I’ve got to be goin’. Good seein’ you, Toby.”
“Wait,” I said, hoping to get more answers. “Toby, are you a mechanic?”
“Yeah, at Ted’s Auto Service, close to Pickle Junction.”
“And have you seen any gold Chargers there lately?”
Surprise covered his face with worry quickly behind it. “Why are you asking?”
“Rose, I have to go now.”
My head tingled and everything faded to black with a vision. I found myself in a jail cell, hanging over a metal toilet. “Why didn’t that bastard show up?” I said in Toby’s voice.
Just as quickly, I was back in the bar, staring into Toby’s drunken face. “You’re gonna get arrested,” I blurted.
Toby’s head jutted back and his body swayed from the sudden movement. “What?”
“It was nice seeing you again,” Neely Kate said as she started to back up, but Toby grabbed for her and pulled her into a bear hug, burying her face in his greasy hair.
“It was good to see you too, Neely Kate. Don’t be such a stranger.”
She pushed on his shoulders, but he didn’t take the hint—he continued to hold on tight as he spoke, his words slurred. “We need to keep better track of our—”
I smelled it before I heard it. Neely Kate vomited down Toby’s back, some of it landing on the woman behind him. Toby dropped his hold and spun around to see what had struck him from behind.
The woman screamed as she peered over her shoulder and down her back, looking at the chunks of Neely Kate’s dinner mixed in with the pink and white polka dots of her dress. Then Toby lost it, adding his own apparently meager dinner to the mix.
Neely Kate had stumbled toward me after being sick, and I grabbed her arm as we both watched the horror we’d wrought unfold.
The aggrieved woman screamed again, shoving Toby off his stool. He landed on his behind hollering as she screamed, “I’m going kill you!” It was clear she blamed him for the whole mess, not thinking to accuse the two well-dressed women who were dashing to the bathroom.
We shut and locked the door to the single-stall room behind us, both of us silent as Neely Kate turned on the faucet. She rinsed her mouth out before glancing up at my reflection in the mirror, her eyes wide with horror. “I’m so sorry.”
“Remind me to invite you out to dinner again. You’re very entertaining.”
She held back a giggle. “The look on that poor woman’s face!”
I shook my head, trying not to grin. “She never suspected it was you, particularly not when he lost it seconds after you did.”
“Oh, my!” she murmured, trying not to smile. “We are terrible people.”
“Especially for letting Toby take the blame.”
We stared at each other, equally horrified and amused.
She took a deep breath. “Don’t you dare tell Ronnie he was right about wasting all that money on steak!”
“I wouldn’t dream of it.”
“We need to get back to our table. You know as soon as Ronnie and Mason hear the ruckus they’re gonna suspect our involvement.”
My mirth fell away. “You’re right.” Mason already suspected I was hiding something from him…what would he think now?
After a quick check to make sure Neely Kate had escaped any splatter, we hurried back to the table. Ronnie looked worried, but Mason had an ornery expression as he slipped out of the booth to let me in. “Did you girls have to dig your own latrine?”
“Very funny.” I tried to sound serious, but a small giggle slipped out.
“You know how it is,” Neely Kate said, arching her eyebrows. “Us girls have to primp for our men.”
“Rose doesn’t need to primp,” Mason said, giving me a grin that suggested he didn’t believe a word of our flimsy cover story. “She’s perfect the way she is.”
Neely Kate clasped a hand over her heart. “Awww…that is the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. Why don’t you say things like that to me, Ronnie?”
“Maybe because you don’t let me get a word in edgewise,” Ronnie protested, and the two of them bantered good-naturedly while Mason’s hand took hold of my knee under the table, his fingers sliding several inches up the inside of my thigh. He leaned in to my ear, his breath and touch sending shivers down my back. “I know you’re up to something. I expect full disclosure when we get home.”
I turned to face him, about to say something seductive, but my heart jolted when I noticed the good-looking couple standing at the end of our table.
“Well, hello, Rose. Mason,” Joe said. “Fancy seeing you two here.” His eyes twinkled with mischief, but there was definitely an air of challenge there as well.
He’d changed out of his uniform into a gray suit and an ice blue tie, but the biggest shock of all was the woman standing next to him.