Jeff took Emory to Dolly’s Café, a trendy Dolly Parton-themed restaurant with an exterior made to look like a shanty. Inside the restaurant, country music memorabilia adorned the walls, and the waitresses dressed up like Dolly Parton, complete with wigs and enhancements. The host, costumed as Porter Wagner, showed them to a booth for two.
Before Emory took a seat, he excused himself to wash his hands. Upon his return to the booth, Jeff presented a stoic glance. “I didn’t know what you wanted to drink, so I ordered you clam juice.”
Emory snarled his lip in disgust, prompting a laugh from Jeff. “I’m just kidding. I ordered coffee for you, but I don’t know if you’d prefer sweet tea.”
“No, I don’t like tea, although I have forced down some sassafras tea that a friend at work made for me.”
Jeff cocked his head and grinned at him. “I can’t stand it either. Not very Southern of us.”
As Emory took off his jacket to place on the seat, a bottle of pills fell from the pocket and bounced on the floor. Jeff retrieved it and, after reading the label, gave Emory an I-caught-you look. “For panic attacks?”
Emory snatched the bottle from his hand. “That’s private.”
“They let you become an agent, knowing you’re prone to fits?”
Emory’s face reddened as he returned the bottle to his pocket. He snarled through gritted teeth, “I don’t have fits.”
Jeff raised his hands in a sign for Emory to calm down. “Okay, I believe you. Take a chill pill, man.”
Emory grabbed his jacket and shoved his ass out of the booth. “All right, I’m outta here.”
Jeff grabbed his arm. “I’m sorry. I was just teasing. Come on, sit down.” The PI took a big whiff of the air. “Just smell that bacon. They have a great breakfast here.”
Emory threw his jacket onto the seat and hesitated before sliding back into the booth. “You have to swear to me that you won’t say a word about this to anyone. Swear.”
“I swear, I won’t say anything to anyone.” Jeff held up his right hand as if taking an oath. “So what would happen if they found out? Would they fire you?”
“I might be confined to a desk,” Emory answered with obvious distaste for the prospect.
“Ooh. No more high-profile drug busts for you.”
“You know about that?”
“I Googled you last night. Congratulations on that, by the way. Very impressive.”
“Thanks, but why am I here?”
“Because I thought you looked horny…” Emory’s eyebrows perked up, and Jeff’s tongue jumped to correct itself. “Hungry! I swear I meant to say hungry. Plus, I thought we could just talk. You and me – no distractions.”
“I can’t share any information I have about the case.”
“Not about work. As a matter of fact, for the next hour, no talking about work.” Jeff rested his left arm on the top of the booth seat. “I’ll start. Are you seeing anyone?”
“Wh…What?” Emory looked around to see who was within listening range.
“You heard me.”
Emory placed his forearms on the table and slid his head and chest closer to Jeff so he could respond in a whisper. “I can’t. Not with my job.”
The PI laughed. “What are you talking about? You’re not in a monastery.”
“I want to have a long, successful career—”
“So you don’t want someone to share that with?”
“Of course I do!” Emory said with more intensity than he intended. He again looked around to see if anyone was listening.
“Why do you keep doing that? Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?”
“I’m embarrassed to be talking about this in public.” He pushed back from the table. “Enough spotlight on me.”
A short waitress under an exaggerated wig of hairspray-hardened platinum hair ambled toward them as if she were balancing a basket full of grain on her head. “Are you fellas ready to order?”
The two men said that they were and placed their orders. Once the waitress left, Emory tried to think of something to say. “I liked your receptionist. She seems nice.”
Jeff shook his head. “She’s not my receptionist. She’s my business partner. I handle the investigative footwork, and Virginia takes care of research and the office. She’s also my best friend – has been since we were kids, even though she was two grades ahead of me. After high school, she served six years in the Marines, in intelligence. We formed the agency almost two years ago, after she got out and I finished college.”
“Which college did you go to?”
“UT,” Jeff answered, referring to the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. “What about you?”
“Vanderbilt.”
Jeff grimaced at the mention of the cross-state rival. “Ooh, Vandy?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“They’re a bunch of rich snobs—”
“I was there on a scholarship.”
“Didn’t you feel out of place?”
“When do I not?”
Jeff gave him a knowing smile. “So you were going to be a doctor?”
Emory nodded. “I’m not being boastful, but I’ve always excelled in chemistry classes. Defined chemical structures, interactions with calculable results – there’s a beauty to their predictability.”
Jeff threw open his arms. “But chaos is so much more exciting.”
“Okay, now I’m embarrassed to be seen with you.”
“Sorry.” The PI drew in his arms and lowered his voice. “Why the switch to law enforcement?”
“Partly to follow in my father’s footsteps. And I just hate to see people get away with shit. Figured I could do something about it. What about you?”
“What about me?”
“Your major.”
“Oh.” Jeff glanced at the approaching waitress. “Criminology.”
“I didn’t know UT had a criminology major.”
“They do,” Jeff assured him as the waitress placed their food on the table.
“When are you going to tell me why I’m here?”
Jeff waited for the waitress to leave. “Now, I guess.” He took a deep breath and let it wisp from his mouth before speaking. “I’m on the government’s no-fly list.”
Emory didn’t know what he was expecting Jeff to say, but he for sure wouldn’t have guessed this. “Why?”
“I don’t know. The week after I graduated college, I had my bags packed for my dream vacation to Australia. I always wanted to travel the world, and I thought I’d start with the furthest point. I was so excited when I arrived at the airport, but after I tried to get my boarding pass, the airline rep said they couldn’t issue me one because I was on the list. Of course, I laughed. I thought it was a weird joke. I mean I’d never done anything even remotely terroristy. When I understood that she wasn’t kidding, I contacted every agency I could think of to ask why I was on the list, and all I got was a string of contradictory non-answers.” Jeff sipped his coffee. “Since then, I’ve tried to find answers on my own, and I finally hired a lawyer, who’s been having no luck whatsoever.” He sighed. “I’m an adventurer stuck in an adventureless land. After I realized I was going to be in Tennessee for a while, I put the money meant for the trip, and a good chunk from my parents, toward starting my own detective agency.”
“You want me to see what I can find out?”
Jeff nodded. “You’re on the inside. Maybe you can get to the bottom of what’s going on.”
Emory thought in silence for a moment. “Okay. I’ll see what I can do.”
The killer smile returned to Jeff’s handsome face, and the two men started eating.