Chapter 25
Stephanie and Keith watched as three men slowly strolled across the parking lot toward the bar. She leaned forward and was practically sitting in Keith’s lap to get a better view.
A morbidly obese one was in the middle. He wore a black tracksuit with white piping and a black visor with the bill turned toward the back of his head. His curly red hair was in cornrows that hung down his back. He waddled and wheezed as the group made their way toward the doors.
He was flanked on both sides by two hulking dark-skinned dudes covered in tattoos. One had cornrows, the other had dreads. They looked like club bouncers or college linebackers who had missed the NFL draft.
As the three walked toward the entrance, the crowd lingering near the doors separated, giving them ample room. Stephanie noticed how one guy practically ran to get out of the way. A few seconds later the three men disappeared behind the barroom doors.
“Do you think that was Big Red?” she whispered.
“How many fat black guys with red hair could there be around here?” Keith muttered. “Of course, it was him.”
“Well . . . Are we going in then? Why are we just sitting here? Aren’t you going to go in there to talk to him?”
“Steph, a guy like that isn’t someone who you just roll up on, asking questions. He’s a drug dealer and a crime kingpin around here. He’s probably had several bad run-ins with the local cops. I doubt he’s likely to start rambling to me just because I buy him a beer and tell him I’m a private investigator.”
“But I thought that’s why we came tonight! I thought we came here so that you could talk to him! We certainly didn’t come here to take his picture!”
Keith turned to her. “No,” he said tensely, “but I can’t go charging in there without a plan. Just give me a damn second to think about how I should approach this. You only get one chance with a thing like this. I don’t want to mess it up.”
“And while you’re thinking about it, Isaac could be getting away!”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Fine, if you’re in such a damn hurry, then what’s your bright idea on how to handle this?”
She glared back at him, knowing that he was trying to cow her, but she wouldn’t be cowed by him this time. “Yes, actually I do have an idea on how to handle this,” she lied.
“Oh, and what would that be?”
He leaned back in his seat and tilted his head, gazing at her expectantly.
Actually, she had no idea on how to handle this, but she had had just about enough of Keith and his condescension. His smugness was really starting to irritate her. Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. Even she knew it was crazy, but still, she had to take a chance.
“I’ll go talk to him myself,” she said firmly, raising her nose into the air.
He laughed, making her scowl.
“What’s so goddamn funny? You don’t think I can do it?”
“Oh, I know you’ll do it. You’ll do it just to prove me wrong and in the process, royally screw up whatever chance we have of finding Isaac again.” He closed his eyes. “Stephanie, look, I know you’re still angry at me because of what happened between us back in South Carolina.”
She gazed at him, completely stunned. He was actually making this about him . . . about their having sex? What an ego this guy had!
“This has nothing to do with that, Keith!”
“Yes, it does. And I want you to know that you don’t have to try to get back at me for what I did. I know I was wrong for the way I handled it.”
“You really think that I’m going in there to get back at you?”
“Yes, I do, and you’re only putting yourself at risk by doing it. Look, I’ve tried repeatedly to make amends and start all over again with you, but—”
“Keith, this isn’t about us, damn it!” she snarled. “I’m not going in there to get back at you. I’m going in there to talk to the one man who might know where we can find Isaac! We’ve been to every shitty town within fifty miles trying to find this guy, and I’m not going to let him get away because you want to sit here twiddling your thumbs or talking about where we went wrong!” She flipped down the visor in front of her and opened her purse. She then pulled out her lipstick and a compact and gazed into the visor mirror. “You may have years of experience as a police officer and the ATF . . . You may even have experience being a detective, but I have experience at being a woman.” She pointed at her chest. “You say that you can’t just ‘roll up in there’ asking him questions, and you’re probably right. You can’t do it. But I can.”
“You really think that Big Red is going to be swayed by a pretty face and nice legs?”
She applied her lipstick and puckered her lips. She then opened her blush compact. She began to apply some to her cheeks. “Maybe. It wouldn’t hurt to try.”
“Stephanie, no woman is that gorgeous that a hardened criminal is going to just start spilling his guts because she winked at him. It doesn’t work that way. This isn’t the goddamn movies!”
She ran her fingers through her hair, admiring her reflection. “I know that, Keith, but what else have I got to lose?”
“Your life,” he said steadfastly, grabbing her wrist, catching her by surprise. His dark eyes gazed intensely into hers. “You could lose your life if you keep messing around, Steph. Or if not that, something else could happen to you in there. Don’t do this. It’s not worth it!”
She pulled her wrist out of his grasp and stared at him. “You’re just . . . just trying to scare me,” she said shakily. “I can take care of myself. I’ll be fine.”
“If I say I’m sorry, will that get you to stay? Will you give up this crazy idea of going in there alone, and let me handle this instead?”
She lowered her eyes. Her heart ached a little at his words.
But even if Keith said he was sorry, she knew he didn’t mean it. She could tell. He still thought she was some small-town floozy, a gold digger who had tried to use her body to win him over. He didn’t care about her welfare. He only cared that she was an unnecessary burden, some frustration that he had been lugging around with him since Virginia that he hadn’t been able to offload. He didn’t want her to go into the bar because he was worried about the drama she would unleash, but he didn’t have to be concerned. Like she told him, she was fully capable of taking care of herself. She could do this.
Stephanie gave her reflection one final glance before she flipped up the visor. She then dropped her lipstick and compact back into her purse and closed the zipper. She opened the car door.
“Steph!” Keith yelled. “Damn it, Stephanie!”
She stepped onto the wet asphalt and shut the door behind her, ignoring Keith’s calls. She then adjusted her denim skirt and jacket, pushed back her shoulders, and walked across the parking lot.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” a small voice in her head asked as she walked toward the bar.
Not really, but I’m not going back there now, she replied. She wouldn’t give Keith the satisfaction.
With each step she took she felt a growing mix of dread and excitement. A few men in the crowd near the door glanced her way and smiled. She smiled in return.
“Hey, baby,” one drawled to her. “Wanna dance?”
“Maybe later,” she said.
She was a Gibbons girl, after all. She had been trained her whole life for a moment like this. Big Red wouldn’t know what hit him by the time she was finished with him.