thirty

There was still time to stop by the Alibi. I tried to recall what had been nagging me about my conversation with Rita. When was that, anyway? The days were passing but didn’t seem to be in any logical order. The day before yesterday? I cast my mind back. Something I’d asked her and then felt I hit a nerve. I was sure she was holding something back, but then we moved on to another topic. What was it? Suddenly I remembered. I’d asked her if there was anyone else she’d seen Moira with, other than Steve and someone in a black car.

I pulled into the parking lot across the alleyway from the bar and entered from the back door. The place looked dingy even in the bright light of day. Warm afternoon sun filtered through the grime of the front windows. This time two younger men sat at the bar watching a soccer match. Rita leaned against the counter. Her body language was suggestive. One arm rested on the counter, giving the guys a good shot of cleavage. She was doing her best to pull their attention away from the game. Judging by the men’s intent expressions, she was wasting her time. The sound from the TV was deafening. She turned and spotted me. Her smile vanished. I’d rained on her parade.

I grabbed a stool and waited for her to approach. She looked disgruntled.

“You haven’t told me everything, have you?”

“Whadda ya mean?” Her lips twitched again. This girl should never play poker. “I told you everything I know.”

“Come on, Rita. You’re holding back. I knew it the other day.”

Her jaw tightened. “What do you want from me?”

“I want everything you know. And you haven’t told me everything. Maybe you didn’t like her. Maybe she was a pain in the ass, but she had a family and they’re wonderful people and they’re in bad shape. I need your help. I need to know everything you know.”

Rita’s shoulders slumped. “Oh, Christ.” She threw the rag down on the bar and headed for the back door. I followed her. Outside, she pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her apron and lit up, inhaling deeply.

“I asked you if there was anybody else hanging around Moira besides Steve. You didn’t answer my question.”

“There was somebody else,” she admitted grudgingly.

“Who? Was it the guy in the black car?”

“I don’t know.” She caught my expression. “I don’t think so, though.” She took another drag from her cigarette and was polite enough to blow it out the side of her mouth away from me.

“Tell me what you don’t know then.”

“This guy … he’d sometimes come in and hang out at the bar. Moira used to talk to him, but she didn’t seem happy about it.”

“Another boyfriend, maybe?”

“Nah. Don’t think so. I couldn’t figure it out. She’d get real nervous when he came in. Like she was in trouble with him or something.” Rita hesitated. “To tell you the truth, I wondered if he wasn’t a cop. Dressed casual, but something about him … his body language … I don’t know.”

“What did he look like? Do you remember?”

Rita shrugged. “Kinda burly, big guy. Reddish hair. Dressed in slacks and a jacket, shiny shoes. A little too clean-cut, I guess.” She laughed. “Maybe that’s why I got the cop vibe.”

There were a lot of men around Moira. This guy at the bar. Steve, and Andy, who took Steve’s place. But Andy didn’t strike me as the type to drive a black sedan. I couldn’t remember his car from the wedding, other than Brooke driving it home because Andy was drinking, but if memory served me, it was a silvery-gray coupe. And if that was the case, then the driver of the black sedan was yet another man, and perhaps the object of Moira’s intense attachment.

The Pluto transit had been hitting her natal Venus. Somebody very important was in the picture. Who was Moira’s real lover? I knew she had one. I just didn’t know who he was.