Midnight Drive by Kenneth Price

Author:Kenneth Price
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: repo, repo man, Edmonton, Edmonton noir, noir, Canadian noir, repo man detective, amateur sleuth, repo man sleuth, inner city, Canadian sleuth, Canadian detective, Alberta fiction
Publisher: National Library
Published: 2022-06-01T00:00:00+00:00

15

Talia’s laugh cut through all the music and chatter around the bar. Two other women and two men sat with her. The men gestured with their skinny arms, their hands grasping at invisible concepts in the air. They were on a roll. They wore plaid shirts with the sleeves rolled up below the elbow. One of the men wore a neatly trimmed, spherical beard and a mustache with the ends curled up. The women wore sharp blazers and maintained an aloof air about them as they listened to the guys talk. One of the women cast her eyes downward, looking vaguely offended by what one of the men was saying but also with the corners of her mouth pinched upward, perhaps also privately enjoying whatever it was as well.

Talia moved a cloth napkin from her lap to the table and excused herself. Logan watched her walk across the room to the washroom. A waiter cleaned the table while she was away. When Talia re-emerged, Logan kept his head down. She wore a short grey-blue dress, the colour of smoke from a blown-out match, and she drifted with an unhurried swagger back to the booth.

The other women stood up to let her back in the booth and they continued with their conversation and laughed some more. After another drink, the men acted bigger and louder. It was around then the ladies gave polite goodbyes. Talia stood up and hugged each of them. The group left and Talia stayed behind alone in the booth.

She ordered a martini from the waiter and scrolled through her phone.

Logan picked up his beer, walked over and slid into the booth opposite her.

“Oh my God,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

“I was having a drink over there, looked over, and I saw you,” said Logan.

“Small world,” she said.

“It’s about the right size.”

“And what are you up to this fine evening?”

“Making the rounds,” he said. “You?”

“I guess you could say I had a casual meeting with some work friends.”

“The best kind of meeting.”

“The martinis help, at least,” she said. “How’s your investigation going?”

She enunciated each syllable of ‘investigation’ and shimmied with her shoulders as she lifted her martini glass to her lips.

“It’s coming along,” said Logan. “You haven’t heard anything since we talked last, have you?”

“All’s quiet,” she said, lifting her glass to her mouth. She smiled and touched the rim of the glass with her teeth while she thought of something. She regained her composure.

“Do you have any leads?” she asked.

“A couple,” said Logan. “We’ll see where they go.”

“What are your leads?” Talia asked. “I’ll keep it a secret. Honest. No one gets anything out of me. I’m like a steel trap.”

“Because you’re sharp and quick? Or cold and ruthless?”

“I’m touchy,” she said. “And I bite.”

A flick of her eyebrow lashed at Logan. She pulled the olive spear out of her glass. It had two olives on it and she slid the first olive off between her teeth.

“You guys looked like you’re celebrating something,” said Logan.

“We’re bringing James on board,” said Talia.

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