Risky Business, Another Murder (A Sheridan Hendley Mystery Book 9) by Nardi Christa

Author:Nardi, Christa
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-20T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

The drive to the Orchid Lounge would have been boring if not for Fabry’s quick wit. He entertained us with his recollections from the last time we went out and his great dancing, as well as his near calamities while trying to fix Vanna’s dishwasher. Brett shared the exploding jam jars story for Vanna. Always good to laugh.

Mostly the roads we traveled were deserted. Occasionally a gas station and convenience store or storage facility, a residence or two. Definitely more rural than where we lived.

“Why is there a dance club out here in the boondocks?”

Fabry beamed. “Sheridan, I know the answer to that. I looked into it. Talked to some of the zoning people at the state, county, and local level. The towns near here aren’t zoned for this type of establishment. At least one township we drove through is still ‘dry.’ No liquor sold. The rest, mostly residential with with some small businesses, but businesses were limited in size. No big box groceries even. Mom and pop type stores with limited hours.”

“Ah. Whoever built this place expected people would be looking for some place to go, drink, and mingle.”

As the road curved around, we spotted the Orchid Lounge sign, the lights, and cars in the parking lot. For a club or lounge not in a big city, it was impressive and bigger than I’d expected. Tonight was a DJ and the selections were geared for dancing, mostly from the 70s and 80s. A good combination of popular rock and country. Not too loud, low level lighting.

At a quick glance, the crowd was mostly males, some couples or groups, and few women alone. High tops, tables, and the bar provided a variety of seating arrangements. We grabbed a table near the bar and not too close to the speakers.

Brett summarized his take on the crowd. “An older crowd than the piano bar. More in our age range.” We’d enjoyed the piano bar even though we were there to gather information about a murder.

“That many singles in our age range?” Not sure of the statistics, but the generally middle-aged and older male crowd wasn’t what I expected.

“This is the only place to go hang out and have a drink. Not everyone is dancing or coupled.”

I chuckled. “Fabry, right now there aren’t enough women for all the men to dance. Besides, you’d have to know this place existed to even find it.”

Vanna leaned toward me. “At least for a change we aren’t over- or under-dressed.” We’d all gone with nice pants and shirts. Nothing dressy and not jeans. While a few of the women wore jeans, the jeans had embellishments to dress them up.

We ordered drinks, danced some, and Fabry chatted up the waitress. All in all, for our age group, the Orchid was a gem of a place. I noticed that as the night progressed, more single women or two or three women together joined the mix. When the dance floor got crowded, we sat out and people-watched.

“Sheridan, do you recognize anyone?”

“Not a one.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.