Serenity Divided by Craig A. Hart
Author:Craig A. Hart [Hart, Craig A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-13T00:00:00+00:00
CHAPTER 19
Foster Kinkaid sat in the corner of the darkened bar, his long fingers wrapped around a tumbler of cheap whiskey. At the back of the low-ceilinged room, a stage featured a dancer in the final moves of her musical number, her body moving to the pulsing beat.
It was too early for a crowd, and the few men in attendance were mostly disinterested. The dancer, likely annoyed at having drawn the early shift, was clearly not giving 110%, as her movements were calculated more to pass the time than inflame lustâand thereby dollar bills.
The haggard woman tending bar leaned forward over the weathered wooden surface, one hand supporting her head and the other gripping a stub of pencil as she worked on a crossword in a tattered puzzle book.
Foster ignored all of this as he pressed his back into the cracked leather of the booth, his feet planted firmly on a carpeted floor that no doubt contained enough bacterial samples to keep an entire lab of biologists happy for a lifetime.
There was a backroom where Foster sometimes played poker, but now he was here for a meetingâa meeting heâd been dreading for some time. Each time the front door opened, letting in a shaft of blinding white light, his head snapped over, his eyes straining to see the newcomer.
Until now, his attention had been continually disappointed, as each arrival was yet another rundown and disillusioned fellow, looking to distract himself from whatever drudgery his outside life might entail.
But this time, as the door banged opened, Foster felt himself sitting up straighter, his grip on the glass tightening, the soles of his shoes seeming to drive themselves deeper into the dirty carpet.
Foster had never met the man he was waiting for, but somehow knew this was the guy. He watched with a mixture of apprehension and resignation as the man strode purposefully into the dingy establishment.
Even in the dim light, an aura of raw power and latent violence clung to him like a shroud. His eyes, dark and penetrating, scanned the room before locking onto Foster.
The contact sent an involuntary shiver down Fosterâs spine.
The man approached the booth, his face all hard angles and weathered lines, a tale of a hard life lived without remorse. A bent cigarette dangled from his mouth, wisps of smoke leaking from the corners of sneering lips.
âHey, toots,â the bartender called out over the pulsing of the stage music, âyou canât smoke in here. State law.â
The man didnât even look her way, but his hand casually flicked back the side of his sport coat to reveal the butt of a pistol in his waistband.
The bartender shrugged as if to say, âThatâs above my pay grade,â and went back to her crossword.
He slid into the booth across from Foster without invitation. A long moment of silence hung between them, filled only by the beat of music and the hazy drift of smoke. Then the man spoke, his voice like gravel churning in a blender.
âYou Kinkaid?â
Foster swallowed, his throat tight, then nodded.
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