The Case of The Fitness Fanatics in Las Vegas: A Cozy Tiffany Black Mystery (Tiffany Black Cases Book 10) by A.R. Winters

Author:A.R. Winters [Winters, A.R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-07-27T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Rosie and I found a spot to park and took a short walk to where we were meeting Noel at a nearby bar. It was a new establishment I hadn’t been to before, but it was a location that had seen a dozen bars in a dozen years. Maybe this one would stick.

“I arranged for us to meet Sarah tomorrow,” Rosie said as we strolled. The air was cool and crisp, and it felt like the calm before the storm. The bar was no doubt going to be hot and noisy, and I think we were both walking a little slower than normal so we could appreciate it.

“Great. Let’s hope one of these chats pans out into a series lead soon.”

“We don’t need to hope, boss. It will. I know it.”

I narrowed my eyes at Rosie.

“Yeah? How do you know it?”

Rosie shrugged and grinned.

“Because it always does.”

“That doesn’t mean it always will.”

“I think it does!”

While I admired Rosie’s optimism, I didn’t necessarily feel it myself. The case was messy, and it was murky, and I hadn’t yet figured out how we could determine who poisoned Steph’s drink, barring a surprise confession.

But perhaps Rosie was right. These things did tend to work out, didn’t they?

We arrived at Sun City Sips at just after ten o’clock, and it was the kind of bar that was only just beginning to get a crowd developing despite the late hour. It would hit peak business around one or two, I estimated, as we headed inside and spotted Noel sitting up at the bar. In front of him was a bright orange cocktail in a glass that looked like a flower vase with a long curly straw flowing out of it and a generous garnish of fresh fruit floating on top of the drink.

Noel spotted us coming toward him and gave us a glassy-eyed grin. He was clearly happy, or rather, ‘happy’ thanks to the alcohol.

We sat down and joined him, ordering a couple of fruity non-alcoholic cocktails of our own. We both had to lean in close to Noel to hear him, thanks to the pumping music which I knew would only get louder as the night wore on. I’d been to plenty of bars like Sin City Sips, though more often than not it was for work rather than pleasure.

“Cool spot, huh?” Noel said, with plenty of volume to his voice. He was clearly used to talking over loud music.

“Sure. How’re you doing, Noel?”

He gave me a big goofy grin and teetered, just for a moment, on his bar stool. Noel snatched at the bar, gripping it tight, laughing at himself, and then taking a big sip of his cocktail through its curly straw before he answered.

“I’m great, really great, don’t worry about me. Las Vegas is awesome, isn’t it? Have you been here before?”

“Noel,” I said, “we live here. You know that.”

He slapped a palm to his forehead. “Oh yeah! I forgot.”

I was regretting coming out to meet Noel at this time of night.

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