The Firm Hand of the Law by Loki Renard

Author:Loki Renard [Renard, Loki]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Stormy Night Publications
Published: 2014-09-03T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Six

Nine o’clock and the bar was packed. It was very busy for a Wednesday night, but Lily was no longer sure how many people were genuine customers, how many were Jasper’s people, and how many were plain clothes cops. It was ridiculous. She could have cried, but there really wasn’t time to feel sorry for herself. She had to work. She had to work every hour of every day, and even that might not be enough.

Gareth had her money. Jasper was still using the place as a drop point, and she was all but cut out of things, peripheral in her own life. It was maddening. Funds for Gammy’s care were fast dwindling too, which meant cutting back on non-essential items. She ate exclusively from the bar’s kitchen, not the most nutritious food, but it got her through the day. She’d also had to cut some shifts for the bar staff and the bouncers too. It wasn’t a popular move with the staff, which added more tension to an already tense situation.

“We need someone else to serve,” Mia complained. “I’m twenty minutes late for my dinner break.”

“Go take it,” Lily replied. “I’ll cover the bar.”

“I thought you were covering the kitchen?”

“I’ll cover both. Go on now, get your break.” Lily was trying not to be short with the staff. They were all good kids. Mia was putting herself through law school on tips garnered by wearing tops so low cut that there was a pool as to how many times her areolas would peek out on any given shift. They were up to three that night.

Mia and her effulgent cleavage retreated to get some food while Lily poured a whiskey and coke, then zipped back to the kitchen to retrieve a vat of fries from the deep fryer. They were a little overdone, but she figured people liked them crispy.

The plate went out to a customer along with a fresh pitcher of beer and then there were two white wines and a couple of shots and then…

“Beer, please.”

She glanced up at the customer’s face and sighed. It was no customer. It was Gareth. And he was acting as though everything was alright, as if he hadn’t ripped her off. She looked past him to the next customer and served them instead. She did that until there was a lull in the action, at which point he gained her attention once more.

“Are you sulking?” He asked the question with a tone of mock sympathy which only served to irritate Lily to the point of wanting to swipe another customer’s drink and toss it right in his face. She refrained, not wanting to create a scene and draw attention to the cop in her bar.

“What do you want?”

Gareth winked and slid a twenty over. “Whatever’s on tap.”

She would have liked to have thrown his money in his face, but she really couldn’t afford to turn down any cash at all.

“Keep the change,” he said as she pushed a beer over to him.

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