The Shadow of Ukupacha (Harry Bauer Book 10) by Blake Banner

Author:Blake Banner [Banner, Blake]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-12-06T00:00:00+00:00

Twelve

It was a long shot and it missed the mark. At a little after eleven thirty Karina Aalto entered the bar, crossed the floor to the stairs without acknowledging me, and presumably went up to her room. From the bar Cas leered at me and mimed holding her belly as she laughed. So I ordered another nightcap and she came and joined me to gloat for a bit.

“That’s got to hurt,” she said, straddling the chair next to me and filling two shot glasses.

“More than you know,” I said truthfully and we knocked back the shots.

“One for the road.” She poured again and spoke as she poured. “So, are you one of those guys who just walks up to women, ‘Hi, how you doing?’ and they fall into bed with you?”

I smiled and felt suddenly fond. Maybe it was the whisky, but I felt suddenly, more than usual, that life was a bitch, and she didn’t deserve it to be.

“No,” I said. “You won’t believe me, but I am extremely shy. My work is my life, and I have never had a relationship that lasted more than a couple of weeks.”

“Wow,” she said. “Are you me?”

“No, you have a better figure.”

“Ha!” She punched my arm. “No false modesty please, you know you look better than good.”

“Is this the bit where we flirt and I don’t grill you, but I can stew you if I want to?”

She snorted into her glass. “Another three-night stand?” She knocked back the contents and put the glass down on the table. “Nope. This is the bit where I clean up the bar and you go and wait for your very discrete date to show up.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Is that what you think is happening?”

“C’mon!” she said, standing and gathering the bottle and the glasses. “Don’t be naïve. Go get her, tiger!”

I sighed and stood. “Cas?”

“What? Don’t you dare make a pass at me.”

“I’m not going to make a pass at anyone tonight. I want to ask you about the mayor.”

“What about him?”

“Does he live here in San Julian, or does he live in Cusco and come here once a year to meet the doctors?”

She blinked a couple of times. “You weren’t kidding, were you? Your work is your life. You have an elf maiden from The Lord of the Rings waiting for you upstairs, and you’re thinking about work.”

“So where does he live?”

“He lives here in the village, Harry.”

“Where?”

“The big house on the bend as you exit on the Quillabamba Road.”

She went to turn but I asked her, “Has he always lived there? Family home? Did he inherit it?”

She stopped in her tracks and looked at me like I was crazy. “What?”

“Is it his family home? Did he inherit it? It’s a simple question, Cas.”

“No! He had it built after he became mayor. Anything else? You want his phone number?”

“No, no, that’s fine. I’ll see you in the morning.”

I climbed the stairs, let myself into my room, stripped and stood under a cold shower for five minutes.

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.