Fire and Rain by David Homick

Author:David Homick [Homick, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-04-10T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

I noticed something odd as soon as I walked through the front door. Buck and the Whitehawk brothers sat together in a corner booth. They stopped talking when they noticed me. Buck looked as nervous as a whore in church when I walked up to their table.

“What’s wrong with this picture?” I smiled.

I got a hey, a couple of grunts, and the feeling that they didn’t want me around.

“So, what brings you boys out tonight?”

They looked at each other for a moment before Jacob spoke. “Buck, here’s got a new girlfriend.”

“Really, Buck? Anybody I know?”

Buck didn’t look well and avoided my eyes.

“She owns a hardware store,” Jeremiah said, “and he was lookin’ for a screw.”

I waited for Buck to say something, but all I got was a you-better-keep-your-trap-shut glare.

“I heard he got his tool sharpened,” Jacob said, and nudged his brother.

Buck waved a dismissing hand. “Aww, don’t listen to these fools.”

An uncomfortable silence descended on the table.

“Okay, then, I’m gonna grab something to eat at the bar.”

Three bobbleheads nodded their approval.

I pulled up a stool at the long, wooden bar and ordered a Coors. “Kitchen still open?”

The bartender nodded. “I’ll send a waitress your way.”

I glanced back at the corner table. The boys had resumed their discussion.

A waitress emerged from the kitchen wearing an apron with Don’t Make Me Poison Your Food printed across the front. “What can I get you, cowboy?”

“Bacon burger, fries…” I held up my bottle. “And another one of these.”

She wrote it down and disappeared into the kitchen.

The Wet Whistle wasn’t known for its speedy food service, but it was a slow night. She slid my plate across the bar ten minutes later, and I inhaled the food. I realized I hadn’t eaten all day and ordered another.

While I waited for the second round, I snuck a sideways glance in Buck’s direction. We’d gotten off to a rough start when I moved here, but we eventually became trusted friends. I hesitated to confide in anyone about my present predicament, even Buck. Given his love of Jenn and the ranch, his eagerness to help might turn him into a loose cannon. I needed to play this one close to the vest.

I checked on Buck’s table when I finished round two. The boys sat alone, talking to each other. I picked up what was left of my beer and walked over to their table.

“Where’s Buck?”

They answered simultaneously with different answers. Jacob said he was in the bathroom, and Jeremiah claimed he went home.

I smiled. “I think you boys might have had a little too much to drink.” I paused. “Which is it?”

They answered in unison again but switched their answers.

I waited.

“He went to the bathroom, then he went home,” Jacob said.

“He said real men don’t get sick,” Jeremiah added. “He didn’t want you to see him and think he was a pussy.”

Heckle and Jeckle glanced at each other and stifled a laugh.

My crack security team. I shook my head. “That’s okay. I wanted to talk to you two.

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