Ozarks Lake Mysteries Box Set: Books 1-3 by Jedel Marc

Author:Jedel, Marc
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BGM Press
Published: 2023-11-30T00:00:00+00:00

12

Thursday Night

Jonas

“After-party at the secret underground bar below the hidden kebab shop.” I laughed overly loudly at the ridiculousness of my own statement. “Who’d have expected so much excitement from a night out in Jenkins?” Part of me realized that I must have had a little too much to drink if I thought it was so funny. I followed Elizabeth down the wooden steps at the back of the old hardware store on Second Street. I’d seen the staircase before when I’d stopped in the store for something, but I had always assumed it led to a basement storage room.

Elizabeth only tittered in response, grabbing my arm tightly as we made our way down the dimly lit stairs. She’d probably had too much to drink too. With a silly grin on her face, she pushed open the thick door at the bottom, revealing a blast of light and noise from the crowd inside.

One end of the room had a small plywood stage with large speakers facing the audience from each corner. A jukebox pushed against the back wall must have served as the entertainment option for nights like this when a live band wasn’t playing. Across the room, a grungy-looking bar decorated with Christmas lights strung up as a permanent display—or so I assumed, since this was May—dominated that half of the room. The women looked to have split off into multiple groups scattered around the room while most of the men were clustered by the bar. Men didn’t seem to worry about cliques when alcohol was an option.

A bit surprised that this was actually real, I stopped right inside the door next to Elizabeth. “Honestly, I thought you were just trying to pull a fast one over me about this place.”

Her eyebrows leapt in mock astonishment. “Why good sir, what an utterly preposterous idea!” She pressed both hands against my chest, leaned in with a wink, and kissed me. “If I were going to trick you, you wouldn’t have figured it out so quickly.”

Before I could come to grips with the implications of that comment, she focused a bit and her face grew serious. “Don’t forget to ask folks about accountants. Maybe we’ll get lucky and hear something to help Vanessa.”

Her reminder wasn’t necessary as it was all we had discussed since leaving the go-kart track. We’d even sat in the car for a few minutes, going over our brief discussion with Beverly Wong while much of the crowd had peeled out of the parking lot—some fish-tailing like they were still in the go-karts. I was content to carry on our conversation until the coast was clear.

Elizabeth’s face brightened as she gestured at a nearby group of women. “I’m gonna catch up on gossip with the girls over there. No need to hang on to my apron strings and eavesdrop. Go on now and talk with the guys. Besides, you need to make some friends out here.”

“I have friends,” I protested. Just because she hadn’t been awake early didn’t mean my morning fishing trip on Wednesday hadn’t taken place.

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