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“Have they sang happy birthday to their superstar yet?” Honey’s droll question went right over his head.
Instead, a proud expression settled. “He swore if they did, he’d quit.” Jess laughed then, appearing more relaxed. He finally looked toward Melanie. “Hi.”
“Hi, Jess. Thanks for inviting us here tonight.”
“I… ahh, wanted to see you. Ahh… to apologize—”
Melanie interrupted. “Don’t. Please. It’s my fault. Let’s start over, okay?”
“Yeah. Good. I… ahh, need to get back to work, but I’ll get a break soon.”
“Nice. I’ll be here.”
“Yeah. Right. Okay. Call me if you need something else.” The lanky man backed away, tripping over another bartender, then quickly righted himself before heading to the next customer waiting to be served.
Melanie leaned toward Honey with a secret grin. “Isn’t he adorable?”
Honey grinned in reply. “Yep. He kinda is. And certainly not the type I’d expect you to fall for. You two are the total opposite.”
“Guess it’s true then that opposites attract.” Melanie snorted at Honey’s sour stare and soon they were both laughing.
Mel poked at Honey. “That woman bartender is waving you over to the end of the bar. Is there a problem?”
“No. She’s the one I told you about, the hairdresser. She might have information for me about some of the groups who’ve been here a long time. Remember. I told you about our conversation. Be right back.”
Honey followed Linda to a small room behind the bar and was thrilled when Linda hugged her hello in the same way as she’d done before Honey had left the hairdressing salon.
“Hi, Honey. Glad you could make it tonight. Look, I don’t have much time, but I asked some of the other employees about the information you wanted. Here’s a few names of guys who’ve been around for more than twenty years. They were the ones who might have been in trouble back then. It’s a small list, I know. But like I told you before, a lot of people have moved on.”
Honey read the list of three names and asked, “These are the ones playing at Nudies at this time, right?”
“Yes. Why? Did you want names of past employees because there’d be a lot more.”
“You know what. I don’t think so. The detective said the killer worked at a bar on Broadway not that he used to. I’m taking that to mean only one thing.”
“Right. That he’s here now.” Linda clutched Honey’s arm. “Look, I gotta get back to work, but I’ll keep asking around. Leave me your email address in case I need to contact you.”
“Will do. And thanks for doing this. I really appreciate it, Linda.”
“Hey. No problem. Us women have to look out for one another in this crazy world.” Linda patted Honey’s face before slipping out and holding the door for Honey to follow.
But before she could, Luke appeared and stepped in front of her blocking the way. “I need to talk to Honey, Linda.”
Linda melted; her face lit with smiles. “Sure thing, Luke.”
Before Honey could add in her two cents, basically muttering, “I don’t want to talk to you,” Linda closed them inside.
“What?” Honey’s fists clenched and her aggressive demeanor showed up. What didn’t disappear were those fucking butterflies now having the time of their lives. It became impossible to breathe properly. She hated being under this kind of pressure.
On the attack, she blurted a ridiculous comment. “What could you possibly have to say to me after you showed me what a-a weenie you were last night?”
Luke’s snort covered a chuckle. “That’s why I wanted to talk with you. Look, about last night, I couldn’t let you call the police because I need to keep a low profile, stay off their radar.”
“You mean because they kicked you out of the FBI for selling drugs?”
“Fuck. How did you find out about that?”
Unwilling to say that she’d Googled him, she shrugged. “It’s common knowledge. I read the papers.”
