Bucking the Rules(71)

The big piece of shit. Drinks on the house wouldn’t show up anywhere. “All I can say is, that’s not true. He had one beer, a Bud, which I served him and he paid for, and that was it. I stepped into the kitchen as his meal was being served, and when I came back out, he was gone, his pint glass was empty and his meal was untouched. What he did after leaving here, I don’t know. But I do not over-serve my customers. I never have, and I never will.”

When Officer Nelson pulled back a little, she realized she’d advanced until her palms were slapped down on the bar. Great way to uphold the image of respectable business owner. Charge cops just doing their job like a bull seeing red.

Relaxing her stance, she gave them an easy smile. “Is there anything else I can help you gentlemen with?”

White looked up and around a little. “Any cameras inside?”

“I’ve got two inside, but they’re focused on the front and back door. Nothing trained on the dining area or bar.”

“Hmm.” He drummed his fingers on the bar, then scooted the stool back and stood. His partner did the same. “Thank you for your time, Ms. Tallen.”

“Jo, please.” The formality worried her. People around here didn’t do formal.

She showed the officers out the door, then locked it. There was nobody else in the bar, and it was only a little before nine.

“Bad news bears?” Amanda poked her head around the corner of the kitchen door.

“I wouldn’t say that. Not great news, either.” Her hand curled into a fist against her heart. “That little rat bastard tried to blame me for his drunk-driving problem. I can’t believe it.”

“I can.” Amanda shrugged. “Sorry, I didn’t think you wanted to hear anything negative about the guy. You seemed like you were getting along with him. And not in the sexy, giddy up cowboy way you are with Trace.”

Jo rolled her eyes and headed toward the bar, then froze. “Why is it so quiet in here?”

“Because we’re closed?” Amanda said slowly.

Stu peeked around. “Because Amanda sent the other servers home an hour ago.”

“Oh. Okay then.” She would have given Amanda a small lecture on taking such action when she wasn’t technically a manager … but tonight her decision was fortunate. Fewer people to see her talking to the cops. Even though she was innocent, it never did any good for business to be associated with the po-po.

“So now what?” Amanda grabbed a take home cup and filled it with ice and diet soda. “Are we going to court?”

“What? No. Calm down, Judge Judy. We gave our side of the story. And our side includes a receipt that shows he ordered exactly one beer.”

“Or, shows we only charged him for one beer.” Stu followed in Amanda’s footsteps, getting a diet soda for himself as well. Apparently, he was watching his liquid calories. “Which could look just as bad, if not worse.”

“Mary Sunshine, not helping.” She reached for a take home cup herself, filled it with ice, a little soda, then stepped on a stool to find the good stuff on the top shelf, Jack Daniels. “Hello, Jack. I’ve missed you.”

“Ditto.” Amanda held up a cup, but Jo shook her head.

“Hell, no. You’re getting in your car soon and there is no way I’m giving you a drop.”

“One shot won’t … ah. Right. Well, sucks to be me.” She tipped her cup in acknowledgment. “But you can’t keep everyone who comes in here from drinking. How are you going to play this?”

“Play what?”

“The nasty ju-ju. Negative press. The bad rap. The—”

Stu nudged her with an elbow. “She gets it.”

“Yes, she does,” Jo said sullenly. “I thought being an outsider was bad enough. People still aren’t sure what to make of me. Now I have to add in I don’t over-serve immature twenty-two-year-old man-children to the list of things to make clear?”

“Afraid so.” Amanda sipped. “I’ll vouch for you, but that might not be enough. I’ve got a financial stake in seeing you pull through this. You’re my meal ticket.”

“Same here,” Stu put in. “You could look back at the receipts of anyone who was here eating dinner when he was. See if the cops would talk to them and get their take. It’s usually memorable when idiots drink too much. If other customers can at least acknowledge he looked no worse for the wear, it couldn’t hurt your side.”

“No, it couldn’t. Good call.” Though she remembered just how empty the bar had been at that point in the day. Witnesses would be few and far between. But few was a better number than zero. “I’ll look into it.”