Private Affair(72)
“Sure.”
She threaded her way through the crowd, and Max reached for Olivia’s hand as they followed. She held on to him with a tight grip, and he was pretty sure she was rethinking her decision to come slumming with him, especially since several rough-looking guys were eyeing her with interest.
Back at the table, Tonya plopped into a seat, and Max and Olivia followed suit. He knew some of the other people in the bar remembered him from his days on the vice squad, but they also knew he’d disappeared from the force. And they would follow the unspoken rule of minding their own business, unless their self-interest was involved.
“How about that drink?” Tonya said.
“Sure.”
“Champagne.”
He laughed. “Nice try. How about your old favorite, a shot of Jack Daniels with a beer chaser.”
“Fair enough.”
He looked at Olivia. “You want your usual?”
She blinked, then nodded.
“Will you girls be okay alone for a few minutes?”
When they both said yes, he recrossed the room, standing half turned away from the bar so he could keep an eye on them while he ordered the bourbon and a beer chaser for Tonya and soda water with ice for himself and Olivia. Asking for a tray, he carried the drinks back to the table and discovered that the women were talking about hair products. Good for Olivia.
Tonya downed her Jack Daniels, then sipped the beer while he and Olivia both took a sip of the soda water.
When Tonya had drunk half her beer, Max said, “Olivia told you her best friend was murdered. But it wasn’t just her. There are others who also bought the farm. Most of those people were at a certain party. It broke up because one of the guys got reckless and shot off a gun.”
The working girl winced. “He killed someone?”
“Actually, no,” Max said. “But he screwed up the party scene, and two of the guys weren’t ready to call it a night. We’ve heard that they came down here and that something bad happened.”
“When was this?” Tonya asked.
“In the spring.” Max named the date.
The informant laughed. “Oh come on. And you expect me to remember something that happened down here ten years ago?”
“Not under ordinary circumstances,” Max agreed. “But in this case, I think it was something memorable. Something people were talking about. Something that would stick in your mind—if you knew about it.”
Tonya leaned back in her chair, thinking, and he was pretty sure she did have some information—which she wasn’t going to give up for free. “Something very bad,” she mused.
“Yeah.”
“Like murder?”
Max let the words hang in the air.
She looked around, like the people at the other tables might be listening to the conversation. As far as Max could see, they were all absorbed in their own business.
When he didn’t say more, she filled the silence. “I can’t give out information like that for free.”
“I understand.” He got out his wallet and pulled out two fifties, which he passed across the table.
She took the money and tucked it into the purse that hung from her shoulder. “You want me to tell you about a murder for a hundred dollars,” she said.
He added another fifty. “You know something. Tell us what it is.”
“I did hear something, but secondhand, you know. It’s Julie who’ll be able to tell you more.”
“Who is Julie?”
“The gal who didn’t get killed, you know.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’ll have to ask her about it.”
“Can she come here?”
“Not likely. She’s in a bad way, but I can take you to her,” Tonya said.
“A bad way?”
“She’s sick. With some lung thing.”
Max weighed his options. Likely he was going to have to pay this Julie, too. It might turn out to be a wild-goose chase, but if the woman really did know what had happened after the party, this could be their big break.
“Let’s go,” he said.
Tonya stood. “Sure. It’s quicker if we go the back way.”
They followed her down the hall, past the kitchen and the restrooms, through a door, and into an alley that smelled of cheap whiskey and garbage. Max drew his gun and held it down by his side as they proceeded along the uneven pavement, then crossed a narrow street and continued up the alley. The trash was thicker here, and the backyards of the row houses were walled off by board or chain-link fences, many of which looked like they could have been pushed over by a strong wind.
Olivia glanced at him, and he gave her a reassuring look. Tonya might seem like she would do anything for money, but she’d always been straight with him. Besides, she hadn’t known he was going to step back into her life, and she hadn’t gone off to make a phone call before leading them out of the bar. Still, he wished again that Olivia were tucked safely away.