The Gun Runner(39)

I laughed. “Over the head.”

He pressed the tips of his fingers to his temples. “Just tryin’ to get a mental picture.”

I swung my free hand in the air. “So, the guy swung the knife toward Michael, and then all of a sudden his knife is on the ground and Michael has his arm twisted in a knot.”

He shifted his eyes to Michael. “You give him a speech on bein’ disrespectful to women?”

“Let her tell it,” Michael said.

“He made him apologize, but when the guy didn’t do it right, Michael decided to break his arm.”

Cap glared at Michael. “Got that temper at bay, huh?”

Michael shrugged. “Sounded like I might have dislocated it.”

“Sorry for the wait,” the waitress said. She placed a wine chiller on the table with a bottle of wine in it and a bucket of ice filled with bottles of beer. “Here’s your drinks.”

Cap reached for a beer and gulped down most of it before he placed it in front of him. I finished my wine and refilled the glass.

“And that was it,” I said. “We went back to my house and fell asleep.”

He shrugged and shifted his eyes back and forth between Michael and me. “So, no cops?”

I shook my head. “We left before they got there.”

“Yeah, Tripp don’t take too kindly to guys bein’ rude to women. I don’t either, but sure seems like he’s got in his fair share of fights over it.”

I was intrigued. “Oh really?”

“Yeah, but before I tell you about it, I need to back up. You said you went back to your house and went to sleep.” His soft gaze turned into a glare. “You two are sleepin’ together?”

I looked at Michael.

“Don’t look at him,” Cap growled. “I’m the one askin’ the questions.”

“I uhhm.” I took a sip of wine and shrugged. “We went back and fell asleep.”

He took a quick drink of his beer. “Ain’t what I asked you. You been around Tripp too long, you’re evading the original question. You two are bumpin’ uglies, aren’t ya?”

I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to say yes, because I was proud that we were, but I didn’t want to say anything if Michael hadn’t already told him. Without expressing emotion, he sat and stared, waiting on me to answer.

“I don’t have an ugly,” I said. “And whoever I’m bumping pretties with is none of yours or anyone else’s business.”

He tilted his beer bottle toward me and grinned. “Good answer.”

“So what about Michael defending the honor of women?” I asked. “You were going to tell me a story.”

“I ain’t a good storyteller, but I’ll give it a whirl. There’s a million, but I’m just gonna tell one short one.”

I took a drink of wine and nodded eagerly. “Okay.”

“Which one are you going to tell her?” Michael asked.

“The great almond mystery.”

“Okay,” Michael said.

Almond mystery?

Cap leaned forward, pressed his fist into his palm, and rested his elbows on the table. “So, it was that time of year when it’s kind of winter and it’s kind of spring. One day it’s hot and the next it’s freezin’. And Tripp’s car was filthier’n fuck. In case he didn’t tell ya, he’s a weirdo about havin’ anyone touch it, so we pulled into one of them serve yourself car washes. It’s a four stall joint, but they got buckets blockin’ the entrance in three of the four stalls, so only one stall is open. There’s a dirty as fuck Buick in the stall when we pull in, but it looks like it’s abandoned. So, Tripp pulls in behind it.”

While he took a drink of beer, I wondered what kind of problems a person could find in a car wash, and decided the normal person would find none. Michael wasn’t normal, and from what I could tell, neither was Cap.

“Well, we’re behind this car waitin’ for our turn, and after a minute, it’s apparent there’s two people in it. Two we can see, anyway. And Tripp points toward it and says ‘are they fightin’?’ Well, I have a long look and I say ‘they’re either fuckin’ or they’re fightin’, I can’t tell which.’ And then I seen him raise his hand and slap this chick. And I changed my answer. ‘Fightin’,’ I said.”

I gulped down some wine. “So what happened?”

“Sit back and listen, and I’ll tell ya,” he said with a nod.

“Tripp yanks the car door open, gets out, and goes up to the car and snatches the guy out. Now, I was pretty damned sure Tripp didn’t need any help, and I was finishin’ eatin’ my bag of almonds, so I took my time. That is ’til I seen the dipshit in the backseat gettin’ out.”