“Good. The car is great.” I patted his arm to rush him along. If that was Lunch Date Date Dot Com Bob, I didn’t want Derek seeing him. “Well, going to go drink my beer while it’s cold.”
“Ohhkay,” he said.
Shoo. Relief settled in my stomach as I watched Derek disappear into the boy’s bathroom. I ducked behind the speaker and watched as Bob walked around.
“Shit, shit, shit. No,” I moaned when Bob stood next to Johnny saying something to Jeff.
Jeff pointed my way. Bob’s eyes slid over to me. Behind him, Johnny Delgato leaned back on his stool, looked me straight in the eye, and smiled like he had just made a date with the devil.
Chapter Twenty
“Are you Laurel?” Bob asked.
“Yes,” I whispered hoping I could just melt into the seat. “Are you Bob?”
“Have the rose to prove it.” He held it in the air. Nervously he ran his hand over his Mr. Clean bald head. His eyes squinted. “Wow, you look just like your picture.”
“That would be one of the requirements of the dating site.” I grabbed my beer and took a big gulp.
The site specifically said to put an updated picture on your profile page. Bob must’ve missed that little bit of important information.
“I guess I can’t say that I have lost a little muscle over the past few days.” He laughed out loud like it was some sort of joke.
Only I wasn’t laughing.
I caught a quick glance of Johnny. He was laughing and telling Derek about Bob. Derek turned around, but I looked away.
“Yeah.” He let out a big sigh when he saw I wasn’t amused. He sat down without me inviting him. “That was a really old photo.”
I cocked a brow.
“In the nineties old. I’m also in my fifties.” Deep set worry formed in the lines around his eyes.
“There she is!” Trixie pointed and yelled from the front of the bar with Jax Jackson next to her. Both of them had a tin foil hat on.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Derek take his seat on the stool and Trixie walking Jax over to me.
I looked under the table to see if I could fit under it or if there happened to be a trap door I could use to escape.
“What is the use of having a phone if you aren’t going to answer it, young lady?” Trixie’s eyes darted back and forth between me and Bob. “And drinking with a stranger? Are you sure Louie isn’t telling me the truth about you prostituting? Thankfully Pepper was leaving the bank and we hitched a ride from her.”
Trixie glared at Bob the whole time. Her tin foil hat sat cockeyed on top of her head. Jax assumed the same pose. Both staring Bob up and down.
“Ma-maybe I need to go.” Bob jumped out of the chair, knocking it on the ground. He scurried off and I didn’t try to stop him.
“I realized I didn’t have your number so I went to your apartment and this wonderful young woman was there.” Jax’s dimples deepened. His blue eyes dug deep in my heart causing me to take several short breaths. His five o’clock shadow had definitely turned into an eight o’clock sexy shadow.
“Nice hat.” I dragged my mug toward me and took a drink.
I took a bigger drink when I saw Bob sit in the open bar stool next to Johnny and Derek sit right back down again. Jeff was laughing and filling all of their mugs.
“I hear the aliens might be coming.” Jax grinned.
“You are a charmer.” Trixie must’ve had invisible strings connected from her shoulders, lips, and brows because they all lifted in delight in the same time. “So who was that old man?”
“He was a date. A legitimate date that you scared off.” I rolled my eyes.
The embarrassment was killing me. I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and shook my head.
My eyes slid back over to the bar to see what Derek and the boys were doing.
“Oh my God.” I gasped when I saw Jennifer, chopstick Jennifer, walk into the bar on Morty Shelton’s arm.
Trixie and Jax turned to see what I had almost fainted over.
“Thank you for bringing me to her.” Jax nodded at Trixie. “We need to talk about the Underworld Music Festival, right?”
He looked at me. I knew he was trying to get Trixie out of here.
“Yes.” I stood up and put my hands on her arms, turning her toward me. “Now,” I grabbed the tin foil hat off of Jax’s head. It took all I had not to run my hands through his thick black hair. He had the perfect luscious hair with enough gel to make it a little shiny. “Derek is on his way home so grab a ride with him.”
“You take care of her.” Trixie’s eyes softened when she looked at Jax.
“You know I will Ms. Trixie,” Jax said, letting that northern accent do unmentionable things to me and Trixie.
“You be sure to come over for some bean soup and cornbread. I have the best onions in my garden.” Trixie’s smile was longer than the Kentucky River.
“You’d better go.” I nodded toward Derek and the boys who were still turned in their stools watching us. I gave her the tin foil hat.
Jax and I stood in silence until Derek got off his stool and escorted Trixie out of Benny’s.
“Another date down the tubes?” Jax laughed so loud the entire crowd that had gathered in the bar turned to look at us. Even Jennifer.
“Stop being so loud. She’s going to recognize you.” I pulled him into the shadow of the speakers.
“Why didn’t you tell me she was coming here?” He looked me square in the eyes. Charming Jax was no longer around. “You are working for us now. You have to tell us your every move.”
He took in a deep breath. I lifted my hand when I caught Jeff’s eye and held up two fingers.
“And it seems that everyone at Airport Hotel knows who you are and what you are doing there.” He shook his head. Disappointment settled on his face. His jaw tensed. “This is official business, Laurel. You have to start taking this seriously or you are going to get me and you killed.”
“Listen,” I put my hands up in front of me and reclined back in my chair. “You told me to watch her. I did the best I could. I only have my street smarts to rely on, not some fancy FBI degree.”
“You,” he stopped talking when Jeff put two mugs on the table.
“Two dollars.” Jeff waited.
“Aren’t you paying? This is a business meeting right?” Jax asked. “I’m here for you.”
He had me there. If I was going around telling everyone that Jax was here for The Underworld Music Festival, it was only right the host pay.
My lashes lowered. I scowled at him and dug into my bag to pull out a couple dollars. I slapped them in Jeff’s hand.
“You are such a gentleman,” I leaned over the table and whispered over the mugs. “Besides, I had a date set up for tonight.”
“I had to show the concierge my FBI badge to prove I was with the agency. Nice move on the badge.” His eyes stared at me over the mug as he took a drink.
Normally I would think that was very seductive, but not right now. I gulped and looked around. Jennifer and Morty had taken a seat at a table across from us. I knew neither of them could see me. To be sure, I scooted my chair a little bit more behind the speaker.
“The concierge told me all about Jennifer’s, that her name right?” he asked. I nodded. “Jennifer’s day at the spa and she was coming here tonight. So when I couldn’t find you, I thought Trigger had seen you there doing what you called spying and killed you. I realized we hadn’t exchanged numbers and went to your apartment where I found the lovely Trixie.” He took another drink of his beer. “She’s really charming.”
“Leave Trixie out of this.” I warned him she was off limits.
“She is and I told you I would keep you both safe if you didn’t try any crap.” He slammed the mug down. “This little stunt is crap, Laurel. Dangerous.”
Morty and Jennifer got up and walked out of the bar.
“This is not the time to scold me.” I jumped up to follow them out, leaving Jax.
Morty and Jennifer leaned up against my old company car. I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt hot breath on my neck.
“Can you hear them?” Jax was so close. Too close.
A shiver of awareness sent electric shocks through me. I wanted to chalk it up to the adrenaline from spying on Morty and Jennifer, but I knew it was the fact that Jax’s body was less than an inch from mine. His palm was pressed on the side of the barn and he leaned closer to me. If that was possible. His body so close it made me hotter than the cast iron skillet Trixie used to make her cornbread.
“Stop talking,” I whispered, trying to get my head back in the game. I had to stop thinking about Jax Jackson in the way I had hoped to think of Lunch Date Dot Com Bob.
“This is my home,” Morty raised his hands in the air. “I won’t let this happen.”
“You don’t have a choice. I’m not sure when it’s going to happen, but it’s going to happen.” Jennifer warned. “If you don’t cooperate, bad things will happen.”
“When is he coming?” There was fear in Morty’s voice.
There were a few more mumbles before they hopped in the car and took off.
“It’s going down.” Jax jumped around. Obviously his adrenaline was from Morty and Jennifer. Mine…not so much. “This is it, Laurel!” He grabbed me, pulling me into his arms. “This is it!”
I took a deep breath trying to gather my wits. Jax’s smell of soap, gel, and sexy man made me even more dizzy.
“Aren’t you excited?” he asked.
His lips were so close.
“I. . .,” I fumbled with words. There had never been a time that I was at a loss for words.
“Are you okay?” He asked, looking deep into my eyes still holding me close. “I mean, if you aren’t, I don’t want to risk your health.”
I jerked away and stepped back. Ahem. I cleared my throat and tugged at the ends of my jean jacket.
“Of course I’m okay.” I shrugged off the notion and took a deep breath to clear my cluttered head. “Yes. It’s going down.”
“This is great.” He paced back and forth rubbing his hands together. “Tomorrow he might say something or have you change when and where you pick him up. He probably had Jennifer laying the ground work and he is now going in for the kill.”
It made sense. Morty was a sucker for a good looking woman and if he thought Jennifer was there for the festival I was sure he was sweet talking her. Little did he realize that she was using him. But what about Nicoli and those boxes I had seen them exchange that day on the docks?
“Nicoli—” I started to tell him about the boxes but he interrupted me.
“What time are you picking Trigger up?” He checked his watch.
“I’m not. But Nicoli—” He interrupted again.
“What do you mean you aren’t?” Jax stepped into the moonlight. His eyes glowed like one of the stars that dotted the beautiful night sky.
“He…he,” I shook my head to make myself stop looking at him. “He said that he didn’t need me tomorrow, but the next day pick him put at the hotel at our normal nine a.m. time.”
“Okay.” Jax bit the side of his lip. “What is your number?”
I spouted out my digits as he put them in his phone.
“I’ll give you a call and let you know our plan in the morning.” He started to walk backward toward the road. “Thanks, Laurel! The agency is indebted to you.”
“Do you need a ride?” I asked as I watched him turn to jog on the road.
“Nah! I have to run off the adrenaline.” He disappeared into the night.
“I have a better idea to work it off,” I muttered with images of Jax in my bed running through my head.
Chapter Twenty One
Since I wasn’t picking up Trigger, I had taken Henrietta for a quick walk and taken my profile off of Lunch Date Dot Com. I wasn’t going to go through another disaster. Besides, it seemed like my little job for the FBI was coming to an end and I really needed to find a real job.
To waste time until I heard from Jax, I decided to call Trixie. I knew she was dying to know what all last night at Benny’s was about. And I wanted to see if she wanted to have lunch so we could discuss everything Ben Bassman had told me.
“Speak to me,” Trixie answered her phone.
“What’s going on?” I asked her while I was on my way back to the Airport Hotel to do what Jax asked me to do and to see if I could get in there while Jennifer was gone. Hopefully she was still gone.
“Nothing much. Just watching a little boob tube. I see you got a new phone.” She made the observation.
“I did. Johnny said he had to clear it through you.” Come to think of it, it would be nice to be wealthy and not rely on Trixie to give permission. “By the way,” I took a deep breath. “I know all about my past.”
Cough, cough. Trixie gasped for air on the other side.
“Don’t fake with me.” I was going to ignore her ways of avoiding the subject. “I know I’m from New Jersey. The Gorilla is my grandfather. And you know that the guy I have been driving around is a guy from the family that The Gorilla had been trying to keep me safe from. Well he’s here and he’s going to kill me. Maybe us. So you need to—”
“Who are you? What do you want?” Trixie screamed into the phone before it went dead.
“Trixie? Trixie?” I screamed into the dead phone knowing exactly what was going on at her house. “Shit! Shit!”
I jerked the Old Girl to the side of the road and dialed Derek’s number.
“Shit,” I groaned when his voicemail picked up.
“Leave me a message.” His voicemail beeped.
“Derek,” I gasped. “You have got to go to Trixie’s house. It’s an emergency. The mob is in town and they have her. Long story! Hurry before it’s too late!”
Throwing the car in gear, I pushed the pedal to the floor.
“Let’s see what you got.” I gripped the wheel and took the roads as fast as I could back into Walnut Grove and along the curves of River Road.
I had a gun. I had a car. And I was going to save Trixie with or without Derek’s help. For a second I could imagine Trixie taking down Trigger and she would have if she’d known he was coming for her.
Trixie wasn’t one to mess with. I had seen her pull out her shotgun and stare down the barrel many times at total strangers when they would pull up the old gravel driveway at the orphanage. Which makes sense now that I knew she was always looking over her shoulder because of The Gorilla…my grandfather.
The honking horn behind me caught me off guard. I looked through the rearview mirror and tried to go a little faster when I noticed it was Johnny Delgato. He was the last person I needed to be bothered with right now.
It didn’t look like I was going to shake him because he tailed me the entire way to Trixie’s. The Old Girl did a fishtail into her driveway and I barely got the car in park before I had jumped out with my gun snug in my hand.
The driveway was clear and Trixie’s door was wide open. I could hear her television turned up.
“What the hell are you doing, Laurel London?” Johnny screamed. I heard his car door slam and his loud footsteps getting closer. “You are going to kill someone. Is that a gun?”
I had planted myself next to the door and the gun pointed up, tight to my chest. I was going to go in flailing my gun.
“Laurel, put the gun down. Trixie did the best she could.” Johnny tried talking me off the ledge.
“Shh.” I put a finger up to my lips, almost giving myself a fat lip when my thumb with the big fat mob-family-crest ring bumped it.
In one big move, I flung the gun in front of me with my arms extended and turned the corner into Trixie’s house.
“Trixie?” I screamed and scanned the family room with my gun swooping in front of me.
I noticed there was only one leopard print slipper next to her high-heeled styled lounger where she watched her television shows. Her TV tray, where she generally ate her dinner and kept her remote control, was tipped over with everything scattered. Including her word puzzle books.
“What the hell is going on?” Johnny propped himself up against the door frame and gasped for air. “Put that damn thing down. I won’t ask for another date again. I swear.”
“Shut up, Johnny.” I walked down the hall. The hole was getting deeper in my heart as I realized Trixie wasn’t there.
“Laurel,” Johnny continued to speak, annoying me even more. “What is going on here?”
“Call Derek!” I screamed from the back of the house as I checked every room to make sure she wasn’t lying somewhere dead. “Call the cops! Tell them to get to Morty’s now!”
“Okay.” Johnny didn’t ask any questions which was good because I just might have to use my one and only bullet to get him the hell out of my way.
When I didn’t find Trixie anywhere, I even checked out back in her chicken coop, I ran around the front and jumped back into the Belvedere. Only Johnny was in the way.
I beeped the horn several times before Johnny came out.
“I didn’t know you were out here.” He threw his hands in the air.
He moved his car and got out, standing in my way.
“Get out of my way!” I shouted and motioned for him to move.
He moved alright. He jumped right in.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“I’m not sure what is going on, but I have a feeling something bad is going down and I’m not going to let you go by yourself.” Johnny reached around for a seatbelt, but it was an old car so the seatbelt was the lap kind.
“I’m not dragging you into this.” I refused to move the car. “Get out now!”
“No.” He folded his arms in front of him and stared ahead.
“Johnny, get out now,” I said through my gritted teeth. “Or I’m going to use my friend on you,” I threatened.
Checkered Crime: A Laurel London Mystery Page 15