Page 73 of Fate

From: Kathleen Bennett

Sure. When and where?

Her response is immediate.

To: Kathleen Bennett

From: Misty Duncan

Friday evening. Bubba’s Bar on Colfax. 8pm?

Colfax. A rough neighborhood. And eight at night. She has a daughter to take care of. Then again, she still has Carson at night. Last I heard, he’s still working out how to get her comfortable with the idea of the new apartment. The hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and then I remember Carson loves me. He wants me. That doesn’t change the fact they have a child together and I am never going to get rid of this woman. Ever. I have to find a way to get along for Cora’s and Carson’ssake.

I type back oneword.

To: Misty Duncan

From: Kathleen Bennett

Fine.

There really isn’t anything more to say. Whatever is going to happen, we’ll hash it out on Friday night.

The bar isdark as I push through the wooden door. The stale stink of cigarettes, grease, and sawdust hits my nose, and I cringe. There are a few Harleys out front sitting under the one functioning parking-lot light. The building from the outside is old and looks as though it could fall down at any moment. The inside isn’t much better, though I can see the support beams doing their job from this angle. A ratty bar sits at the back wall with a bulky, sweaty man wearing a bandanna and a wifebeater behind it. He gives me a chinlift.

I approach him slowly, evaluating my surroundings to determine if I need to beat feet out of there. The vibe of the place is off-the-charts creepy and not a place my friends or I would naturally frequent. Still, I promised I’d be here to meet Misty, and here I am, ten minutes early. I should have waited in mycar.

“What’ll itbe?”

I blink at the scary bartender and he grins a crooked, yellow-teethed version of what I think is a smile. Or maybe it’s a snarl.

“Uh, I’m waiting for someone,” I mutter and pull out a stool. It has flecks of peanut shells on the torn black leather. I pull a hankie out of my coat pocket, wipe off the shells and muck, and then sit my ass in the chair.

“You can drink while you wait.” He leans both hands on the bar opposite me and glares. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think we were entering a stareoff.

“Sure. Ah…how about a rum andCoke.”

His nostrils flare. “Does this look like a fucking Burger King to you?” He waves the filthy bar cloth he’s holding around the general vicinity.

I glance around, noticing wooden chairs, a smattering of tables that have seen better days, a pool table where a couple of bikers are shooting pool, and not muchelse.

“No,” I hedge.

“No. We’ve got Jack, Johnny, and José. And beer. Cold from thetap.”

“I’ll take a Jack andCoke.”

He squints and snarls while making my drink, filling it mostly full of Jack with a splash of something that looks more clear than brown. Guess it’s Jack and water. He sets the drink on top of the bar. It sloshes over the edge, but I don’t say anything.

Right then, Misty bustles in, her blond hair pulled back into a demure ponytail. Her entire body from head to toe is covered in black. Black jeans, black belt, shoes, and a long-sleeved shirt. She looks like a bandit, but I keep that to myselftoo.

“Bubba, I’ll have a shot of José and a chaser,” she says cheerily to the creepy man as she sits next to me. Then she glances my way and sets her purse down in front of her. “Thank you for coming.”

“’Course. You wanted to talk. I want us to be able to talk. Carson’s and Cora’s happiness is all that matters to me.” I lay my cards on the table right away, hoping she’ll do thesame.

Something dark slides over her brown eyes but then disappears just as quickly. Bubba places the shot and a beer in front ofher.

“Girl. You look good. Better than before. Your man treating you right?” he says on a snarl.

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