Page 49 of Fluffed and Folded

“Asher Cline.”

This time Steve’s eyes almost popped out of his head. “You know Asher? I know Asher.”

Tristan schooled his features into what he hoped passed for grief. At the very least, he became more solemn. “Asher, died, did you hear?”

By Steve’s visible flinch, he guessed not. “Are you joking?”

Tristan shook his head.

“What happened? Car accident?”

“Nah.” He forced himself to visibly gulp and let his eyes dart cagily to the bar, as if he were sad to impart such salacious gossip. “He was murdered.”

He took a sip of his seltzer while Steve studied him, open mouthed. “That’s…” he said, but that was all, until, “He…” Thatthought hung, too. Tristan sipped his seltzer while Steve’s mind attempted to acclimate to the shock.

“Huh,” he said at last. “Huh.” He downed a gulp of his drink. By his full body shudder, Tristan knew it was definitely more than seltzer. After a few seconds of silence, while the drink worked to relax Steve’s body and loosen his tongue, he eventually said, “Can’t say I’m surprised.”

Thank you, alcohol,Tristan thought. A good libation did more to get people to talk than Tristan’s trickery ever could. “Why do you say that?”

“Come on, you know how Asher was,” Steve said, shaking his head.

Tristan gave a dark chuckle. “Yeah, he fancied himself a baller,” Tristan agreed.

“Oh, yeah,” Steve agreed, and did he sound a little bitter about that?

“There was something I never figured out about him,” Tristan said and let it lay, hoping his stupid fish would reach for the bait once more.

“What’s that?” Stupid Fish Steve asked.

Tristan faced him full on, putting all his intensity into his curiosity.I’m dying to know this, and only you can put me out of my misery, my new best friend. You should feel big and important, because you have the power here.“A while back, Asher closed this big business deal. It was astronomical, the kind of thing you’d think he’d lead with at a party. But he remained tight lipped about it, until the day he died. No one ever cracked the code or learned his secret. What did he do?” He shook his head. “Guy was legend.”

Steve took another swallow of his drink, his last, and eyed Tristan, contemplating. How much did he want to unburden himself, to give away this very big secret, to make himself look good, in front of his new friend who was hungry for it? A lot,apparently. He hunched into himself and leaned closer, lowering his voice.

“It was a bet.”

Tristan blinked, processing that, aligning it with the information he already knew. Did it fit? Yes, it did. “A bet?” Tristan echoed.

Steve gave a tight nod. “He made a bet with my boss.” At this point he gave another glance around, leaning in closer, in case anyone around them might be recording or brandishing a microphone. Absolutely no one was around them, they were alone at the bar, but the information must have been precious to him, to inspire that level of paranoia. “You have to understand how my boss is. It’s a family company, and he’s second generation. He’s touchy about the fact that he inherited the company and didn’t grow it from seed, you know? It makes him…avaricious to grow bigger, to prove himself. I don’t know how Asher knew that about him, maybe he’s good at making guesses, or maybe he did his homework. And I also don’t know what collateral Asher offered on his end, but it must have been huge, must have made my boss’s tongue loll, because he was willing to bet a massive contract, on our end.”

“That’s not much of a loss for your company, is it?” Tristan asked. “I mean, you’re still getting work for wages, you’re just committed to using Asher’s company.”

Steve gave his head an impatient shake. “We had other bids for that contract, ones that would have saved the company a bundle. That’s why we were about to terminate with them. My boss left them dangling on purpose, because he likes to think of himself as the bell of the ball. Everyone was courting that contract, and he loved it.” He paused, licked his lips, and stared at his drink. Tristan thought he might be realizing how much he was blurting to a stranger, and he couldn’t have that. He tapped the bar, seizing the bartender’s attention.

“Another for my friend, on my tab.”

Steve watched the bartender refill his drink, with greedy eyes, and then took a sip, setting it down with a satisfied smack of his lips. “So, anyway, that’s it. Asher made some kind of bet with my boss.”

“And your boss lost.”

Steve nodded. “We’re contractually tied to Asher’s company until the end of time.” He gave a little chuckle and shook his head, taking another drink.

“And you have no idea what the bet was?”

“No, but I know they went to a hockey game together. I’m guessing it was tied to that.”

“Huh,” Tristan said, then, “What was your boss’s reaction?”

Steve laughed again and wiped his mouth. “Oh, man. Postal, but he couldn’t let it show, you know? Like it was a gentleman’s agreement, and he had to be above such things. But I do know that he sent out a memo that Asher was never allowed to set foot in our company again, after that, and no one was allowed to email or call him. I think if he had the power, he would have barred him from ever entering Canada again.”

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