Read Online In the Drink by Allyson K Abbott - Free Book Online

brothers, would eventually know the truth anyway, so we might as well involve her right up front. “Okay, let’s see if she’ll play along.”
    I texted Cora on my phone and asked her to come upstairs to my apartment. Then I went down to the foyer door to meet her. She showed up barely a minute later, carrying her laptop.
    â€œWhat’s going on?” she asked, looking worried. “Did Duncan break up with you or something?”
    â€œNot exactly,” I said. “He’s here. We need your help with something.”
    I led her upstairs and we filled her in. A few minutes into it, Duncan’s phone rang and after answering the call, he informed us that Malachi was outside the bar waiting for instructions.
    Five minutes later we had a plan in place and Cora went back to the bar. After a few minutes I joined her, leaving Duncan alone in my apartment. Cora hadn’t gone back upstairs to the Capone Club room; she had stayed at the bar in the main area instead, chatting with my bartender, Billy Hughes.
    The place was busy and I scanned the tables. Anxiety struck me as I recognized a face sitting at a table near the bar. It was Clay Sanders, a balding, forty-something, particularly pushy reporter with the local paper who had badgered me in the past for details about my involvement with Duncan. His presence now was a good thing, considering what was about to happen, but that didn’t ease my nerves any. I avoided looking at him as I walked to the bar.
    â€œI don’t know about this,” I said to Cora, sidling up next to her and speaking loud enough for Clay to overhear. “I never should have let you talk me into this.”
    â€œTalk you into what?” Billy said, drying a glass and smiling quizzically.
    â€œI fixed Mack up with a blind date,” Cora said. “He should be here any minute now.” Though she spoke in a normal conversational tone, she made no effort to keep her voice low. In the bar, where the ambient noise level was fairly loud when it was full like it was now, many people had to speak louder than usual in order to converse. I knew Clay Sanders was no dummy but hoped he wouldn’t be smart enough to figure out that we were purposefully speaking louder so he could hear.
    Billy shot me a look. “A blind date? I thought you and Duncan were . . .” He left the conclusion hanging, which struck me as disturbingly apt.
    â€œDuncan and I have gone our separate ways,” I announced. “Things didn’t work out.”
    â€œThat’s too bad,” Billy said. “You two seemed like a good fit.”
    â€œSometimes what seems like the right thing isn’t,” I said.
    This statement had special meaning for me with Billy, who was dating someone I felt was all wrong for him, particularly since he could have his pick of women. He was movie-star handsome with his café au lait colored skin, emerald green eyes, and tall, lanky build. His whip-smart mind, good sense of humor, and charismatic smile rounded out the package. He was in law school and would finish in another year—an event I would approach with mixed emotions since I would be happy for him but sad for me—and I had no doubt he’d make a superb trial lawyer. Despite the number of women who flirted with Billy, he had stayed true to his girlfriend, Whitney, for the past two years. At first blush, Whitney seemed like a good match for Billy. She was a dark-skinned, dark-eyed beauty from a wealthy family and was also enrolled in law school. But once you got past the beauty on the outside, there was some ugliness beneath. I’d met Whitney a few times when she came into the bar to drop something off for Billy. With each visit she made it very clear that she considered the bar milieu beneath her, and Billy’s job there beneath him. By association, anyone in the bar, and me, for owning it, were beneath her as well. Her distaste with us and the place was