Read Online Relentless Pursuit by Kathleen Brooks - Free Book Online Page B

Lexington, even being called the “big city,” was anything but. It only had two cab companies and only one of those would come to surrounding towns.
    Tammy pulled out her cell phone and called Zippy Cab’s dispatch. “Yeah, where can Zippy take you?” The operator barked into the phone as she smacked on what sounded like bubble gum.
    “Hi. I was hoping you could help me. On Saturday my boyfriend was picked up from a wedding in Keeneston. He had gotten a little deep into his cups and kinda took off with our wedding gift,” Tammy said sheepishly.
    “Uh-huh.” The dispatch operator sounded disbelieving so Tammy figured she needed to make the story complete.
    “His damn brother brought pure grain hooch… to a wedding! Who does that? After a couple drinks, my man thought he could do anything. Apparently while I was in the bathroom, he stole a couple presents and hopped in the cab! Anyway, he ended up at home but with such a hangover he didn’t even talk to me for the rest of the day. When I asked where the gravy boat was that we got the bride and groom, he didn’t remember. The whole evening was gone! So I’m trying to track down that gravy boat. It cost me forty-five dollars!” Tammy said outraged.
    “Oh, hon, I understand. I got me one of those, too. Let’s see. We only had one pick-up in Keeneston Saturday night. Yup, in the driver’s notes, he mentioned he was drunk as a skunk. Dropped him off at Classics,” the woman said kindly. “My advice, kick his ass to the curb. No matter how great the sex is, they’re never worth the hassle.”
    “Thank you and I know what you mean.” Tammy hung up and headed for Classics. It wouldn’t be too busy on a Monday night. Hopefully, the bartender would remember something.
    She pulled into the mostly empty parking lot and headed inside. A local band was playing to a group of thirty or so students who were hanging out with beers in their hands. She looked around and found her way to the bar. A hot, young male student was working behind the bar and came up to her the second she sat down.
    “What can I do you for?” he asked with a smile, the double entendre not lost on her.
    “Hi. Were you working here Saturday?” Tammy asked with a flutter of her lashes.
    “Nope, sorry. But I do get off in an hour,” he said leaning against the bar.
    “Thanks. But not tonight.” Tammy slid off the bar stool and felt the disappointment weighing on her shoulders.  She stood outside and wondered what to do next when she noticed two frat guys stumbling away from Classics and walking further into downtown. Is this what Pierce did?
    Tammy started following them and saw them go into a dive bar a block away. She peeked in the door and was assaulted by the stench of drunk men watching telecast horse racing on old televisions. Across the street, men in suits and women in dresses sat in front of the large glass windows as a man played a piano. Tammy looked back and forth between the two bars and only took a second to realize which one a drunk Pierce would have walked into.
    Tammy took a deep breath and sauntered into the dive bar. She moved to the bar and ignored the look of the men on either side of her. Tammy sent the old bartender a smile and pulled out her cell phone.
    “What’ll ya have, ma’am?” the gruff bartender asked.
    “Actually, I was hoping you'd help me. Did you work Saturday night?” Tammy held her breath as she waited for him to answer.
    “Yup. I own this place. I’m here every night but Sunday.”
    Tammy opened the picture of Pierce on her phone. She wasn’t going to tell anyone why she had it, or the fact that she might have taken it a year ago when he wasn’t looking. “Was this man in here that night? It would have been sometime around midnight.”
    “Let me see.” The man took the phone and looked at it for a moment before handing it back. “Yup. He was drunker than a fiddler on the roof, that one was.”
    “Thank you. Did he leave here with anyone? Or