Chapter 18
“What do you think?” Brad Tiggs looked at Lucius with a hopeful expression. They were standing in the newly built, designed, and furnished extension to Hell’s Coffin bar and restaurant.
Lucius stood there in shock. He did an extremely slow three hundred and sixty degree turn, and by the time he faced Brad again, he couldn’t wipe the grin off his face.
“This is exactly what I had in mind. With both the club and bar being named Hell’s Coffin, I wanted this new event space to represent what Hell might look like. In my opinion, you nailed it.”
“Thank you,” Brad said with a sigh of relief. He walked over to the new bar and picked up a framed document to bring back to hand to Luc.
“What’s this?”
“This is from the Fire Marshall. He did a walk through and has set the occupancy level at six hundred people.” He turned and pointed to several locations. “He also approved of the fire exit maps, and the placement of the fire extinguishers.”
“You did all that?”
“I did. All permits are filed, all regulations have been met, the only thing stopping you is opening your doors.”
“Wow,” Luc said with a shake of his head. He walked around, opened doors, inspected things, and when he opened one door, he turned back to Brad with a frown. “What’s up there?” He pointed to the set of stairs that led up.
“Go on up. As you know, your current bar and this one are connected by the kitchens. The only way to get from one building to the next is outside. Since you wanted to keep this for special occasions, we didn’t think it would be wise to have them connected publicly.
” At Luc’s scow, Brad grinned. “Do you allow your customers into the kitchen?”
“Fuck no.”
“Exactly. From the bar to here, you can only go through the kitchen. Up here, the way this was built, the top of both buildings share a wall. Instead of leaving them solid, the foreman on the construction site, I forget his name.”
“His club name is Gargoyle, his real name is Gregg.”
“Oh, okay, Gregg said it would be better to have a door connecting the two building up here. He was also able to make more rooms up here, out of the way of the patrons. Something about storage for the bottles of stock.”
“God, that would be wonderful, right now, we’re walking all around the boxes on delivery day. Having someplace to store them would be wonderful.” He walked down the hall and stood in the doorway of the four rooms and nodded. He looked at Brad with a grin. “Love the shelves.”
“Gregg said you would.” Brad waited for him to go to the door at the end of the hall, and had him wait.
“Gregg said that this was especially for you.” He leaned around Luc and pushed the door open, making sure to snap on the lights as he did so.
He watched Luc’s expression and was pleased with himself.
“Again, Gregg said you needed a bigger office. The guys you call patch holders took this past weekend to move everything from the room downstairs up to here.”
“What’s in my old office?”
“The chef’s office.”
“Yeah, I can see where that would work,” Luc nodded and walked each new room upstairs. When he went back down, he stood there with a grin on his face. “I like it, thank you. How much do I owe you?”
“Nothing, but if you could put my name out there on any socials you have, I would appreciate it.”
“I won’t, because I don’t have anything other than e-mail, but I’m sure Misty, our bartender, or Starr can.”
“Thank you, when do you plan on opening?”
“Halloween night, however, I’d like to do a practice run, makeup and all two weeks before opening night. I want to get a feel for the makeup. Starr said she was giving me horns, and I want to make sure they won’t get stuck in the coffin.”
“I’ll send her a text and let her know. If you’re okay with it, then I’ll be here that night to make sure everything runs smoothly.”
“Thanks, will you be here opening night?”
“If you’ll allow it.”
“Since you made this space look like a chamber in Hell, then yeah, you’re invited.
” They shook hands, and while Brad continued to do last minute things, Luc turned on his heel and went out to the bar.
He only nodded to the new girl, Ann, then called Misty aside.
He told her what he wanted done, and she hugged him, then ran off to go look at the new building, while Luc went to his old office, saw Steve, the cook sitting at Luc’s old desk.
“Sorry,” he said, and went back out and found his way to his new office.
He smiled when he saw several boxes that held the stuff he’d had on the walls in the old office and took the next couple of hours to put it all where he wanted it.
By the time he settled down to work, he was starving, so went down to the kitchen and put in his order.
He had just finished his meal when he looked up, jumped to his feet, and rushed forward. He gathered Lilith in his arms and hugged her before kissing her. He let her go, and escorted her to the chair before his desk, then walked around and took his own seat.
“This is a surprise, I thought we weren’t meeting up until later tonight.”
“I know, but I had to talk to you.”
Lucius really looked at her and leaned forward in concern. “Are you breaking up with me?”
“No, absolutely not. However, you may want to break up with me after I have to tell you what I saw and did.”
Luc held up his hand, trying to get his thoughts together, he closed his eyes briefly, then opened them and looked direct at her. “Did you cheat on me?”
“No, this has nothing to do with either of us. But then again, it might.”
“I’m confused, please explain.”
Lilith closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath, she let it out slowly as she opened them and looked at him like he had at her. “You know I work late on Thursdays right?”
“Yes, you start your shift at two and work until nine.”
“Okay, this next part you don’t know. I was craving one of your hamburgers and I called in my order to swing by and pick it up to take with me for my lunch. I did this a week ago, this past Thursday, so ten days ago.” She gave him a small smile when he grinned.
“Remind me to give my cook a raise.”
“I will, but later. Anyway, I was talking to Misty while I paid, and I saw someone out of the corner of my eye. I asked Misty about her. She said it was your new bartender, Ann.”
“Yes, Misty hired her. I had nothing to do with her interview, I leave that up to Misty or Cook if they need help. They just hand me their paperwork afterward. I only get involved if there’s a problem.”
Lilith nodded and reached down to pick up the folder from her bag she had set down when she took a seat. “I think you might have a problem with Ann. I can’t prove everything, but it might be bad.”
“Please, explain.”
“Do you have Ann’s application?” she countered, and when he opened drawers to find it, he laid it on the desk before him. Lilith rose, walked around the table and laid her folder beside his. With her hand on his shoulder, she waited until he looked at her.
“Ann isn’t Ann, she’s Sally.”
“Your Sally? The one that told you not to date me, that never apologized, and who tried to get unemployment for basically quitting her job?”
“Yes. I brought a copy of her application from the library. Don’t worry, I got permission from the district office to do this. I explained the situation to them, and they said as long as I only had a copy, and used it as comparison, then I should be fine.”
“I don’t understand.”
Lilith flipped open her folder and pointed to the application from when Sally applied to work at the library over five years ago, then pointed to the one Lucius had for his files. “Let’s compare,” she said and they went over line by line. The name was different, but the address was the same.
“Why did she say she had a five year gap in her employment?” Lilith asked at one time, because the only thing missing on both of the applications was Sally’s time at the library.
“She said she took care of her mother before she passed.”
“Wrong, Sally’s mother is alive and well living in Flagstaff, AZ. I called her two days ago. I’m assuming here, but I bet that five year gap is because that’s when she worked at the library.”
“Why would she lie?”
“I have my suspicions. Can I continue?”
“Please do.”
“When I saw Sally here, I had only one thought, she’s never talked to me since the day of our first date, months ago. I never told anyone this, but after the hearing with the unemployment office, she caught up with me outside. She subtly threatened me.”
“How?”
“She said that she didn’t know how, or when, but she would get me back for lying about her losing her job and being unable to collect unemployment. Everything she was going through was my fault, and she would get me back for it.”
“Damn.”
“Yeah, well, I have a customer that comes into the library regularly. Like every three days, like clockwork. I asked him once why he doesn’t get a Kindle and download his books, and he always says why, when he can come to the library and get them for free.”
“That makes sense. Who is this guy?”
“A retired private investigator. I briefly explained what I saw, Ann behind your bar, and gave him her information. He followed her. Before I show you the pictures he took, there’s one more thing I want to point out to you on both applications, to prove that your Ann is my Sally.”
“What’s that?”
“Look at her banking information for direct deposit. Same routing number, same account number. Look at the photo of her license and social security card. Same numbers, same address, same photos.”
Lucius studied the documents and swore. Lilith laid a hand on his shoulder to calm him down.
“These are the photos Richard took. I only know Sally in them, I don’t know the other people.
” She flipped them over and instead of looking at them, she studied Lucius as he did.
By the third photo, he was on his feet swearing up a blue streak.
“What is it?” Lilith asked in concern.
“This,” he said as he pointed to the photo of another woman entering Sally’s apartment, and at another time, the two women and one man sat together at a coffee shop. “This is Brenda Smith. I have no clue who the guy is though.”
“Brenda Smith as in the woman that worked for Starr, but asked questions about you?”
“Yes.” He shook his head, and because his new office was bigger than the previous one, he was able to pace. As he paced, Lilith speculated out loud.
“I can understand why Sally slash Ann would want to get back at me, and why Brenda would want to do something to you, but why would Brenda want to come after me? Why would Sally plant herself in your business to get to you? I don’t understand it.”
“I do,” Luc said as he stopped and looked directly at her. “Brenda wants to date me, she even went so far as to tell the ladies of the club that when I start dating her, then she will be the first lady, and they will be catering to her every whim.”
“That’s not how the club works.”
“I know that, and you know that, but she doesn’t.
That day I met her she acted entitled and extremely offended when I told her I was going on a date.
That was our first date at the café. I never really saw her after that.
She somehow got my schedule and made sure she did what she did behind my back, and while I wasn’t even here. ”
“Sneaky.”
“Yes, and underhanded in my book.”
“I know I shouldn’t ask this, but are you mad at me for keeping this from you? Then hiring Richard to get these photos?”
“Absolutely not,” he said with conviction.
He walked to her, gathered her in his arms and held her tight.
He even laid her head on his chest and kept his hand on the back of her head to hold her there.
She wrapped her arms around him and they stood like that for a good ten minutes before he would let her go.
When he did, he took her chin in his fingers and bent down to lightly kiss her on the lip.
“I’m not mad at you. What you did proves to me that you have my back, that you’re standing beside me, and not working against me to get what you want out of me. It’s Ann and Brenda we have to worry about.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Honestly? Right now, I want to go down there and confront the lying bitch, but I need to do something first.” He reached over and picked up his phone and sent a text. When he put his phone down, he looked at her with his quirked brow. “Can you stay?”
“Yes, I’m done with work until Monday.”
“Why Monday?”
“Because today is Saturday.”
“Ah, sorry, I forgot.” He paused as he picked up his phone to answer the incoming text. He nodded then looked at her. “I know this is a stupid question, but do you know Bandit?”
“The club’s Vice President?”
“Yes. In his real life, he’s a cop. I sent him a text to have him come here. He’s already on his way.”
“Why do you need him?”
“He can run a legal background check on Ann, or Sally, or whoever the hell she’s calling herself. Did you note that the fine print before her signature is giving me the right to do a background check on her whenever I feel it is appropriate.”
“Yes, it’s standard procedure, I don’t think people actually do it, but it saves your ass if you have to.”
“Exactly, and though it’s Saturday, I want Bandit on this right away. It shouldn’t take long. Did your friend do any sort of background check?”
Lilith smiled as she flipped the folder open again and pointed to the pages Richard had given her. While Lucius was reading them, Bandit walked into the office.
“What’s up, Boss?”
“We have a fox in the henhouse,” Luc said.
At Bandit’s expression, both Luc and Lilith explained the situation, and when Bandit saw the evidence he whistled.
Without saying a word, he pulled his phone and made one phone call.
Lilith heard him tell the person on the other end of the line to run a background check on Sally and Ann.
He even asked for a criminal check and any known associates she might hang out with.
“Two hours okay?”
“Perfect.” Luc turned to Lilith with a grin. “Hungry?”
“Starving.”
“Good, then we’ll go down and order lunch. Let’s see if Ann has a problem with waiting on you.” They went downstairs, but not before Luc locked the papers in his desk and pocketed the key.