Chapter Six
Fibbing to her mother that she’d be working at the Country Music Hall of Fame for the summer and needed to get a room close by rather than make the long commute into the city every day, Honey rented a sleazy bachelor pad just off Broadway. It seemed to make more sense than coming and going all hours of the day and night from home without her behavior being questioned. And the last thing she needed was to have her worrywart mom involved in her investigation.
“Melanie, you can’t say a word. Right?”
“I won’t. I already promised. But truly my friend, I think you’re out of your fucking mind.” She held up her hand and added, “Just saying.”
“Why? Because I want to find the man who killed my sister? You know I’ve waited more than twenty years for the police to do their job. And stop with the poopy mouth.”
“So, wait longer. You’re no cop. What’re you going to do if you find this killer? You don’t even have a weapon. And… I’ll swear when I want to.” Melanie took a confrontational stance.
The sudden silence grew and so did Melanie’s big blue eyes. “What? Jesus, Honey. You’re giving me a hard time for swearing, and you’re carrying a gun?”
“And pepper spray. Got the training and a license to carry both.”
“When?”
“On Wednesdays, after school, I went to the shooting range. The fellow there used to be in the military. He’s very particular about his training, and I aced his class.”
Agitated, Melanie scrubbed her cheeks and then her eyes. “How do I say this to get through your thick skull, Sherlock? You still don’t have a badge.”
“No, but there’s such a thing as a citizen’s arrest. Or how about I just find the guy and then call the police.”
“Oh right. That makes sense.” Melanie turns into a fictitious person and her voice changed to a whine as she batted her fake eyelashes. “Wait Mr. Killer, please. I’m arresting you, but first I need to call the police. Don’t move huh – okay – pretty please?”
Then she looked at Honey and added, using the no-nonsense tone she used for a naughty student, “How about you just stay home and let the police do it all?” Towards the end of her last sentence, Melanie’s voice cracked, and Honey picked up on her distress.
“Look, let’s agree to disagree. I’m as settled as I need to be tonight. Let’s go to Nudies for a drink… on me. I hear they have a remarkable new singer there, playing with Country Heaven, a group I used to like.”
***
When the girls arrived at the tavern, they had a hard time getting a place to sit. Finally, they saw two people leave the bar and made their way over through the throngs of folks all having a good time.
The band played a song that had them dancing their way to their seats and before Honey knew what happened, a tall cowboy type scooped her close and strong-armed her onto the floor. “Come on baby. Let’s dance before someone else steals you away.” Her first instinct to go along rather than make a fuss ended with her in front of the stage.
While the inebriated stranger manhandled her, masses of blonde curls came loose from the tie she’d used and suddenly her long hair was everywhere. Trying to break away from the stranger’s arms to control it seemed impossible. His tight hold became confining, and she began to feel overwhelmed. The disgusting smell of whiskey affected her senses, and she knew the man to be inebriated to the point where his feet didn’t work right. And his hands became hurtful claws she couldn’t seem to break away from.
“Hey, cowboy. I’ve had enough. Let me go.” She got one hand up to his chest and tried to push him away. Instead, he seemed to think she liked him and began nuzzling her cheek.
“Stop it. Let go. The song is over.” Getting pissed at the rough treatment, Honey tried to bring her knee up to hurt him, to make him back up, but he still held on. Frustrated, she pretended to faint and let her body drop. That’s when he should have loosened his grip long enough for her to get away. But instead, he went down on top of her, forcing the crowd to open up.
Before Honey knew what happened, the drunken idiot got pulled off her by a man whose furious expression didn’t leave any room for discussion. A security man hurried over and caught the boozer as he was pushed his way. “Get him out of here and keep him out.” Then a tattooed arm reached down to help her up.
“You okay?”
If his expression had held any kindness, she’d have responded. But his face was closed. She labelled the sexy stranger for an interfering asshole. “Yeah.” Then she saw the contempt in his eyes, and something snapped. “Hey, I didn’t know the guy. He just grabbed me.”
“Not what I saw. You two were all but glued together. I say if you want to mess around, rent a hotel room.” He went to walk away, and Honey grabbed his arm, feeling the steel in his muscles. She also sensed the danger in his look. “Shut your mouth. My girlfriend and I just came in for a drink and to hear the new singer. Next thing I know, some whacko grabs me. That’s the truth.”
Honey saw the sudden glint of surprise register and then a small side grin appeared. “Okay, tiger. Sorry for the misunderstanding.” He put his hand on her back and led her to the bar, where Melanie welcomed them with a smile. Then he spoke to the waitress, winking in a nice way. “Hey, Linda. Their drinks are on me.” Grinning full now, he turned first to Melanie. But by the time he swung Honey’s way, the smile had slightly faded. “Have a good time.”
Melanie’s sigh of love made things worse. “Oh. My. God! Did you see him? He’s a dreamboat.”
“You mean a tugboat, right? The man’s so full of himself, he’s annoying.”
“Hey, he stopped that jerk from hurting you and pulled him off. I saw him jump right off the stage.”
“What do you mean from the stage?”
“He’s Luke Stone, the new singer.”
“Bloody hell.” Honey grumbled. She gathered her hair to the back of her head and groaned. “I just can’t catch a break.”