Chapter 16
Chapter Sixteen
“You said they made you.”
The drive from the grocery store to the Highlander Club only took a few minutes, with Emma arguing with Matthias the entire way.
“They’re not gonna tell us anything if they know you’re a cop.”
“I don’t care.” He sounded like a rebellious child—his voice an obstinate tenor rather than his usual ground-glass baritone. “You aren’t going in there alone.”
“They’ll see me as non-threatening. Harmless.”
“You are harmless. They aren’t.”
She knew she was being na?ve, but the prospect of finding—and saving—Nell overpowered her innate fear of walking into a den of jackals. “I’ll call you.” Emma held up her phone, “and leave it on speaker so you can wait outside and listen. If things go sideways, you can bust in and save the day.”
“If things go sideways, it’ll be too late.”
“They don’t like cops around here.”
“I know they don’t, but that’s too damned bad.”
Emma turned to look out the window.
They were parked almost a full block away from the Highlander but still in sight of the front door. There was nothing inviting about the place. The mere idea of Nell being in there turned Emma’s stomach.
Matthias gestured at the dingy block building. “Have you ever been inside?”
“I’m pretty sure you know I haven’t.”
“Then you have no idea of the lay of the land.”
“You don’t either.” Emma realized she now sounded like a stubborn pre-teen.
They fell silent, the debate going nowhere.
She forced down the panic that seized her when she’d learned Nell had purchased wine and had been seeking a ride to the Highlander Club. Nell’s words rang inside Emma’s head. “I need an oxy and a drink to wash it down.”
“I’m going in,” she announced and reached for the door latch.
Matthias caught her arm. “Not without me.”
“Fine.” She wrenched free. “Then let’s go.” She stepped out and strode down the uneven sidewalk toward the building, ignoring every survival instinct in her body screaming at her. Turn around! Run!
She sensed more than heard Matthias on her heels. He caught her by the arm again as she reached the ominous steel door.
“I’m going in,” she told him.
“I get that. I’ll let you do the talking, but I’ll be right behind you.”
“Okay.”
“One more thing.” She met his worried gaze as he said, “When we’re in there, if I tell you to do something—like run—you do it.”
“Obey first. Ask questions later.”
“Exactly.”
“Deal.”
He released his grip. She yanked open the door and stepped inside.
The black-painted walls did little to reflect the light of a few bare bulbs lining a room that otherwise might look like any other beer garden.
Emma wove her way through eight tables set up in no particular configuration.
A tall, beefy man stood behind the bar. Three others leaned on it at one end.
Any of the four could pass for a bouncer, and all of them watched her like hawks observing a rabbit.
Matthias’s presence behind her appeared to be of little consequence in their opinion.
Standing tall, hoping to mask her fear, Emma stopped in front of the first man, whom she assumed was the bartender.
“You don’t belong here,” he said before she could get a word out. He shot a glance at Matthias before focusing again on her. “He’s a cop. We don’t serve pigs.”
“But I’m not,” she said, grateful her voice didn’t reflect her nerves.
“No, I can see you’re not.” He sneered. “Okay, you can stay. He goes.”
“Not happening,” Matthias said, the ground-glass edge back in full force.
“Then you both go. Voluntarily or with help.”
On cue, the other men pushed away from the bar and approached.
Emma raised a hand. “I don’t want any trouble, and we don’t want to be served.” She aimed a thumb over her shoulder at Matthias. “He is a cop, but he’s out of his jurisdiction, here to help me.”
The four men continued to advance.
“I’m Emma Anderson. Nell Anderson’s sister.”
It was the bartender’s turn to lift a hand, stopping his buddies. “You’re Nellie’s sister?”
The realization that Nell was so well known in this establishment that they referred to her by her nickname terrified Emma more than the four goons did.
“I can see it. The family resemblance, I mean.”
“Have you seen her lately?” Emma asked.
“You just missed her.”
“How long ago?” Matthias asked.
“Less than an hour. Maybe forty-five minutes. She came in with cash, we did our deal, and she left.”
“You sold her drugs?” Matthias’s tone dropped into the deadly zone.
The bartender raised both hands. “I never said nothing about drugs.”
One of the other thugs chimed in. “Yeah. We sell—what’s it called? Avalon? Yeah. Nellie came in and bought herself some lipstick.”
They all chuckled.
Emma didn’t bother correcting the makeup company’s name.
Matthias touched her shoulder. “Let’s go. You got what you came for.”
She held up one finger at him before asking one more question. “Did she happen to mention where she was going after she left here?”
“Nope,” the bartender said.
The comedian of the bunch snickered. “She probably went somewhere to put on her new lipstick.”
The others doubled over in laughter.
Emma turned her back on them, so the only person to see her tears was Matthias.
* * *
Matthias sat behind the wheel of his Jeep, making no move to start the engine. Emma, in the passenger seat, hung her head, her face turned slightly away from him. But she couldn’t conceal her soft sniffles.
He didn’t know what to do—what to say. He’d seen Nell and the haunted look in her eyes. He knew she might not be seeking the escape from turmoil offered by alcohol and opioids. She might be planning a more permanent release from her grief.
He wouldn’t dare mention his concern to Emma.
She wasn’t stupid. She probably already feared the same thing.
Besides, there was nothing either of them could do to stop it.
They had no idea where Nell had gone after leaving the Highlander.
With at least a forty-five minute head start and a propensity for hitchhiking, she could be anywhere by now.
Matthias’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He was surprised to see Eric’s name on his Caller ID. He looked at Emma, but she was resting her head on the window, paying no attention to him or the incoming call.
“Honeywell,” Matthias answered.
“Have you found out anything about Nell?”
“Hold on a minute.” Matthias turned again to Emma. “I have to take this.”
She managed a nod.
He stepped out of the Jeep and walked a few yards away before speaking in a low voice. “We tracked her to a grocery store where she bought a bottle of wine, then to the Highlander Club where she made a drug buy. But the trail’s gone cold. Has she contacted you?”
Eric sounded as weepy as Emma. “No.” He cleared his throat. “Matthias, I need your help.”
The request startled him. “What do you need me to do?”
“Talk to the people at the Pine Gables again. Or the funeral home. Or both. I need that alibi.” Eric choked. “I’ve been arrested for Sonny’s murder.”