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Neither of them spoke until they had drained at least a quarter of their respective beverages. She could already feel the alcohol in her system. It relaxed her muscles and made the tips of her toes tingle. But it didn’t lift the burden from her shoulders.
“What’s our plan?” Jason asked.
Cassie looked around the establishment. It was rustic as far as bars went, but it had a certain charm. There were a few tables lined up along the back wall, but the extensive bar took up most of the room. About a dozen people were scattered down its length, either in pairs or solo. A single waiter ran the floor, and the bartender made sure everyone’s drinks stayed topped up.
Cassie waited until there was a lull in orders before she caught the barkeep’s attention. He sidled up to them and flung a rag over his shoulders, just like she’d seen in the movies. “I have a question for you, if you’ve got a second?”
“You’re in luck.” His smile was disarming. “I have several.”
“This might take longer than several seconds.”
“Doesn’t it always?” He leaned against the bar and looked between the two of them. “What’s on your mind?”
“We’re looking for a woman who might work here,” Jason supplied. “Her name was Charli?”
“Charli, yeah.” He looked wistful. Cassie had seen that same look on Alan’s face. “Couple of tattoos, a few piercings. She had a rough start here, but she got the hang of it, eventually.”
“Rough start?”
“I don’t think she’d ever been a waitress before.” He chuckled. “I’m not sure she’d ever had a steady job, actually. But like I said, she got the hang of it. Turned out to be a pretty good worker in the end. We’re gonna miss her.”
“Did she quit?” Cassie asked.
The bartender frowned. It took him a second to respond. “She died.”
“Died?” Cassie and Jason exchanged a look. “When?”
“About a month ago, I guess. Her sister came in, gave us the news.”
Cassie resisted the urge to drain the rest of her margarita in one go. Another dead end. “What can you tell us about that?”
For the first time, the bartender looked dubio
us. “Why do you want to know?”
“Did you know Charli also volunteered at the Tulane Medical Center?”
“No, I didn’t.” He processed the information. “I’m kind of surprised, actually.”
“Why?”
“If you saw her, you would know. I can’t imagine many people being comforted by her.”
“There had been some complaints,” Cassie supplied. “The reason we’re asking is because she got fired, and we’re wondering if she knew something she shouldn’t have.”
“Hang on a second.” The man walked the length of the bar and topped off someone’s beer. He took a slip of paper from the waiter and made another margarita. On his way back, he poured two shots and grabbed a bottle of cider out of the mini fridge behind him. “Sorry about that. Where were we? Oh, yeah, Charli working at the hospital. That’s news to me. Then again, I didn’t know much about her. She only worked here for a couple of months. We talked a few times on breaks, but we didn’t hang out. She wasn’t very social.”
Jason drained his beer. “Glass of water? Thanks, man.” He waited until the bartender swapped his glasses. “How did you find out she died?”
“Her sister came in.” He cocked his head to the side. “Well, I thought it was her sister. Maybe a cousin or something. I don’t know, she didn’t actually say. But they looked similar. I figured they had to be related.”
“What did she tell you?”
“Charli won’t be coming in today. I asked why. She said it was because she died. I said I was sorry. She picked up her check and left.”
“You didn’t ask how she died?”
“Didn’t seem appropriate at the time.”
