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Chapter Twenty
Finding a drugstore at that hour would have been impossible and so Lisa steered Lance toward a twenty-four-hour Mini Mart where they were able to find medicated cream, tweezers, and bandages for her scrapes. Not taking any chances, she also grabbed headache pills too.
Waving him into the washroom behind her, she tugged down her stretch pants to her hips and sucked in her breath when she saw the mess on her tummy and hipbones.
“You really did a number on your stomach, Lisa. It must hurt like hell.”
Pretending nonchalance took everything in her but she did. “Nah. I’m fine. Had worse wounds from skateboarding.”
“You were a skater? Don’t know a lot of girls who’d take on that sport.”
“Hey, I can still do a backside heelflip with my eyes closed.”
“Now you’re just bragging.”
“Busted.” She thought back to the tournaments she’d won not that many years ago but said nothing.
Lance helped her remove the obvious splinters before they covered the sores. His deep voice filled with pity. “It must burn like hell. Some of those scrapes are deeper than they looked at first.”
“I’m fine.” She pulled the waistband of her pants back in place, lowered her navy shirt, and reached for her jacket. “I should have used a chair to get out rather than dive through the window like some stupid acrobat. I don’t know what I was thinking. Just needed to leave before he saw me.” She thought back to the earlier scene.
She’d just finished recording another telling discussion about the IEDs the gang had bought. Plans were to scatter them around the avenue chosen for the approaching Black Lives Matter rally. Which, she thought, would be happening in the next few days. Wishing she could check the actual date, frustration over losing her phone again slapped the back of her head. Dummy!
Hearing about their drunken plans, getting a lot more details surprisingly because of Kane who had the most questions, she’d been chortling to herself that she’d managed to again get the proof she needed to go to the law… that was after she wrote the story herself and got a Pulitzer Prize for her in-depth coverage.
Disgusted from the evening and what she’d watched unfolding, she heaved a huge breath full of reproach but still wondered how she could ditch her companion. She needed to return to Kane’s alone to rescue her phone. Without that proof, she had no story. Oh, her mother would believe her, but her boss wouldn’t.
Deciding to go for a beer with him at the nearest bar and then slink out the door when she went to the restroom, maybe she could make it back to the house before he even realized she was missing. It was only a few blocks. She had long legs and could run like the wind. What could possibly go wrong?
Happy now, she joined him as they walked to the open bar. Once they entered, she let out a quiet squeal of delight when seeing the earlier idiots from her father’s place all huddled around a table at the back of the joint. Her return plans took on an easier aspect without her worrying about all those men roaming the place.
Loud, disgustingly drunk, and obnoxious, they were giving the middle-aged waitress a hard time until the bartender, a big fellow with a bat in his hand, went close with a warning. “Leave Elsie alone, boys. She’s my wife. So we’re clear, the missus’s got a gun behind the bar… and knows how to use it.”
“Yes, sir,” the guy called Gordie spoke up first. “Meant no harm, ma’am. Just can’t seem to calm the boys when there’s a good-lookin’ woman close by.”
Elsie slammed the tray of beer mugs on the closest corner of the table and began to pass the glasses around. “You keep your hands and your stupid comments to yourselves, and you’ll get no trouble from me. Especially when I see lots of tip money rolling my way.”
That got an appreciative laugh from the whole table and the tension calmed. That is until they spotted Lisa and Lance. At first, Hamster seemed to do a double-take and then he stumbled to his feet. Lurching his way over to their table, he leaned toward Lisa. He got so close, she had to hold Lance back from taking offense.
“Don’t I know you, pretty lady?”
“Nope. Never saw you before in my life.” Lisa smiled coldly and turned to ignore the idiot.
“Guesh I’m drunk. Sorry.” He turned to Lance and meant to lay his hand on Lance’s shoulder, missed and fell face-first toward the chair. He’d have taken a header if Lance hadn’t moved like lightning and caught him before any damage had been done.
“Hey buddy, you okay?”
“Sorry. Yeah, I’m-a good.” Bowing to Lisa, almost falling again, he staggered back to the table he came from.
Lisa heard him telling the others, “Thought I saw her with Kane today. He’sh my fwiend. Don’t want him getting screwed over by a cheatin’ woman. Know what I mean?”
Gordie’s reply got lost in the noise of the music as another loud song started up and Lisa’s curiosity over her companion returned.
Leaning close, Lance opened the discussion by asking questions she tried to dodge by making jokes. “So, Lisa, tell me about yourself and your plans?”
“Right now… to have a beer and get to know my damsel-saving-hero better.”
Laughing along, Lance tried again to open a serious discussion. “No, really. You say this Kane guy is your father, and he just found out, is that right?”
