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Duke made six big posters,taping them in all the big windows, announcing Fortnum’s was closed. Hard to open with police tape stretched across your front door.
Thank God I didn’t have a mortgage.
I had the day yawning ahead of me and no bodyguard following my every step. It felt weird.
I went to Tex’s to give him an update and help him with the cats. He’d been re-stitched and let go last night. I wasn’t sure what his reaction would be to Pepper Rick’s demise. I guessed jubilation, but was wrong.
“We live, we die,” he remarked.
Philosophical.
Cats fed, litter boxes cleaned and laser lights jiggled on the walls, I headed to Kumar’s to stock up on stuff for the condo and have a gossip. He wasn’t there, but I had a chat with Mrs. Kumar, who was behind the counter with Mrs. Salim motionless on a stool behind her. I thought, but did not say, that they might do better business if it didn’t look like a mummy was propped up behind the cash register. Then I worried if God would strike me with lightning for such a thought.
I got my bits and pieces from Mrs. Kumar and headed to Ally’s.
She made me coffee and gave me more ibuprofen.
“I know about the dead guy. Dad called Mom, Mom called me. You okay?” she asked.
“I’m getting tired of this,” I told her.
“I bet,” she mumbled.
“What are you doing today?” I asked.
“Laying low. I got a shift tonight.”
Ally now worked at My Brother’s Bar down by Platte River. They’d been around long enough for the wooden tables and walls to look weathered and worn and they had the best bar food in Denver. Members of the symphony hung out there after performances, and they pulled an excellent pint of Guinness.
“I was beginning to think you’d quit,” I noted.
“No, had a shift the night you got kidnapped, but apparently it’s cool to call off when your best friend is being held hostage,” she replied.
“Good to know,” I muttered.
She offered a manicure and pedicure and I took her up on it. I returned the favor by washing and styling her hair. I would have gone to beauty school if I hadn’t inherited Fortnum’s. Since I’d hit teenage status, I always gave good hair. With Ally, it wasn’t hard to give good hair. Her hair was soft and thick with just enough wave. It never looked bad.
“How’re things with Lee?” she shouted over the hairdryer as I was roller brushing her hair.
“I’m totally freaking out,” I shouted back.
“I sensed that.” She was still shouting.
I turned off the hairdryer and looked at her. “He’s good at this stuff.”
“What stuff?”
“Relationship stuff. He’s a natural. It’s weird. We’re new and we’re old. I can’t get my head around it.”
“He’s shit at relationship stuff. He’s only good at it because it’s you.”
“Sorry?”
“You’re shit at it too, but only because it was never him.”
Uh-oh, Ally was on her you two were meant for each other kick.
