Free Random Acts by Alison Stone

Billy pulled his baseball cap down to shield his eyes. “What’s up?” He ran two fingers across his scraggly goatee.
    “How’s business, Billy?”
    One side of Billy’s mouth cocked into a grin. “You came all the way out here to ask me about business?”
    Patrick scanned Billy’s hands and face. From what he saw, there were no signs he had been in a struggle or a fight. But that didn’t mean anything. He could have had one of his thugs beat up Jenny if he’d gotten wind she was a drug informant.
    Billy stepped onto the porch and turned around. “This is my home. You want to talk business, come to the bar.” He jerked his chin toward Patrick. “I’ll even buy you a drink.”
    “Don’t drink.” Patrick shifted his stance but stayed on high alert. “You still moonlighting?”
    Billy adjusted his hat farther down on his forehead. “The only work I do is at the bar.”
    “That’s what I’m worried about.”
    The leather on Billy’s jacket creaked as he crossed his arms over his chest. “No worries, man. No worries.”
    “I’ll be watching you.”
    Billy leaned a hip against the rail of the porch. “Your visit have anything to do with that nasty accident out on Route 78 the other night?”
    “What do you know about it?” A throbbing started in Patrick’s temple. He should have done more to protect Jenny.
    Billy levered off the rail and stabbed a finger in Patrick’s direction. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told Chief Parker when he came nosing around the bar. I don’t know nothing about that girl.”
    “What girl?”
    “Don’t play stupid. You’re out here asking me if I saw Jenny Carson before her car accident.” He shot a quick glance toward the house and lowered his voice. “Sure, she was at the bar. I always notice the pretty ones. But I got my own woman. I don’t need to be messing with trouble. And that one’s trouble.”
    “Why do you say Jenny’s trouble?”
    Billy opened his mouth then snapped it closed. He rubbed a hand across the back of his neck. “She is trouble.” He jabbed a finger in Patrick’s direction. “And if you’re suggesting my bar overserved her that night…that maybe she ran off the road because she was drunk…well, that’s garbage. You can ask anyone at the bar. Jenny’s not a drinker.”
    Something niggled at the back of his brain. “You seem to know a lot about Jenny. You pay this much attention to everyone who comes into the bar?”
    Billy shook his head, seemingly too smart to take the bait. The lock scraping in the door drew their attention. Debbie appeared in the open doorway. Her uncertain gaze shifted between Billy and Patrick.
    “Hello, Officer Kingsley,” Debbie said, a frown tugging at her lips. A toddler with wet cheeks rested on Debbie’s hip while fingering the woman’s oversized gold hoop earring. “Is something wrong?”
    Billy leaned over and kissed the woman. He ran a hand down the child’s thick curls. “Nothing’s wrong, babe. Take the baby back inside. Give me a minute.”
    Patrick waited until they were alone again. “Billy, you have a family now. People who count on you.” Ava’s sweet face floated into his mind. “It’s time to be a man for your daughter. Stop gambling with their future.”
    “What are you talking about?” Billy’s brows snapped together, a muscle worked in his jaw. “My family is the most important thing to me. I’d do anything to protect them.”
    “If you don’t keep your nose clean, you won’t be around to see that beautiful girl grow up.” Patrick pointed toward the house.
    “Nothing will keep me from my family. Nothing, you hear?” Billy ground out the words, his hands clenching into tight fists. “And if you’re threatening me—” he gnashed his teeth as if trying to rein in his fury, “—let’s just say I’m not the only one with a family.”
    Patrick climbed the porch steps and approached Billy. Leaning in, he smelled the cigarette smoke wafting off Billy’s