Free Hole in the wall by L.M. Pruitt

Hole in the Wall
    A Jude Magdalyn Exclusive
     
    L.M. Pruitt
     
    Red Hot Publishing
    P.O. BOX 651193, STERLING VA, 20165-1193
     
    Ebook Edition
     
    Copyright (c) 2011 L.M. Pruitt
    All Rights Reserved
     
    ISBN 978-0-9877042-9-0
     
    License Notes
    This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.
     
    PUBLISHER’S NOTE
    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
     
     
     
    Table of Contents

    Hole in the Wall
     
    Bonus Content! Shades of Gray, an eighteen-chapter free read
     
     
     
    Hole in the Wall
     
    “ I’ll be there at seven, Ms. Talanger.” Before I could hang up, she asked another question and I bit back a sigh, answered. “Yes, of course. Yes, I look forward to seeing you as well. Good-bye, now.”
    “Christ, I thought you’d never get the old bag off the phone.” Izzy tipped her bottle back, scowled when only a few splashes of beer dripped out. “Tell me again why you’re doing a party for her tomorrow night?”
    “Isabelle Bordeaux, you know damn good and well why I took the job.” A customer down at the other end of the bar thumped a glass on the stained and discolored wood, attempted a whistle. The look I sent him made him drop his eyes, the whistle dying. “Because if I have to work here to save the money for the jacket, I’ll end up getting fired or killing someone.”
    “You love Hole in the Wall.” She took the new bottle from me, popped the top herself. “It’s why we drink here so much.”
    “Yeah, I love drinking here. I do not love working here.” Still, I worked my way down the bar, refilling drinks, taking cash, swatting hands when they got too friendly. The unofficial uniform for behind the bar was a simple white tank and jeans. I’d thrown my long, dark hair up in deference to the humidity prevalent in New Orleans in August. To keep the owner from bitching at me, I’d slapped some mascara and eyeliner on, fiddled with shadow to match my gray eyes. The overly friendly hands reminded me why I didn’t do so on a regular basis.
    By the time I made my way back down to her, Izzy had drained the bottle, started rolling the tinted glass back and forth on the bar. She tossed her hair over her shoulder, the blonde sheet catching the dim light in the room. “How much longer are you working tonight? I thought we’d head into the Quarter, see what was going on down at the Meow.”
    “I can tell you what’s going on at the Meow. Tourists, drunk locals, and bad karaoke.” Still, I mulled the idea over while I washed glasses, dunked them in sanitizer water before setting them to dry. I hadn’t been down to the Quarter in a few weeks, content with the jazz clubs in the Faubourg Marigny. Bad karaoke actually sounded really good at the moment. “I bet I can get you to sing the DeVinyls again.”
    “Jude Magdalyn Henries!” Izzy bit the words out, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I thought we agreed to never speak about that again.”
    “No, you said we shouldn’t. I didn’t agree to anything.” The clock on the opposite wall read eleven-forty; I could probably get Joe to let me leave at twelve. The bar was slow and he hated pooling tips with me, despite the fact he made more money when we worked together then when he worked alone. “How about we start at the Meow, make our way back down Bourbon toward home?”
    “Sure. We can hit Lafitte’s, maybe Napoleon’s Itch. Definitely