Free A Tale of Two Biddies by Kylie Logan Page A

out of the bar and start down the street in the opposite direction from where Levi waited for me.
    “I’ve got to get back behind the bar.” Levi sounded almost apologetic and I didn’t want to wonder why.
    I settled back on the ol’ reliable cocktail party talk. “It’s late and I’ve got to get going, anyway.”
    No sooner had Levi gone back into the bar than I was surrounded.
    “Oh, no!” Chandra looped her right arm through my left. “You’re not going to run out of here now. Not when Levi’s looking at you the way Levi’s looking at you.”
    “He’s not looking at me at all,” I pointed out. Apparently the fact that he’d gone inside and couldn’t see me from in there was lost on both Chandra and Luella.
    “You know what she means,” Luella said. She grabbed my right arm. “You can’t make the poor boy suffer.”
    “No one’s suffering,” I insisted, though if push came to shove, I would have had to admit that sometimes when I thought about Levi, I felt the pain. “He only talks to me to be polite.”
    “Uh huh.” Chandra tugged my one arm. “And he’s not the hottest thing on the island.”
    “Which has nothing to do with—”
    “Sure.” Luella tugged the other.
    When they stepped back into Levi’s, I had no choice but to go along, too.
    Since most of the patrons who’d been there earlier had gone to the park and some of the others were still out worshiping the ground the former Boyz ’n Funk walked on, the place was just about empty and blessedly quiet. I knew that the members of Guillotine did their own setup and takedown (ah, how different from the days when the roadies did the grunt work), and since they’d walked off right after the watermelon surprise, their instruments were still on stage.
    “Let’s just hope they don’t get the idea that anyone’s looking for an encore,” I mumbled, and I guess Chandra and Luella know exactly what I was talking about because they laughed.
    Chandra scooted over to the bar. “I’m going to order another beer before it gets crowded in here again. What can I get you, ladies?”
    Luella asked for ice water. Since I hadn’t had a chance to finish my last glass of wine, I opted for another Reisling. While I waited for it, I figured a quick trip to the ladies room was in order.
    I never got there.
    But then, that’s because the restrooms were all the way at the back of the bar, past the makeshift stage and the pool tables that had been pushed against the far wall to make more room for the overflow crowd. Back there, it was darker and quieter than it was at the front of the bar. A few chairs were scattered around for those who’d watched the concert earlier, and all but one of them was empty.
    Richie Monroe still sat in the corner.
    It would have been rude not to say hello, considering Richie and I were the only ones around. “Hey, Richie!”
    Except he didn’t say hello back.
    Just to be polite, I took a couple steps closer. “So what did you think of the concert? And the fireworks? Only maybe you didn’t see the fireworks since you’re still sitting here.”
    Richie had nothing to say.
    I’m not sure when I realized that Richie was being anything but rude. I do remember I flagged down Levi. But then, I figured when something like this happens, a person should never be alone.
    “What is it?” he asked.
    I took a few more steps closer to Richie. As if it had been dropped, the glass he’d apparently been drinking from was shattered at his feet and there was a trickle of drool on his chin. His eyes were open. His mouth was twisted in an expression that reminded me of a silent scream. Richie’s skin was the color of those pale fireworks that had lit the sky outside only a few minutes before.
    Only, fireworks are hot.
    And Richie?
    Richie was one getting-colder-by-the-moment dead dude.

6
     
    “W hat else did Hank ask you? What did he say? Luella and I were over at the bar and we didn’t see anything and we didn’t even realize