Free Naming Day (Jake Underwood Book 1) by Michael Ruger

held Kevin’s funds.”
    With a surety of at least present employment the crew seemed a little more settled than before. There’s nothing like a paycheck to put problems and opportunities into prospective.
    “Critter, you’re in charge of the kitchen and all matters concerning the menu and ordering food. While you’re in charge, don’t forget to consult with Lucinda and Bolan. They may have a better feel for what the customers are saying on the floor. But the final decision is yours. I know this may be new to you, but you also have the last few years worth of menus to help guide you.” Critter look slightly surprised to hear his name called and as I spoke he gradually took on an air of panic. “Relax. You’ve already been running the kitchen in regards to the cooking. This is just an extension of that. You’ll be fine.” Critter didn’t look like he believed me, but he was game to give it a try.
    “Lucinda, the wait staff is your responsibility. Take care of scheduling, hiring, firing, settle disputes, whatever it takes to keep the food and booze flowing.” Lucinda nodded and smiled at me with those ageless elf eyes.
    “Speaking of booze, I suppose we should get the late shift bartender in and have him cover the shift Kevin used to sit until we can get someone else. We will need to recruit a professional for the day shift. Ben Jefferson is strictly a nightimer. I’d like to see if we can find someone already on staff but we may have to go outside if we haven’t got anybody internal who can handle it. Bolan, I will leave that up you.”
    “For anything else I haven’t thought of, Bolan will be in charge. That means linen service, private parties, special events or anything that isn’t covered already. I realize that’s a little vague, but there are too many eventualities to cover. It’s your job to make sure that the rest of the staff can do their jobs. I suspect you’ll be smoothing ruffled feathers here and there.” Bolan frowned at this and gave me a curt shake of his head.
    “Finally, when it comes to security Jerryk and Terryk are the go to guys. You have trouble with a customer? Let them deal with it. They have all the knowledge they need to apply just the right amount of force to expedite a situation to a happy conclusion.” A wolfish grin from Jerryk and a chuckle from Terryk told me that they did indeed know the proper way to resolve a customer’s problem.
    “Just one word of caution guys, there are a lot of law types out there now and I think you can expect more in the near future. Be discrete. Follow the Compact and if anything feels hinky, call me. I don’t know exactly what is going on with the Sheriff but something doesn’t feel right about this and I can see him using just about anything as pretext to put pressure on the bar to see which way people will jump. Don’t give him that chance. Be smart.”
    “I’m going to hang around for a while and see what I can find out on my own.” Bolan looked pleased and I saw the others relax a little as they realized that there would be someone they could go to if they needed to.
    “I’ll be in the bar and about the club if any of you need me for something. Just remember, Kevin had confidence in you and so do I. You can do this.”
                  As I watched them leave to try and get the place in order. I wondered if my cut and paste job would hold. I was relying on routine to keep people on course. If it worked, it would only be a screwed up mess, if it didn’t it would be a catastrophe. Still, it was worth a chance. I owed it to Kevin for past favors and besides, I would hate having to find a new place to drink. After 40 years of going to the same place, a guy gets used to things. Plus, it was handy to have a place where people didn’t wonder why you didn’t look a day older than when they met you 30 after 40 years ago.
    Keeping the Silver Tree open had other advantages as well. Whoever had killed Kevin would probably be