It always went quicker than she thought it would since she could skip the recordings of her walking across the parking lot and her drink orders. Like she had thought, Lefty didn’t have much to tell her. However, one statement—a seemingly offhand remark—caught her attention. It might be nothing, but she wrote it down.
She fast-forwarded through her bullying Trixie into submission. She decided she would definitely apologize again today when they talked at Lefty’s. Everything she heard from Trixie was already in her notes. She deleted yesterday's conversations and looked at the time. It was still early, but she was going to need to scope out the place before she went in and her car was a block away. She’d better get moving.
Chapter 13
Margot got there early even though she parked down the street. It was hardly a disguise, but she pushed her hair up into the Layla’s West cap before making the walk to Lefty’s.
Since it was lunchtime, they were a bit busier than the last time and she regretted scheduling the meet for noon. Since it was a workday and most patrons were there to eat, however, there was plenty of room at the bar. She took a seat in the corner so she could have a view of most of the rest of the bar room and have access to a back exit if Ames or someone like him showed up to arrest her. She didn’t see Trixie, but she was early. Since it was getting busy, Lefty wasn’t behind the bar and she didn’t see him hanging around anywhere either.
She jumped when the bartender asked her, “What can I get you?”
She hadn’t eaten breakfast—since it appeared Mal never went grocery shopping—and it was important she stay sharp. She ordered a Makers on the rocks anyway. She told herself it was because sitting at a bar not drinking looked weird and she didn’t want to draw attention. The fact was, she wanted a drink.
The young bartender brought it over and left her alone. She checked her watch. It was five after twelve and still no sign of Trixie. She figured punctuality wasn’t a big thing among the early twenties party girl set and went back to sipping her drink. She was thinking about ordering food when she spied Lefty come out of the back. She waved and it took him a second to recognize her without her hair hanging down at her shoulders.
He made his way over and said, “What’s with the hat?”
“Just trying out a new look.”
He nodded and looked at her empty glass, “You need another?”
“No, but I could use an order of fish tacos.”
“Glass of water?”
“Sure. Hey, I wanted to ask you about something.”
“Ask away.”
“You said something yesterday that made it sound like you were jealous of Dean Stone.”
“I did?”
“Yeah, I said something to the effect of, ‘Looks like you both got what you wanted’ and you said, ‘Or we both wish we were the other guy.’”
“Maybe I meant he was jealous of me. Maybe he was getting tired of the criminal life. Does it matter?”
“No, I was just thinking about it, is all.”
“I’ll get those fish tacos started for you.”
Lefty shuffled off. It occurred to Margot that Lefty had referred to Dean Stone in the past tense even though his disappearance wasn’t public knowledge. While she was trying to determine how much this meant, her phone vibrated. She saw she had a text from Trixie’s number:
‘I’m here, meet me by the ladies’ room.’
Margot was tempted to text her back and tell her to come to the bar but decided she could make the short walk to the ladies’ room. If Trixie was spooked by something or someone at the bar, she didn’t want her running off before they had a chance to talk. If Trixie really had solid information about the identity of a professional hitman, Margot couldn’t blame her for wanting to be as discreet as possible.
She texted back, ‘Be there in a second.’
Margot wondered when Trixie had slipped past her since she would have had to pass by the bar to get to the ladies’ room. She had been watching for her and the shapely young woman with the bright red hair should have been easy to spot. Margot grabbed her purse and went around the corner to the short hall where the restroom was located. She decided maybe she wasn’t the only one trying to keep a low profile. She thought Trixie actually might be smarter than she looked.
Margot stepped inside. The ladies’ room wasn’t very big, just two stalls and one sink. Trixie was by the sink.
“I’m sorry, I really am,” Trixie said to her.
Margot was trying to figure out what she was sorry about when the stall door swung open. Margot reached in her purse as she turned. The tall man with the taser was faster than she was with the telescoping baton.
Chapter 14