Baby Makes Three

“He’s been spotted at some dive bar near you. More than likely, he plans on paying a visit. But he might be scared off if he knows you’re there.”

I grit my teeth. “The bar two miles down from my place?”

“Yep, that’s the one,” Mike said. “I’m sending some police officers out that way. They won’t come to your door, but they’ll trail the area, watching and waiting to see if he’ll come by. This might be our chance to get him. Do you think you can leave your place for a second? Just to move your car off the premises so that he can think Joanna is there alone? That way, we can get a hold of him to serve him a restraining order.”

I walked back toward the living room, looking at Joanna sleeping peacefully. “Yeah, I can do that,” I said, although different plans were stirring in my head.

“Good. I’ll call you back,” Mike said, and then hung up.

Kissing Joanna softly, “I’ll be right back.” I grabbed my car keys, locked up the apartment, and headed out the door, my mind on Zander. As I got into my car and pulled off, I actually spotted a few of the police cars heading toward my apartment. I quickly turned out of their view, praying that they wouldn’t deduce what I was up to. Losing track of them, I practically began to drive on auto-pilot, my body knowing precisely where to go to find Zander, as if he was a magnet that I was being pulled to.

I got there in what felt like record speed.

I practically spotted him the instant I walked through the bar’s door, despite not having previous knowledge of what he looked like.

He was big, sloppy, and looked like trouble even from a distance as he sat at the bar, chugging down what looked like several shots too many.

My blood coursing angrily through my veins, I approached the bar, and came to a stop right beside him.

“Can I help you, sir?” the bartender said.

I forced a polite smile. “Sure. Scotch, please.”

“Coming right up,” she said.

It took everything within me to not turn around and knock Zander’s lights out. But instead, I glanced sideways and smiled. “What’s up, buddy?” I said, careful to keep my voice light and friendly.

“Nothing much, my man,” he said, his words slurred.

I tilted my head sideways. “You from around here? You don’t look familiar.”

He laughed. “Nope. I’m an out-of-towner. That obvious, huh?”

I nodded. “Yeah. You’ve got an accent that I can’t quite place. Where’re you from?”

He laughed again. “Oh, if I tell you that, I’d have to kill ya!” he said, thumping me a little too heavy-handedly on the back.

“Oh really?” I said. “So what brings you into town?”

He sighed. “I’m here for my girl.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. She thought she could get away from me, but what can I say? I can’t let her go. Gotta make sure she knows it.” He grinned, under the impression that his words sounded romantic. But I could see the sinister stirrings behind his eyes. I could see the cockiness in the way he held his mouth. I could hear the hidden threat beneath his words…

“Women,” I said, just as the bartender returned with my Scotch. I took a sip and then thumped Zander on the back myself. “Hey, step outside with me for a smoke, will ya?”

“Sure thing, partner,” Zander said. “Then I can just head on my way afterwards. Check to see what she’s up to.”

“Cool,” I said, and stood from the bar. I walked a pace ahead of Zander as we made our way through the door. “Let’s go around to the side. You know,

these damned buildings got all these regulations on smoking and stuff now.”

“Yeah! The world’s turned into such a wuss! People get all up in arms about a little smoke. It’s bullshit, man!”

The second we had rounded the building, my hand balled into a fist that caught Zander right in the gut.

“Umph!” he groaned, doubling over. He looked up at me, his face full of surprise. “Hey? What the f—”