Cole lit a cigarette, and the waitress appeared with his drink. She leaned over him as she set it on the table, her cleavage coming level with his face. He smiled up at her. “Thanks, darlin’.”
Crash’s head turned and watched her as she walked away. “Doable. Totally doable.”
Cole glanced at her and looked back at Crash. “You’ll never guess who I just ran into.”
Crash was still watching the waitress’s ass as she walked away. “Hmm, mmm. That strut’s as sweet as honey. Was it anything as cute as that?”
Cole took a hit off his cigarette. “Better.”
That got his attention. Crash’s head swiveled back to him.
Cole smiled. “Remember the girls from the back of Ling’s van?”
“Yeah.”
“Ran into one of ‘em at the gas station.”
“No shit?”
“Remember the pretty blonde that gave me shit?”
“The one you yelled at? Got right in her face, if I recall.”
Cole blew out a stream of smoke and smiled. “That’s the one.”
“Damn, that girl was fine. You recognized her, huh?”
“Nope. She came up to me.”
“No shit?”
Cole nodded. “She gets out of this silver convertible Mercedes and walks over to me. Asks if I remember her. I’m standing there pumping gas, looking her up and down, thinking, how the hell did I forget a babe like that? I was sure she’d lost her mind.”
“And?”
“She says, ‘you pulled me out of the back of a van’, and it hits me who the hell she is. Hits me like a ton of bricks. I about dropped the nozzle.”
“Why doesn’t shit like that ever happen to me?”
Cole took a hit off his cigarette and blew the smoke in the air. “Bought me a drink, too.”
“And you left that to come here? Did you fall on your head?”
Cole smiled. “Meetin’ her again tomorrow.”
“You dog! She got a friend for me?”
Cole grinned and took a sip of his drink.
***
Cole pulled into the parking lot of the bar at five minutes to four. His eyes ran over the silver Mercedes that was parked near the door. Shannon was already here. He got off his bike and walked inside.
When he stepped through the door, it took his eyes a moment to adjust to the dim light. He didn’t see her sitting at the bar.
Marty looked over, saw him, and nodded toward one of the booths.
Cole glanced over and saw her sitting in the second booth. He walked over and slid onto the seat across from her. “Hey, darlin’. How are you?”
She smiled up at him. “Fine. I’m glad you came.”
Cole noticed there were two glasses of bourbon on the table.
“I took the liberty of ordering for you,” she explained.
“I see that.”
“I hope that’s okay.” She suddenly felt unsure of herself.
“Sure. Thanks.” Cole took a sip.
Shannon watched him.
“Been here long?” he asked.
“Just a few minutes,” she replied.
Cole nodded. “To tell the truth, I kinda thought you might change your mind and not come.”
The smile disappeared from her face. “Why would you think that?”
He lit a cigarette. “Come on, darlin’. We’re not exactly drinking buddies. And I can’t see you bein’ interested in me unless you’re lookin’ to go slumming. Is that it?”
“No.” She looked down.
“You tryin’ to piss daddy off?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because that’s usually the only reason little girls like you wanna mess with the likes of me.”
“I’m not a little girl.”
“You’re way outta my league, darlin’. Lookin’ to play with the big boys? You might end up with more than you can handle.”
She got quiet and took a sip of her drink.
Cole studied her. “So, what’s this about, sweetheart?”
She looked up. “You’re right. We come from two different worlds, I suppose. And I guess there’s not much chance that we’ll ever see each other again.”
“No. Probably not,” Cole agreed. “You said you had something to show me.”
She reached down for her purse, which lay on the seat next to her.
Cole watched as she pulled a long white envelope out and laid it carefully on the table. He looked at her face, wondering what this was about, but she was staring at the table.
He waited.
She finally looked up at him. “I want you to have this. It’s my way of saying thank you.” She slid the envelope toward him.
Cole looked from it to her face. What the hell was it? He wasn’t even sure he wanted to find out.
“Go on. Open it.” She nodded toward the envelope.
He felt like he was reaching for a rattlesnake as he picked up the envelope, turned it over, and pushed the flap up. He pulled out the item inside and looked at it. It took a moment for it to register that he was looking at a certified check for…
He looked up at her and then down at the check. His eyes had to be playing tricks on him. There couldn’t be that many zeros. His eyes slid across the line where the amount was written out in words.
Five million dollars.
“What the hell is this for? Is there somebody you want me to kill?” he asked, only half joking.
“No. No, of course not. It’s for saving my life. My way of thanking you.”
Cole stared at her. “Are you out of your mind?”
“No. I assure you. I’m not.”
He stuffed it back in the envelope and pushed it back across the table. “I can’t take that.”
“Yes. You can,” she insisted.
He downed his drink and started to slide across the bench seat to leave.
“No. Please. Don’t go.” She grabbed at his arm. “Please. Let me explain.”
He hesitated. “Explain?”
“Please. Just hear me out.”
He sat back and looked at her.
“I want you to have this. You saved my life. My life. Don’t you understand?”
Cole looked around the bar and leaned closer to her, speaking softly so no one would overhear him. He pointed at the envelope. “That said five million dollars. Nobody gives someone that kind of money.”
She leaned closer and lowered her voice. “Look, my parents are very wealthy. I inherited a great deal of money. More than I could ever spend. Much more.”
Cole shook his head.
“You may not think my life is worth that much,” she continued. “But I do.”
“You bought me a drink. Let’s call it even.”
“What, so you don’t think my life has any value? Is that what you think its worth? The price of a drink?”
Cole noticed she was starting to sound indignant. “I’m not saying that.”