"A hundred?" Jen squawks. "You're giving me twenty."

"'Cause you're worth twenty. She's worth a hundred. I'll make yours thirty, though, if you play nice. Have some fun with your new neighbour."

"You son of a--" Jen howls, and launches herself at him. I pull the door shut and walk away.

I'm passing the Roc when a voice calls, "Hey, girl," and I turn to see Isabel relighting a lantern outside her bar.

"What are you doing out and about at this hour?" she asks.

"It's not even ten."

"Let me rephrase: what are you doing out and about alone at this hour?"

"I'm fine." I pull back my jacket so she can see my gun.

"Mmm, that's not going to help, sugar. No one's going to drag you into an alley for your wallet. Or for anything else. They're just going to pester you, and I'd strongly suggest you don't shoot them for that, as annoying as they might be."

"I'm fine. No one's bothered--"

"No one stopped you on your way here?"

A couple of guys had tried, but I say, "Not really." Then, "Have you seen Diana? I'm supposed to have drinks with her tonight."

"I wouldn't count on her remembering. That girl has an active social life." She steps closer and lowers her voice. "You might want to have a talk with her. I'm all for partying--clean partying. Not much else to do up here. But sometimes the freedom is a little too much. Your friend likes the booze and she likes the boys. That isn't a safe combination."

I'm about to say no, Isabel is misunderstanding the situation, but I know protesting won't help, so I just nod. "I'll talk to her. Thanks for the heads-up."

I start to say good night, but she says, "You're not walking home alone, Miss Casey. Yes, you don't appreciate being treated like a girl in hoop skirts, and believe me, I'd be the last person to say a lady can't take care of herself. But slow down. Let people get used to you. Until then, save yourself the hassle." She leans into the Roc and shouts, "Mick!" and the bartender appears. She puts one hand on his burly bicep and says, "You're going to walk Ms. Butler home."

"It's Casey, please," I say. "And I don't need--"

"You will escort Casey home. If she argues, walk two paces behind her. Unless she tries to shoot you." She looks at me. "Please don't shoot him."

I smile. "I won't."

"And don't worry about him, either. He's perfectly safe. I keep him plenty occupied." She winks at me and then smacks Mick's ass and sends us on our way.

Mick isn't a conversationalist. We don't exchange a word until we reach my porch, and I say, "Thanks," and he says, "Anytime," then adds, "About your friend, Diana. She's..." He shifts, looking uncomfortable. "She's getting into some trouble."

"So I heard. I'll talk to her."

"Isabel's ... Well, Isabel's worried. She worries about all the new women in town, but in Diana's case it's moving fast into 'pissed off.' The best thing your friend can do is talk to her, if this is what she wants. It'd be safer that way."

"Safer?"

"Just tell her to talk to Iz. Okay?"

I nod and say good night and go inside.

I barely make it into my place when there's a tap-tap-tap at the door. It's Diana, bouncing like a kid.

"Ready to go?"

I check my watch. "Doesn't the bar close in an hour?"

"Sure," she says, grinning. "That's when we go have some real fun."

I remember Isabel's warning and say, carefully, "There's a curfew for a reason. Everyone needs to be at work the next day. It's not like home, where if we call in with a hangover, someone can cover for us."

Tags: Kelley Armstrong Rockton Mystery
Source: readsnovelonline.net