Stan and Ollie continues this week with our two heroes having dinner and getting information. Don't forget to check out the other Briefers and see what's going on with them. Their links follow my tale. Enjoy!
That calls for a double
take. Ollie and I rotate in unison, as does just about every head in the place,
conversations going into suspended animation, mouths gaping in shock, surprise
and plain old fashioned curiosity. “Isn’t
that—?”
“Consuelo’s father.” Ollie
finishes my sentence.
Well, I’ll be damned. Not
quite what I’d pictured, although to be honest I couldn’t tell you what I’d
really expected of the Tulip King. Someone flowery, maybe? Maybe someone a
little lighter and airier? I should know better than to make assumptions,
though, shouldn’t I?
Bodean Fairchild is a
good-sized man, no doubt about that. He looks to be all of six and a half feet
in height, barrel-chested in a muscular, outdoorsy way. I suspect this man
works out on a regular basis. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out who he
works out with, even if she appears to be about his daughter’s age. In my
experience, that is not a deterrent to a lot of men. He’s well-dressed in dark
blue shirt and black trousers, the matching jacket thrown over his arm. Gold
cufflinks twinkle on each wrist, and jewelry flashes on both hands.
The hostess materializes and
leads Bodean and his guest to a table—so much for getting the next available
one for ourselves—and the noise level rises accordingly as everyone pretends
they aren’t gawking and carries on as before.
“I can’t believe he’s out
with that… that… when Consuelo is still missing.” The voice comes from behind us, and we turn
back to give it our attention. The bartender who’d waited on us stands there,
viciously rubbing a glass with a bar towel, his eyes fixed at the couple in
question.
Actually, that’s an astute
observation. Seems rather carefree for someone whose only child has gone
missing. I can tell Ollie agrees; I can read it in his eyes. That flash of
indignation, fury, and what the fuck’s wrong with humans look he sometimes get,
although he isn’t as quick to express it as I am. I lay my hand on his and give it a quick
squeeze, earning a smile as my reward.
Time to play dumb now. Well,
somewhat dumb. There’s a fine line between seeming to know something and
knowing nothing. People are usually quicker to fill in the blanks if they think
you’ve already got part of the story.
“I heard about his daughter
going missing, that must be rough,” I commiserate.
“On everyone,” Ollie quickly
chimes in.
The bartender has dark wavy
hair, dark eyes, and a gold earring in one ear that gives him an air that’s
either piratical, or gypsy. Take your pick.
“Yeah, right. When Hell
freezes over,” he mumbles. “Convenient, I call it.”
“I’m not sure I follow?” I
encourage him to keep talking. If he polishes that glass any more, he’s going
to wear it out.
“Consuelo inherits everything
if something happens to Bodean. Everyone knows that. Even if he marries again…”
Now I get it. A young honey
with a penchant for bears, someone who can bear new heirs… under those
circumstances, Consuelo becomes a sticky fly in the ointment.
“Couldn’t he just rewrite
his will?” Ollie asks, sipping at his Shirley Temple. The bartender looks at
him, looks at the drink, and then at me, but doesn’t comment. Guess he’s too
peeved to care.
“Nope. It’s iron-clad, it’s…”
Whatever else it is has to wait, as a patron hollers at him from the end of the
bar and he disappears to dispense more alcohol and his own particular brand of
good cheer, carrying the glass with him.
“Something to look into, I
think. If nothing else, we can find the lawyer that drew up the will, do a
little B&E.”
“How will we know which
lawyer?” practical Ollie asks.
“How many law firms do you
think a town of this size can support?” I shrug. “If we need to, we’ll just
find the one that looks like it’s the most expensive and go with that. My gut
tells me Bodean doesn’t go cheap. Maybe that’s the problem.”
“Maybe,” Ollie agrees. “We
should get some information on his girlfriend, too. Or whatever she might be.”
“Agreed.”
Just then, the hostess returns
and smilingly tells us our table awaits, so we grab our drinks and follow her
to a small table nowhere near Consuelo’s father, damn the luck. So much for
casual eavesdropping. As she sets the menus before us, before she can start her
cheery spiel about specials and such, I query, “Is there a good hair salon in
town?”
Ollie gives me an enigmatic
look, but I don’t enlighten hm. Yet.
“Well, there’s the new place
over on Carnegie,” she begins, but I can tell that isn’t the place we want to
be.
“I think I’d rather go with
someone established. You know, someone that is trustworthy.” I flash her a warm
smile to show that I trust her judgment. Flattered, she leans down.
“Well, there’s the place I
go,” she admits. “Miss Jane’s place, over on Magnolia. She still cuts hair
herself. Everybody goes there.”
“Sounds perfect, thank you.”
“Any time, sugah. Your
server will be right with you. Enjoy your meal.” She sashays away, while Ollie
gets right to the point.
“What was all that about?”
I pretend to eye him
critically, although truth be told, I can find no fault with the way he looks.
He’s perfect. But I need an excuse to go there, and I think that he’s a good
one. People open up to Ollie; he has a way with them. Even if I didn’t exactly
notice that quality when I first met him. Live and learn, they say.
“I think you could use a
trim,” I comment laconically.
“But you take care of…” He
catches himself and laughs. “You’re right, as always, my dear Stan. Shall I get
some highlights while I’m at it?”
“Over my dead body,” I
growl.
Damn smart-ass alien.
to be continued
Now visit the other Wednesday Briefers and read their wonderful flash fiction!
Nephylim m/m
Lily Sawyer m/m
MC Houle m/m
Elyzabeth VaLey m/f
Michael Mandrake m/m
Cia Nordwell m/m
Elizabeth Morgan m/f
Elyzabeth VaLey m/f
Tali Spencer m/m
Victoria Adams m/f
Little clues in dribs and drabs! This is so much more mystery than I'd expected from the fantastical beginning. :) Not complaining though, I love stories with many things woven in.
ReplyDeleteAnd the plot thickens. This is such a delicious mystery I look forward to it every week!
ReplyDeleteAn alien with highlights! That would be interesting. What are they going to discover next week?
ReplyDeleteThe boys are going on a two week hiatus lol Next week, I'll do a one off for Christmas :)
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