He raised his arm to hit her, but his two men crashed into him as they tried to get down the narrow hallway to the exit.
“Stop it, you fools,” he screamed at them. Then they were all racing toward the back emergency exit. The door pounded open, then slammed shut.
She looked up to see Marvin the Bouncer bolting toward her like a runaway train. She heard Fuzz the Bartender crashing through the tables, yelling even riper obscenities.
She realized the whole incident had taken only seconds. It had seemed longer than a winter blizzard.
She took two steps forward. She saw James leaping off the stage. She saw him pull out his gun.
She saw Ms. Lilly pick up a baseball bat and stride toward her like an Amazon angel.
It had all happened so quickly. Yet she’d felt the fear of a lifetime. To have a needle shoved into her arm again. No, she couldn’t have borne that, not again.
Then she realized that the fear was dimming, releasing her, and she shook her head.
She’d won. She’d beaten him. She wished she could have shot him. Or stuck a knife in his guts.
Marvin the Bouncer took one quick look at her, then slammed open the emergency exit door and ran outside.
Fuzz the Bartender streaked past her and out the door behind Marvin. She heard pounding footsteps. Lots of them. She prayed they’d catch Beadermeyer.
She suddenly felt so weak she couldn’t hold herself up. She sank to her knees and leaned against the wall. She wrapped her arms around her bent knees and leaned her face against her legs.
“Sally, hang on, I’ll be right back.” It was James running after Marvin and Fuzz.
“Well, my girl, Marvin told me that James said you had bad guys after you. I don’t mind this—even though it did interrupt one of my favorite songs. What fools those guys were to try to get you here. They must have really been desperate. Either that or stupid. I’ll bet stupid.”
Ms. Lilly shook her head, the thick black coils of hair never budging. “You ready to get up now, Sally?”
“Is the little chicky all right?”
“Yes, Marvin, she’s just catching her breath. I think she did a good job on those guys. I don’t suppose you nabbed the jerks?”
“No, Ms. Lilly. We got close, but they pulled away in this big car. Quinlan put a bullet through the back windshield, but then he stopped. He said he knew who it was and he was going to get the bastard tomorrow. Then he laughed and rubbed his hands together. It was hard because he was still holding that cannon of his.”
Marvin the Bouncer turned, “Ain’t that right, Quinlan?”
“It was Beadermeyer, wasn’t it, Sally?”
She raised her head. She wasn’t hyperventilating anymore. She was feeling just fine, thank you.
Ms. Lilly grabbed her arm and pulled her to her feet. “There you go. Fuzz, get Sally some more of that wonderful white wine you’ve got stashed.”
“Yes, it was Beadermeyer with two goons and a needle. I think the needle’s still over there on the floor. I managed to knock it away.”
Marvin gave her an approving nod. “I knew you were skinny but not helpless. That was good, Chicky.”
“Thank you, Marvin. Thank all of you.”
“You’re welcome,” Ms. Lilly said. She turned and shouted, “Okay, everyone back to their tables. Everything’s okay now. This will teach any of you who want to screw around with Marvin that it isn’t smart. They beat the shit out of the guys who were trying to mug Sally. It’s all over now.
“Quinlan, get your very nice butt back up there on the stage and play me my Dexter Gordon. What do you think I pay you for anyway?”
“My music,” James said. “Sally, I want you right next to the stage, all right?” But before he left, he picked up the needle, wrapped it in a napkin, and put it in his shirt pocket.
“I want to know what the bastard was going to give you. We’ll take this to the FBI lab tomorrow. Come on, Sally.”
“I’ll bring the wine,” Fuzz said.
* * *
He paced from one end of the living room to the other, back and forth. Dillon was sitting comfortably in a big overstuffed chair, hunched over the keyboard of his laptop, a Gateway 486SX Nomad called “MAX.”
Sally wasn’t doing anything except watching James. “I guess I’ve had enough,” she said finally.
Both men looked at her.
She smiled. “I don’t want to wait until tomorrow. I want to get it over with tonight. Let’s go see my mother. She knows what happened that night my father was murdered. At least she knows a lot more than she’s told you or the police or me. I’d like to know the truth.”