tender was maybe twenty-two, and red-haired. He wore small blue oval sunglasses with blue lenses. He had on big shorts and a white tee shirt that said big red on the front.
There was some sort of choker around his neck.
“Why you wanna know about Mr. Ralston?” the bartender said.
“What is your name?” Kelly Cruz said.
“Brick,” he said.
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“I’m Kelly Cruz,” she said, and showed him her badge.
“Tell me about Mr. Ralston.”
“You’re a cop?”
“I am.”
“What’d he do?”
“I understand he lives on his boat in this marina,” Kelly Cruz said.
“I don’t know where he lives,” Brick said. “But he’s in here a lot.”
“Seen him lately?”
“No, I think he went up north to some boat racing thing.”
“You remember all your customers?” Kelly Cruz said.
“The ones tip like Mr. Ralston,” Brick said. “Plus he’s a really cool dude, you know. I mean, no offense, but he comes in here with some of the most bodacious-looking women, hoo hah!”
“Hoo hah?” Kelly Cruz said.
“You know,” Brick said, “bada-bing! Excellent.”
The bar was mostly empty. There were a few people scat -
tered at tables in the glass-walled room with the turquoise light from the ocean coming in on two sides. Outside on the deck, several other tables were occupied. A waitress moved among them with her tray.
“Know any of them?”
“The babes that hang with Mr. Ralston? Just to say s’happenin’.”
“Are any of these women here now?”
“No.”
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“Does Mr. Ralston have anyone, like, steady?”
“Naw,” Brick said. “Guy like that doesn’t do steady. He just hooks up, you know? Blonde one night, brunette the next.
No flames, no games. No hellos, no goodbyes. No aches, no pains. Just slam bam alakazam.”
Brick grinned.
“You admire Mr. Ralston,” Kelly Cruz said.
“You bet. He’s leading my life, instead of me.”
Brick slid a saucer of mixed nuts within Kelly Cruz’s reach.
“But I’ll get there.”
“Everybody needs a dream,” Kelly Cruz said.
“Want me to freshen up that DC?” Brick said. “Wedge of lime, anything?”
Kelly Cruz shook her head.
“Know what Mr. Ralston does for a living?”
Brick grinned wider.
“I think it’s maybe just slam bam alakazam,” he said.
“You ever been on his boat?”
“I have, in point of actual fact,” Brick said. “Worked a private party for him one night, tending bar. That was tough, baby. That was an absolute groove.”
“Wild party?” Kelly Cruz said.
“I mean, I don’t want to cause anybody any trouble,” he said.
“Just gathering information,” Kelly Cruz said. “I don’t care if there was a little blow being snorted.”
“Blow? Yeah, I guess so, and booze, and mara-joo-wanna, 1 4 5
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sure. But it was the sex thing, man, everybody doing everything with everybody and the video cameras rolling, and . . .
