Lucy tugged on the server’s sleeve. “Do you know if Frank Pearson is here?” she shouted over the music.
The server nodded and pointed him out in a booth across the room. Frank wore a bright blue sports coat and sat with another man and three women. From the number of glasses and bottles on the table, they had been at it for a while. Lucy had never revealed why she’d picked The Landmark to have drinks, but after she’d stared Frank’s way so long, Vera asked, “Stalking an old boyfriend?”
“No, nothing like that,” Lucy said. “I’ll be right back. I need to check on something.” She slipped out of the booth and headed toward Frank, keeping her eyes on the blue coat as she walked across the dance floor. She stood next to the bar, which was directly in front of Frank. It was relatively dark in the corner, but she saw Frank and his pals doing coke, right out in the open. Not believing her eyes, she ordered a drink from the bartender to stall longer until she was sure. Leaving the bar before the drink arrived, she sat down with Vera again.
“You sure you wanted to have a drink with me?” Vera asked. “Maybe you just didn’t want to come here alone.”
Lucy had to level with Vera; she was a friend, and she didn’t want to mislead her. She explained that she was checking on a friend’s marriage that was going south. Vera sighed and her shoulders slumped, but she gave Lucy a weak smile.
When two seats opened at the bar, they took their glasses of wine and moved in closer to Frank. That’s when Lucy noticed a woman repeatedly stopping by Frank. He slipped something into her hand each time. When the woman came by a third time, Lucy followed her around the dance floor into the lady’s room. When Lucy got to the powder room, the woman was coming out of a stall, placing cash in her purse.
Without thinking, Lucy stopped the woman and asked, “Where does a girl get something stronger than wine around here?”
The delivery girl gave her a look. “Excuse me?”
“Come on, honey. You know what I mean.” Then Lucy rubbed the side of her nose with her finger.
Frank’s delivery mule gave Lucy a once-over. “Get in the stall. Have fifty dollars ready when I return.”
Following the woman’s directions, Lucy counted out fifty bucks from her purse and waited. The woman soon came back, and Lucy confirmed that fifty dollars bought a gram of coke. Did Bernie know Frank the wife beater was also a drug pusher?
Lucy returned to the table where Vera was waiting. They finished off the bottle of wine and left. Before they reached Vera’s car, Frank walked out with another man and went to the trunk of a white Cadillac. He looked around, then flipped up the spare tire, and pulled out a small paper bag. In front of The Landmark, Frank exchanged his package for an envelope that the man handed him. The two men both went their separate ways.
The night ended with Vera dropping Lucy at the salon. Lucy leaned over and gave Vera a kiss on the cheek. “You’re a great friend,” Lucy said. “Let’s keep it that way.”
With Vera handled, Lucy just had to figure out how to handle Frank Pearson.
A plan started to form. It would be risky, but then again, with Felipe gunning for her, what did she have to lose?
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The early salon appointments arrived, and the beauticians got busy washing and clipping hair. Like usual, the morning started off with some chit-chatting about the latest soap opera episode, usually General Hospital, interspersed with some local chatter. Gossip about people around town was always a favorite.
Trying to recuperate from another late night out scouting Frank at The Landmark, Lucy dialed a phone number from the kitchen. Mario had said that police dispatch was the quickest way to contact him, so that was the number she tried. The operator patched him through. “What does a girl have to do to get a cup of coffee?” she asked.
“Wow, it’s been a few weeks,” Mario said. “For you, I’ll make time.”
Lucy smiled, then her heart skipped a beat, but it wasn’t for Mario. She hadn’t seen Felipe since he’d walked on murder charges, and now he was standing in the kitchen doorway.
“Mario, I need to talk to you as soon as possible.”
“I’ll meet you at the coffee shop. I’m on my way,” he said and hung up.
With her heart racing, she addressed Felipe. “What do you want?”
“To talk.”
Lucy did her best not to show fear. She stood in front of the chopping block in the middle of the kitchen. Felipe took a seat at the table.
“So, talk,” Lucy said.
When he glanced down, Lucy slid open a drawer that housed several kitchen knives. She kept her eyes on him and carefully wrapped her hand around the handle of a blade.
“I’m still puzzled. Why didn’t you testify?”
Her blood boiling, she wanted to stick the knife in him and carve out his heart as payback for Vivien. “It wasn’t in my best interests.”
Felipe smiled. “Any possibility of a change of heart?”
Lucy didn’t answer. “I’d like you to leave.”
He stood and gave her a wink. Her stomach flipped, and her hand tightened around the knife handle.
“Felipe junior will start coming by for the weekly payment,” he said. “I let you slide for the last few weeks. You know—kind of a thank you.”
“No need to thank me,” Lucy said, ready to pounce on him. “I will never pay you a cent. Not you, your son, or any thug you want to send my way.”
Prepared for anything he might attempt, Lucy stared him down. Something she’d learned early on that Felipe hated. He turned and started toward the door.
Lucy called out again. “Felipe, let’s be clear. You come at me, you better kill me.”
He
