He looked back at her; his vision accustomed to the darkness. "Roar always has a Slag member standing by the front door of the bar. I'll make sure they all know that they need to walk you home after work. It's risky to cross the train tracks by yourself."
"I'm able to take care of myself." She bunched the edges of her uniform top together.
"You heard me." He approached her and kissed her forehead, softening the tone of his voice. "Lock up behind me."
Music suddenly played in the room. She looked around and stepped toward her purse, pulling out her phone. He opened the door and walked out on the porch, lighting a cigarette, and waited for her to lock the door.
"I told you I had to work. I'll meet you on Sunday," she said inside the house
He looked behind him at the closed door. The walls were thin. There was no mistaking the irritation in Dinah's voice to whoever she talked to on the phone.
She must've disconnected the call or lowered her voice because he heard no more as he enjoyed his smoke. Eventually, the click he listened for came behind him and he walked out to his motorcycle.
In the distance, the train whistle blew. It was almost three o'clock in the morning.
He revved the engine and headed across the tracks before he was stuck waiting for the railcars to pass.
Chapter 6
Peer walked out from behind the counter at the bar. Dinah placed two drinks on the tray in front of her. Her co-worker's mood had been off all night.
Monica picked up the tray. "Table one wants more beer. They're going to try and finish it before we close."
"Coming up." She took out a chilled pitcher and glanced at the clock.
The Fire Ring closed in fifteen minutes. She pushed the tap and gazed at the group. There were seven of them clustered around the table. They'd have no problems finishing the beer. It was a group of men in their mid-thirties, and none of them seemed too deep into their drinks yet.
Monica came back to the counter. "Where's Peer?"
"He went out the front door." She shut off the stream of beer and set the pitcher on the tray. "Maybe he needed a smoke break."
"Weird that he never warned you he was leaving," said Monica.
She shrugged. "The night is winding down, and I can handle the remaining customers."
Lizzy carried dirty dishes to the tub behind the counter. "I've closed out my tables."
"I have one more, but they're only talking. They're done drinking." Coco looked around the room. "It looks like you can shut down the bar. Peach has already shut the lights off in the kitchen."
Peer had always put everything in its place and cleaned behind the bar. Dinah, knowing where the bottles went, screwed on all the caps, and organized the shelves. The servers worked around the room, tidying the tables, straightening chairs.
Soon, all the customers were gone.
"What is going on tonight? Marcus is gone from standing guard at the front door, too." Monica locked the door and walked around the fire ring in the center of the room. "Lizzy, are you going to the clubhouse?"
"I wasn't planning on it." Lizzy frowned. "Though, I will if Roar doesn't show up in the next few minutes."
"I'm going to get my bag out of the breakroom." Coco yawned, stretching her back.
"Hang on a sec. If I have to go to the clubhouse, you'll need to go, too. You can't walk home without Roar and me." Lizzy slid her phone out of her pocket. "I'll see if he'll answer."
With her cell at her ear, Lizzy looked at Dinah. "I'll get someone to walk you home, too."
"It's okay if everyone's busy." She leaned against the counter.
The last two nights, a Slag member walked her all the way to the rental house. She'd tried to start a conversation with both men to fight the awkwardness, but they made it clear their only job was to escort her home.
"He's not answering. We'll all go to the clubhouse." She looked at Dinah. "I'll call Brage and have him come over and walk with you."
She couldn't make herself argue with Lizzy. Brage had kept his distance from her since following her home and having sex with her. She was curious about where he'd been and wanted to see him again.
"Hey, it's Lizzy. Dinah needs someone to walk her home. We've locked up the bar, and the rest of us are going out the back door in a few minutes. Are you around to help?" Lizzy walked over and reached under the fire ring and the flames shut off. "Okay. I turned off the gas." She looked up at Dinah. "I'll tell her. Thanks."
Unaware that she'd held her breath, knowing Brage was on the phone, Dinah inhaled swiftly, trying to calm her beating heart.
"He'll meet you at the back door, too." Lizzy smiled. "Let's get out of here."
Having only been to the alley and clubhouse once when Monica invited her to the party, she was curious to see what the Slag members were doing at two o'clock in the morning. Maybe she'd finally have some information for Tony tomorrow when they meet at the boardwalk.
"I can't wait to have two days off." Heather walked to the back door. "I'm going to sleep until I have to get up and pee."
Everyone laughed, including Dinah. She enjoyed working with the women. They were friendly but not overly snoopy. Not having to answer questions about why she lived near the railroad tracks or hung out at the bar before getting hired put her at ease and allowed her to listen more to their conversations, trying to learn of anything interesting or useful.
Tony wanted to know what Slag was doing or what they planned to
