“While Ted was
“You don’t look real upset.”
“I haven’t seen Wayne Gamble since he was twelve years old.”
“Tell me what you overheard at the Double Shot.”
Slidell’s change of direction seemed to confuse her.
“I already did.”
“Tell me more.”
“Like what?”
“Describe the guy that was talking to Cale Lovette.”
“Kind of tall and thin. Old.”
“How old?”
Nolan shrugged. “Probably not as old as you. It was hard to tell because he was wearing a hat.”
“What kind of hat?”
“Like a baseball cap. Red with a big number above the brim. Oh. And it had a button pinned to the side. The button had a picture of a cowboy hat.” Nolan smiled, pleased with the brilliance of her recall.
I’d seen a hat like that. Where? Online? At the Speedway?
“What was the tenor of their conversation?” Slidell asked.
“Huh?”
“Friendly? Heated?”
“Like, they didn’t look happy.”
“What were they saying?”
“I already told you this.”
“Do it again.”
Nolan crossed her legs, raised her toes, and pumped one foot as she searched her memory.
“OK. The old guy said that thing about poisoning the system. Then Cale said something about it being too late. It was going to happen. Then the old guy said something about knowing your place.”
We waited out an interval of rapid foot pumping.
“When I passed them again, Cale was telling the old guy to, like, quit carping. Then the old guy told Cale not to act so holy. Then something about a bloody hatchet. But there was a lot of noise. I couldn’t really hear that part.”
“Go on.”
“Then I went back to the booth and sat with Cindi.”
“And?”
“She was all in a wad because Cale was taking too long, so she walked over there. Cale put his arm around her waist. That was nice. But it was creepy the way the old guy looked at her.”
“Creepy how?”
“Cold.” Nolan’s eyes did the saucer thing. “No. More than that. Like he hated her guts.”
“Then what?”
“The old guy said something. Then Cale said something, all in the guy’s face, like he was really mad. Then the old guy stormed out.”
“When Cale came back to the booth, did you ask him who he was talking to?”
“He said a jackass he wished he’d never laid eyes on.”
“You didn’t pursue it?”
“What do you mean?”
“Ask again.”
“Cindi told me to let it go. I mean, she didn’t, like, say it. She gave me this look, and I knew what she meant. I’m not stupid.”
“Honest to God, that’s all I remember,” Lynn whined. “I’m tired. I need to go to bed.”
“How come you never mentioned this man’s hostility toward Cindi before tonight?”
“Because no one ever asked me about, you know, what happened after. Just what they were saying at the bar.”
I looked at Slidell. Your call.
