“Where does he hang out?” Meredith asks. It’s a good question. Figuring out where he likes to lurk could lead us to this guy. Even when someone is dealing with a chaotic sort of situation, they tend to fall back into old routines. It’s a sort of self-soothing method people like to utilize.
“We don’t know,” I tell her. “We were hoping you could tell us.”
“Not true,” Foxy corrects me, pointing to the bottles of liquor behind Meredith. “We were hoping to get drunk before we have to deal with this.”
“I can help you on both counts,” Meredith says, leaning against the back counter.
“Really?” Foxy seems thrilled, and for the first time since we found out about Aaron, she seems hopeful.
The look on her face is pure magic right now, and it makes me so fucking happy that she has a friend like Meredith that she can count on.
“Really,” Meredith agrees. “First things first.”
She pours a couple of shots and starts handing them out. It’s still early – barely past noon – and the bar is empty. Technically, it doesn’t even open for a few hours, but I know Meredith comes in early to set up and make sure everything is ready for when her evening crowd comes rolling in.
I take my drink, hold it up to the others, and we all tap our shots together before downing them. Even Meredith gets in on the action, and I’m impressed by how she’s responding to this situation. She really is a good friend, and Foxy is lucky to have her.
“Better,” I say. “So you know where Aaron is?”
“Not exactly.”
“What does that mean?” Henry asks.
“It means that Allison comes in here a lot. She’ll be here tonight. I don’t know where she lives, and I don’t know where she goes, but this place is kind of a second home to her.”
“Are you sure?” Foxy asks. “I’ve never noticed her here.”
“She’s a closer,” Meredith shrugs. “She comes in late, has a couple of drinks, and leaves. She’s not here every single night, but it’s pretty damn close. When you’re here, she always seems to disappear early.”
“I can’t believe I never noticed,” Foxy says.
“I never knew she hated you,” Meredith says. “So it’s not really something I ever thought to bring up. Actually, I never really made the connection until tonight.”
“So that’s it,” Henry says. “We’ll wait until she leaves tonight, and then we’ll follow her.”
“Seems foolproof,” I say dryly. “And much too simple.”
“Sometimes things don’t have to be as complicated as we like to think,” Foxy says. “Maybe the hard part was just figuring out who he is.”
“Maybe,” I say, but Meredith gives me a look, and I know exactly what she’s not saying. We both think there’s something we’re missing. What piece of the puzzle do we still need? And what’s going to happen when Allison comes into the bar?
Chapter 9
Foxy
We have a few hours until the bar starts to get busy, so Brendan and I go back to the bakery for a little while, and Henry goes home to check on his very pregnant wife. Meredith has been given explicit instructions to text us the moment Allison arrives. Ideally, we’ll be back by then, but we don’t want to draw attention to ourselves by just lurking in the corner of the bar, and it’s not like hiding in the walk-in cooler would be a better option.
When we arrive at the bakery, he unlocks the back door and we enter that way. The space is totally silent, and I take a second to just breathe in the smells: pies, breads, cupcakes. The air smells sugary and wonderful. He leads me into the kitchen, but I pause in the doorway.
“Not the office?” I ask, jerking my head toward the room with the computers.
“Not right now,” he says. “I want to bake something and start moving things with my hands. It might sound kind of silly, but it always helps me focus, and right now, that’s what I really need.”
“It’s not silly,” I tell him. “Let’s go.”
When we walk into the kitchen, I have to choke down a gasp. I saw it earlier when we walked by, but I didn’t really see everything that’s inside. It’s just so damn lovely. It’s huge, with lots of space. There are big, wide tables here for working. He’s got endless counter space. There are a couple of fridges, and the ovens are huge.
“This is where the magic happens,” he tells me.