Disclaimer: New characters and the story are mine. People you recognize belong to JE and have been stolen…temporarily.
A/N: Couldn't sleep… Thanks to Gavri for the slightly different slant idea, and to Alfi (Lisa/Alfonsina.d) for being awake when I yell for help!! And as ALWAYS, thanks to everyone who reviews, because your comments help me stay motivated and on track.
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Chapter 12 – It's All In The Timing
Stephanie stopped at a convenience store on the way to the hotel to use the bathroom, transfer some cash to her wallet, and buy a new bottle of water. The wind was really drying her out.
Whoever told her Kansas was flat was a liar, she decided as she trudged up an incline to the hotel doors. The back of her calves burned and the hair around her face was wet with sweat. She was seriously out of shape, and riding busses hadn't done her legs any favors. The desk clerk looked like a college girl, all blonde and perky, and all Stephanie wanted to do was take a shower and lay down.
The room was average and a little on the warm side, although the air conditioner came on cool when she adjusted it. She opened her suitcase on the second bed and pulled out the plastic bag of dirty clothes, searching for clean things underneath, and went to take a shower.
One of the nicer things about short hair, she reflected several hours later when she woke from a nap, was that all you had to do was wet it and comb it down to fix bed-head. In the three-plus weeks since the haircut her hair had already grown almost a half an inch, and it seemed darker. Steph shrugged and put on some makeup, glad that her bruise was now faded enough that it didn't take much to cover it.
She wore the drawstring pants to cover the knee brace and put the room key in her purse, then set out with the map to look around and find something to eat. Her trip so far had been very frugal but tonight she wanted real food, so she started walking.
The sun was low in the sky and much less intense now, but heat still radiated up from the sidewalk and pavement. The wind was still blowing, and the street was still busy, so Steph took her time and looked around as she walked, paying attention to everything around her. A few of the shops she passed were still open and the businesses - on this street, anyway – looked fairly well-kept. Still, if it was dark when she walked back she'd keep her stun-gun handy just in case.
She ate dinner in a small Chinese place with a buffet, surprising herself by choosing dishes with lots of vegetables, and she stuffed herself a little too full. By the time she rolled out of the door it was dusk and the temperature was finally falling. She walked a little further and found a couple of thrift-stores that looked pretty clean, and from what little she could see through the window it seemed like they might do a good business with college kids. Another block and her eye caught on a sign that said "BABES".
It was on a bar. Well, a bar and grill. Above the "Babes" was "Bear's" and Steph couldn't resist checking it out. The neighborhood was nice enough that she felt pretty certain it wasn't a topless bar. Still, she just slipped in and to one side, looking around.
The place was bigger than it looked from outside, and the 'Babes' made sense as soon as she looked around. The walls were dotted with pictures and posters of women through the ages who'd been unconventional – like Rosie the Riveter during WWII and the women who'd been on the women's baseball league. The music was classic rock and loud but not obnoxious, the place looked pretty clean, and there wasn't much smoke hanging in the air. She decided to go in. A beer would taste really good – she hadn't had one in over a month.
From habits ingrained from doing distraction work, Steph walked around the edge of the bar noting which booths were occupied and by whom, until she found a short hall that led to the restrooms. The ladies' room was fairly clean, painted a neutral sand color, with three stalls and stone-looking tile on the floor and countertop. The window was glass block. Steph caught a glimpse of the men's room from the hall and it was nearly a duplicate. The only other door in the hall was marked "Employees Only" and was locked.
She found a seat at the end of the bar against the wall. There was one waitress, a blonde woman probably in her twenties and pleasant looking. The bartender was big and dark and likely Native American with black hair in a braid nearly to the middle of his back. A man at the bar called him 'Bear' – and that explained the rest of the bar's name.
When Bear turned to her she asked for a Corona. She was a little surprised when he gave her a hard look.
"You got ID?" he asked.
Stephanie was so surprised she just stared at him for a beat and then laughed. She hadn't been carded since she was nineteen! She got out her license and handed it to him. "You get good tips this way?" she asked with a smile.
He looked at her ID and his eyebrows went up. "Sorry, we have to watch it with the college in town," he explained as he handed it back, "and you don't look your age. You're a long way from home."
She just smiled and paid for her beer. Bear went to fill the waitress' order and Stephanie leaned back against the wall and listened to the music.
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Tank and Lester were sitting in a Bronco behind a bar a few blocks off Stark, waiting for a skip to show himself outside. Hal and Woody were inside in plain clothes, keeping an eye on their target. They'd alert Tank and Lester when he was coming out. So far he didn't seem to be in any hurry.
"Christ, I forgot what a pain it was to grab a skip from bars," Lester grumped after two hours had gone by. "And it's damned boring. I think Hal and Woody have spoken eight words between them so far."
Tank's white smile seemed to float in the darkness like a Cheshire Cat's. "Now you're starting to sound like Bombshell on a stake-out," he chuckled, then he shifted slightly in his seat and sighed. "But I know what you mean. Stephanie got us spoiled once Ranger got her started doing distractions. She could lure men out in no time flat."
"She was entertaining while she did it, too," Lester agreed with a fond smile. He laughed softly. "Remember that first gig, the comment about group sex night? Man, I'll never forget the look on Ranger's face!" Both men laughed, then Lester sobered and sighed.
"Yeah," Tank agreed softly. "I miss her, too."
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The bar was nearly half full for most of the night, and both the bartender and the blonde girl were kept busy. The small kitchen through a doorway behind the bar cranked out onion straws, fried cheese sticks, and grilled sandwiches periodically. Bear did the cooking, running back and forth as necessary. It was nearly one when the place started slowing down, and Steph was sipping the last of her second beer, when the waitress came up to the bar with a tray full of dirty glasses.
"Any luck with the interviews today, Bear?"
"One was underage, one had no green card, and one was a no-show."
"It's been two weeks!"
"It doesn't seem like anyone wants to work this summer."
Stephanie leaned forward on her stool. "Excuse me, are you taking applications for a job?"
Bear looked at her. "You looking for one?"
"Depends on the job."
Bear grinned. "I need a waitress that can do a little short-order cooking and doesn't mind bussing tables and helping clean. Why are you looking for a job here? I thought you were from out of state."
Steph shrugged a little. "I'm between jobs. I thought I'd stay here for a while, see a different part of the country."
"So are you interested in the job?"
"I'm not a great cook," Steph said honestly, "but I've waited tables before and I don't mind cleaning."
A group of people came in, most of them wearing similar shirts, and the waitress went over to help them put tables together. Bear looked at them then turned back to Steph. "Come by tomorrow, about one-thirty or two. I don't open until three but I'll be in here, just knock on the doors. We can talk about it then."
"Okay," she agreed.
He moved away to fill new orders. Stephanie slipped off the barstool and left.
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Tank signed the paperwork and handed the clipboard back to the nurse, turning to see if Hal was done yet. Damned fool skip. The idiot had pulled a knife on them in the parking lot, managing to nick Hal before Les got him with a stun-gun, and then he'd managed to smack his head on the brick going down. Now Hal was getting stitches and Lester, being the only other man in uniform, was stuck upstairs babysitting the prisoner in the lock-down ward until the cops picked him up in the morning. The whole night had been a cluster-fuck.
It didn't get any better when he turned and saw Lula coming into the emergency room white-faced and holding her arm.
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TBC…
