CHAPTER TWO - A LITTLE BOOZE GOES A LONG WAY (or IT'S GOOD TO MAKE NEW FRIENDS)

Feeling once again he had failed to make any headway with his enigmatic engineer, Layton headed to the one place he could just sit and not have to think about anything.

The Night Car.

He knew what the original conception for the car was. But he far preferred Miss Audrey's rendition of it. No matter where the human race went, likely the second building established in any settlement was a bar.

But the Night Car served so much more than just a place to drink.

It was a gathering place. Somewhere that people of any section on the train could come and meet with others, drink, laugh, and share some time together.

To Layton it presented itself as the ultimate neutral ground on the train. Rarely did anyone ask or care where you were from in the Night Car. Discourse and fighting were generally frowned upon and Miss Audrey simply wasn't having it.

"My car has suffered enough of both." She would quickly snap at anyone even suggesting of starting something. "So if that's what you're here for, you can go somewhere else."

And she had the muscle to back that up. Layton had agreed she could have a certain number of security to help maintain order in the car, and she had interviewed them each personally. Five men and five woman, all perfectly capable of handling the rowdiest patron, but still cordial enough to mingle without disrupting the evenings festivities.

Walking into the car, Layton made for his favorite stool at the bar. Since it was late afternoon, he was actually surprised to find it unoccupied and quickly claimed it for himself.

There always seemed to be someone in the Night Car. Whether it was janitorial staff cleaning up from the previous night, or Ms. Audrey setting up for a show later that evening. Something always seemed to be going on there. Tonight it was still early, so the crowd was light. Within a few hours, though, the car would be packed with people of every section, there to simply laugh, drink, and have a good time.

Miss Audrey was always quick to note his presence. Layton swore she had some sort of 'Layton Radar' where he was concerned. Or someone stationed at the door whose sole purpose in life it was to now alert her whenever he came into the car.

Stepping up to the bar, she favored him with her most charming smile. She was casually dressed for that time of day. Just a simple pair of dark blue pants and a light blue shirt. Layton figured she was also likely doing a show that night. He had mummers of it among various groups, and her shows were always the stuff of gossip on the train.

"Mr. Layton, this is a surprise. It's been a while since you graced us with your presence." She all but cooed at him as she leaned on the bar, resting her head in one hand. "Now what brings you to my establishment this late afternoon?"

Layton gave a tired sigh. "Meetings, Audrey. A whole day of them. And not one of them pleasant. And right now, the last meeting I want to have is with anything under your bar." He added, returning her smile. "So if you'd be so kind, pull it up, pour it out, and make the introductions."

Audrey echoed his sigh as she pulled back, reached beneath the bar, and pulled out first a short glass and then a bottle from which she poured a smooth amber liquid into the glass. Setting the bottle down she held the glass up to him.

"Booze, Mr. Layton." She said, before shifting her gaze to the man in front of her as she set the glass down in front of him. "Mr. Layton, Booze."

Layton lifted the glass with a smile. 'So very pleased to make your acquaintance." He stated, then down the shot in a seamless motion. Sitting back, he gave the glass an appreciative smile before setting it back on the bar and turning that same smile to the woman behind it. "Seems nice enough. Does it have any friends?"

Audrey sighed again as she poured him a second drink. "So what meetings made your day so perfect?" She ask casually.

Layton was already getting to know his second new friend better. But he set the glass down to answer her. "No, no. Not all meetings. Just one...two." He quickly amended.

"And how many people were at these meetings?"

Layton thought for a moment, but the pointed a finger at Audrey. "Miss Audrey," he stated, "I think you have just hit on something I had not noticed before."

"And that would be?" She ask, refilling his glass.

"Problems seem to correlate with how many people are at meetings."

"Really?"

Layton gave her a happy nod. "If I have a lot of people; we talk, discuss, and get things done." He said. "But if its just two...we fight."

Audrey smiled back at him. Alcohol was such a wonderful tonic for people who just needed a little encouragement to share their problems.

"Well, sounds like the makings of another lovely 'fight night', Mr. Layton. Except this time we'll just invite you and your 'problems' into the ring."

But Layton quickly wagged a finger in front of her with a smile. "Oh no. Neither of these problems would dare be caught anywhere near such a...'spectacle'."

Audrey gave him a questioning look.

"Well," Layton went on, "the first problem is your former leader."

Audrey's look now shifted to skepticism. "Melanie? Oh, I seriously doubt that, Mr. Layton."

"That she would get caught anywhere near that spectacle?"

"That she would be fighting with you."

Layton gave her a good laugh. "Really?"

Audrey returned a solid stare.

Layton sat up straighter on his stool. "Audrey, the woman and I have done nothing but fight since I took over the train."

The woman behind the bar huffed at him. "I find that just as hard to believe. It seemed to me you two were getting along just fine after your...dinner."

"Oh, sure!" Layton answered. "As long as I play by the rules."

"Rules?"

Layton sighed again. "I am trying with her, Audrey, I really am. But she's got this brick wall she's built between us a mile high and just as thick. She not...unpleasant to me. I mean, honestly, tonight is likely the first real 'fight' we've had since I took over. Before that she's just been...nice."

Audrey suddenly flung her arms up in exasperation. "Oh! Well, we certainly can't be having any of that!" She exclaimed. "If you do you might actually end up getting along."

Layton frowned at her. "It's not that kind of 'nice', Audrey." He explained.

"There's another kind?"

"Yes. The kind where someone is 'nice' to you, but really just wishes you'd go away. Like you're annoying them."

"I doubt you're annoying her. If you did, she'd tell you. What else you got?"

"Where they're 'nice' to you, but underneath they don't trust you. She told me that much tonight. She doesn't trust me. Me!"

Audrey waved him off. "Stop acting like you're the first boy whoever got slapped on a date, Mr. Layton. Why should she trust you?"

"Why shouldn't she?"

Audrey checked the clock that hung over the entrance. "I don't have enough time left tonight to answer that question, Mr. Layton."

Layton gave the clock a quick glance. "It's 5!"

"Repeat my last sentence to yourself. Then tell me what else you have."

"The 'nice' where they smile at you, but only because they're considering how many interesting ways they can kill you."

Audrey dismissed the suggestion with a wave of her hand. "Melanie does not want you dead, Mr. Layton."

"Really? And you know this how?"

"Because I know Melanie Cavill very well. And if she ever wants you dead, she'll hire the right person for the job. And for that she'd have to come to me.

And as far as you're assessment of the situation goes, you are not doing a very good job at all."

"Again, 'Really'?"

"Really."

"So, she doesn't hate me?"

Audrey shook her head.

"She doesn't want me dead?"

Audrey thought a for moment, then shook her head.

"And I'm not just annoying her?"

Audrey quickly pulled out a coin, flipped it onto the bar, examined it, then shook her head as she pocketed it again.

"Then what's her problem with me, Audrey?"

"You're a bloody poor judge of emotions. That's what."

Layton picked up his glass and toasted her with it. "My new friends disagree."

Audrey quickly pushed the glass back down on the bar. "So far, Mr. Layton, you have managed to hit on every emotion you think she is experiencing except the right one."

Layton worked on trying to pull his glass free. "Meaning?"

Audrey clamped a hand firmly over the top of the glass. "Have you ever considered 'afraid', Mr. Layton? That she's being 'nice' to you because she's 'afraid'."

Layton forgot about his drink for the moment as he laughed at the comment. "Melanie Cavill? Audrey, I think I could write that emotion on a cracker, along with a definition, and feed it to her and she still wouldn't understand it."

The woman gave him a small, tight-lipped smile. "Or maybe she just doesn't like the cracker."

Layton stared back at her.

Audrey gave him an exasperated sigh. "Melanie is not a woman given to...expressing herself very well, Mr. Layton."

Layton laughed again. "Really, Audrey? Because there's something laying in a lot of little pieces all over her floor right now that disagrees with you most whole-heartedly."

Audrey took her hand off his glass. "Then you must have said or done something very wrong to have elicited that response out of her." She answered, topping-off his glass again. "So, what was it, Mr. Layton?"

He took a deep draw off he glass before answering her. "Me? Audrey, I went there like I always do. With a white flag out. She's the one who fired the first shot."

Audrey look like she wanted to slap him. "And like I said, you keep looking for the wrong emotion. You're hung up on her being angry. She's not angry, Mr. Layton. She's afraid. And when Melanie is afraid, because she doesn't know how to deal with that emotion, she runs."

"Fine. You say she's afraid? Would you're insightfulness be able to tell me what, exactly it is that she's afraid of?"

This time it was Audrey who laughed. "Honestly, Mr. Layton. Are you sure you're not telling a fib about being a detective?"

Layton gave her a frustrated look, which she equally returned.

"What she's afraid of, Mr. Layton," Audrey answered him, "...is you."

Layton looked utterly surprised. "Me? I'm the most un-scary thing on this train."

"Not to her, Mr. Layton. To her you represent every fear she has harbored for the past seven years. Someone who would expose her secret and destroy her world."

"She wanted it destroyed, Audrey. She helped destroy it. She agreed her way wasn't working. She agreed change was needed."

Audrey crossed her arms in front of her with a sigh as she looked down at the man. "You don't have to fight your fear to be afraid of it, Mr. Layton. Everyone on this train is afraid right now. Change can do that. And Melanie is no different. She just has more of a focus for her fear. You."

Layton sighed as he leaned over the bar. "So what do I do?"

"First thing is realize why she fears you."

Layton gave her a questioning stare back.

Audrey gave him a deeper sigh this time. "Fear is the same for all of us, Mr. Layton. We fear what we don't know. She doesn't know you. You're an enigma to her. And she hates those."

"So what do I do? Hand her my CV?"

Audrey glared down at him. "I'm starting to be afraid of you, too, Mr. Layton. But for different reasons."

Layton returned her look.

Audrey turned serious. "Every time you come around her, what does she do?"

Layton gave her a soft, sort of drunken laugh. "Gets away from me as fast as poss..." But he stopped suddenly as what he was saying dawned on him.

Audrey gave him a knowing smile. "Exactly. She runs." She paused for a moment. "Don't let her run, Mr. Layton. If she does, go after her. Show her you mean her no harm. That you're not the enemy she sees you as." She advised. "Now, who's your second problem?"

Layton gave a deep, exasperated sigh. "Ruth Wardell."

Aurdrey pulled back with a unpleasant look. "Oh. That one. What's she up to?"

"Trouble. And a lot of it."

"Nothing unusual there."

"I don't really know the woman, so it's hard to tell."

Audrey leaned across the bar at him again. "Oh, Ruth Wardell isn't hard to figure out, Mr. Layton. She's one of the easy ones."

"How so?"

Ruth likes everything...'proper'." Audrey explained. "In fact, I'd swear that was her middle name. 'A place for everything and everything in it's place'. That's her motto."

"No wonder she's so good at hospitality."

"I heard she ran a very 'well-to-do' BNB before the freeze. Somewhere around Newfoundland. It was very popular with...the upper crust, shall we say. Mr. Wilford even stayed there once." Layton didn't miss the sudden look that crossed the woman's face as she stood back up behind the bar. "So I heard from others." She added quickly. "It's where he met her and hired her to work for him. He was very impressed with her...'properness'."

"So why does she hate Ms. Cavill?"

Audrey gave him a seriously questioning look. "Hate her?" Ruth doesn't hate Melanie, Mr. Layton. They were, in fact, great friends. I mean..., before the whole 'Wilford' thing and the trail. But I doubt Ruth hates her."

"So that's why she's riding my back about why Melanie hasn't been executed yet?" Layton asked, taking a drink.

Suddenly Audrey seemed to decide he had had enough as she snatched the glass away from him. "What do you mean?"

"That was my second fight tonight, Audrey." Layton answered her, but his gaze was solidly following wherever the glass the woman was holding went.

"Ruth is questioning the trial results?" Audrey asked.

The glass suddenly disappeared under the counter and Layton followed its disappearance with a forlorned expression.

"Not the results." Layton replied. "Just why we haven't executed Ms. Cavill." He leaned over the bar slightly. "Hey. Can my new friend come back out? We weren't done getting acquainted yet."

Audrey set a solid stare on him. "No. You've made more than enough friends for one night, Mr. Layton." She stated. "And you have a very serious problem. One you need to deal with right now."

Layton turned his eyes to her. "Meaning?"

"When Ruth Wardell sets her sights on something, Mr. Layton, she's like a dog with a bone."

"Well, Ruth Wardell can just go bury her bone. Because I am not about to let her execute Melanie Cavill. And she may even make an attempt. But she's going to find she has to go through me first to get to the woman."

Audrey fixed her stare on the man again, but this time with a small, sly smile.

Something Layton didn't fail to miss at all.

"What?"

"Nothing." Audrey answered him with that same smile. "That just sounded very...definitive."

Layton frowned at the comment.

Audrey leaned over the bar a little. "Oh, admit it." She said, never dropping that knowing smile, "You like her...just a little."

"Ruth?" Layton answered with a smile of his own.

Audrey returned his frown this time. "Melanie."

Layton leaned over the bar himself this time. "Right now, Ms. Audrey, the most important person on this train...is Melanie Cavill. And this train needs her a lot more than it needs to know that your fork is on the correct side of your plate or your champagne is in the right glass. Now, Ruth Wardell may not like to hear that, but the truth is the truth. And executing Melanie Cavill would spell the end for all of us. In the event of some break down or disaster, she is the only person who can keep this train running right now. And that is her security to staying alive right now. Not my personal feelings towards her. And for your information...," he added, answering her question with a smile of his own, "...you just heard them."

Audrey didn't back down one bit, but the smile came back. "And that's the only reason?"

"You have another?"

"No, Mr. Layton." She answered him, showing a glimmer of those perfectly white teeth this time. "No other reason at all."

Layton frowned at her, wishing his friend would come back. Ms. Audrey was easier to talk to when you had a friend close by.

But Audrey quickly dropped the conversation and instead went right back to the previous topic. "You still need to pay attention to Ruth Wardell, Mr. Layton. Because if Ruth is questioning why Melanie isn't executed, you can bet your last little friend she's talking to other people about it as well."

"Ruth Wardell can talk to the whole blasted train for all I care, Audrey. She doesn't order executions on this train. Nor do I care who anyone on this train thinks they are. Right now, the counsel runs this train. Not first class."

Audrey sighed. It was hard to judge sometimes just how much some people could handle. But as a Chicago city police detective, she would have bet her last bottle of booze he could handle more than three and a half.

She leaned over the bar at him, setting a steel gaze on the man. "Andre, you need to go back and talk to Ruth."

Layton returned her stare measure for measure, answering her in a level tone. "No, mom, I don't want to get up and go to school. And I do not want to go back and talk to Ruth Wardell either."

Audrey leaned further over the bar. "Andre, you have to."

Layton leaned back on his seat. "To tell her what, Audrey? I'm sorry, but you can't execute anyone tonight, Ruth? So be a good girl and just go to bed?"

"Exactly. I already told you once, Mr. Layton. She's tenacious. She also has a streak a mile long to strike back when someone hurts her. And to her, Melanie lied to her right along with everyone else. She feels as betrayed as anyone else on this train, and maybe a good deal more so. Since she felt Melanie would never do that one thing to her."

Layton slid off the bar stool. "Fine. I'll go talk to her, mom."

Audrey kept a close watch on him as he walked out of the door, shaking her head a little as he walked out.

Well, at least he seemed moderately sober.