The next couple of hours in the bar were annoying and enlightening all at once. Bonnie had never been a fan of bars. She always had needed time to get to know people, and she also preferred people with similar interests. This wild hodge-podge cross-section of society, heavy on the noise and with at least a third of them having too much alcohol as the evening progressed, grated on her senses.
Furthermore, trying to gently question people without being obvious at it was a lot harder than she had expected. The three results she seemed to meet consistently were to have people simply break off the conversation, have them ask why she was asking so many questions, or have them misunderstand and try to pick her up.
And then there was Michael. He looked so at ease in this environment, as if he had been born socializing with random strangers and truly was enjoying himself, that it took a good bit of effort on her part to remind herself that he was working. Women, of course, but also, to her surprise, men seemed to fall readily into conversation with him. He also seemed to have a talent for nursing a drink out to an unbelievable extent without being obvious about it. Bonnie herself drew a lot more pointed comments and urging regarding her rate of consumption.
After two hours, she had simply had enough of this. She wasn't getting anywhere on the investigation; she might as well go out and do computer research in KITT, a task far more likely to yield results. She caught Michael's eye - he had, she noticed, kept tabs on her quite closely all evening, never crowding her but always aware - and jerked her head slightly. With that maddening casual, social purpose he seemed to excel at, he drifted her direction, doing it so unobtrusively that the current person he was talking to was unaware. Michael finally excused himself and headed for the back hall to the bathrooms, tilting his own head in turn as he broke off from the woman he was talking to, and he and Bonnie rendezvoused neatly in the hall a minute later.
"I'm not having much luck," she admitted, "and I've had enough of this. Are you making any progress?"
"Some," he said. "I don't want you going back to the motel alone, though, especially after being here tonight."
"I'm just going out to KITT. I think I'm more use there than here." He hesitated, looking from her back to the crowd. "Michael, I'll be perfectly safe with KITT, and you know it. Keep asking questions if you're getting somewhere. I just didn't want you to wonder when I disappeared."
He nodded but drifted toward the front of the bar, and she could feel his eyes following her as she walked out across the parking lot. She opened the passenger's door of KITT, not trying to claim the driver's seat tonight, and settled into the comfortable plush with a sigh.
"Did you have any luck, Bonnie?" KITT asked.
She closed the door and saw Michael turn away from the front window, melting back into the crowd. "Not really. How is it possible for a group of people to be so irritating?"
"I have often wondered that myself," KITT replied. "Michael finds bars quite informative, a big cluster on any town's grapevine, as he puts it. But I must admit, waiting out in parking lots along with these types of vehicles is at best demeaning. At worst, I find myself either a prop for someone's shaky balance or a witness to all sorts of relationship drama."
Bonnie grinned. KITT's put-upon tone paradoxically was soothing off some of her own rough edges. "I decided I'm more use out here with you."
At that moment, the sat phone dinged. "Devon's calling," KITT announced.
The video screen came to life. "Bonnie! How are things going? Where is Michael?"
"He's - busy getting information right now." She didn't specify where, but her slight hesitation allowed Devon effortlessly to fill in the gap.
"Probably socializing with the local women at some bar." Devon sighed. "And I'm sure I'll see it listed in detail on his expense report."
"He is really working, Devon," Bonnie said.
Devon sighed again. "Is this unassigned case he's decided to take on any closer to completion?"
"He's got a theory, so yes, I'd say he's getting somewhere. Still has to prove it."
"As long as he proves it by tomorrow evening at the latest," Devon reminded her. "He has other commitments elsewhere. So do you, and don't let him forget it."
"We hope to have things straightened out by then," Bonnie said, although she had a strong feeling that Michael wouldn't leave this town tomorrow night if everything wasn't yet wrapped up neatly, no matter what Devon thought.
"Just try to keep him under some form of control," Devon told her. "I'll check in tomorrow again." The screen went blank. Bonnie sat there for a few moments staring at it in silence.
"KITT," she said finally, "do I ever sound like that on calls when you two are in the field?"
"Not quite to the extent that Devon does, but frequently, yes," the car replied.
She squirmed a bit, then shoved off the guilt. It was an unfamiliar sensation, and it also right now was simply a waste of time. "Let's get to work, KITT."