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and perfume. The bar was dark except for small, wall lamps that
illuminated each table. A few people filled the nightspot, where a local
band would play on weekends. Nick made his way towards a booth on
the side of the bar, where he had line sight of the door and where he
could catch the bar conversations if he wanted to listen in on other
people's problems. The conversations were easily captured from the bar
by the upside down dingy hanging from the ceiling that clearly
amplified the sound and channeled it into Nick's booth. He always sat
there and the waitresses began calling it Nick's booth. Nick ordered his
usual, a cheeseburger with tomatoes, lettuce and a tangy house dressing
with a hint of barbeque and smoked cheese. Nick was content
226 Absence of Faith
occasionally glancing at the door and out the window to view the boats
sailing by on the Red River. The waitress brought his cheeseburger after
several minutes and Nick took his first bite of enjoyment that day. Then
the door creaked and as it slowly opened Nick's eyes widened. He
immediately turned towards the wall pretending to read the tent card
next to the buoy shaped salt and pepper shakers.
The Conversation - Chapter 37
Nurse Janice Dotherty was dressed in blue jeans and a white
loose-fitting blouse that hid her small breasts as she pushed the heavy
wooden door open and entered the Drunken Pelican. Feeling confident
and at peace with herself, she had tied back her hair into a braded
ponytail that extended to the top of her butt, and she wore makeup -
something she rarely used. The thin nurse walked to the bar and took a
seat. Nick saw her walk in and quickly moved to the other side of his
booth with his back to the bar so she wouldn't spot him. He stopped
eating so he could hear her talking.
"Kyle come in yet?" she asked the burly bartender.
"Due in a few minutes, and I hope he's on time. Steve wants to leave
early," he said. "Want a beer?"
"Sure."
Nick took a few more bites of his cheeseburger, a thick juicy affair on
a hard roll with poppy seeds, tomato and a special house dressing. He
couldn't believe the luck he was having today. It was like hitting a home
run after a season of no hitters. Nick took another bite of the sandwich.
It was the best he had ever had. He was thoroughly enjoying it when the
door creaked open again. A tall young man with long brown stringy
hair entered. His hair was parted in the middle and reached his
shoulders. Nick could barely see him in his black t-shirt, jeans and black
228 Absence of Faith
boots. He walked towards the end of the bar where the nurse was
sitting.
"Kyle. Hi!" the nurse said. "I was waiting for you." Her voice was
sensual.
"Hi." he said. "Nice to see you, too."
"I was wondering if I can come to your place tonight? I'd like to talk
to you about the meeting at the coven stead. I have a lot of things I want
to talk about and I'll make it worth your while."
"Yeah, sure, okay," he said.
Kyle reached into his pocket and pulled out a single-ringed key chain
with six keys on it. He located a tarnished brass key with a round head
and peeled it off.
"Here's the key. What s a coven stead?"
"It s the place where we meet, silly," her wide mouth smiling and her
eyes beaming.
"Oh. Sounds like something out of a western."
"You re so silly," she said and kissed him on the cheek.
Nick perked up when he heard Doherty say "coven stead" the cult's
meeting place and home base. He knew she had lied to him in the
elevator earlier. Now, he had another possible link - Kyle the bartender.
Doherty had a second beer and stayed another hour talking with the
bartender and Kyle. Nick ordered two more beers and slowly consumed
the brew waiting for the nurse to leave. He could not let her see him for
she would surely recognize him and suspect that he was following her.
He didn't mind waiting - he was enjoying his small victories, the
atmosphere of his favorite bar, and the beers he consumed that were
making the night so pleasant.
The bar began to fill up and the noise level escalated. Nick could no
longer hear them talking at the bar. He was just about to order another
beer when he saw the long ponytail of the nurse walking towards the
door. Nick began to move out of the booth, and then stopped. The nurse
turned around and waved to Kyle with a big, bright smile. When the
door closed, Nick counted to ten slowly and left. He moved quickly
since the day was almost gone and she would not recognize him in the
gray light of the approaching night. He walked quickly to his car,
keeping his eye on her gray BMW as she pulled out of the parking lot.
He was as stealthy as a cat. He followed the BMW to Anchorage
Anthony Samuel Policastro 229
Apartments, a short distance from the Drunken Pelican. She parked
behind building 2950 next to a row of garages. Nick moved quickly - he
parked the car and ran towards the front of the building, but she had
vanished. He stopped there. If he went inside and started looking
around, she could pop out anytime and see him. He knew the night was
too good to be true, but nothing was lost. He had the name of the
apartments and the building number. Besides, the beers had made him
feel lazy and he really wanted to go home. He decided to leave and
come back in the morning.
* * *
Nick had a slight headache when he arrived at the superintendent's
apartment in the late afternoon. He had worked most of the day on
other cases that needed his attention and now he was feeling a lull in his
energy. He rang the bell and waited. The door opened and a short,
older man wearing blue coveralls appeared. His gray hair and wrinkled
face suggested he was not fit for the job.
"Hello, are you the superintendent?" Nick said.
"Yeah."
"I'm Detective Nick Vancuso of the Middletown Police and I need to
know if you have a man named Kyle living in building 2950."
"I don't know. You'll have to talk to the secretary. She can look it up
for you," the man replied. "What's this for? He do something wrong?"
The man opened the door wider to let Nick enter.
"I just want to talk to him," Nick said and walked into the apartment.
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