Rocky Mountain Rescue, Elle James [rooftoppers .TXT] 📗

laid them in front of them and poured steaming brew into them. She started to leave and then turned back. “Jake. Question for you.”

He smiled up at her. “Shoot.”

“Your friend Hank, he has a computer guru, doesn’t he?” she asked, her eyes narrowing. “Guy named Swede?”

Jake nodded. “That’s right. Anytime we need something we just call him up and let him know, and he’ll do his best to look it up for us. Why?”

RJ shrugged. “I might have something that I want them to look into.”

“Just let me know, and I’ll contact Hank or Swede. Or heck, I can give you Hank’s number and you can call him yourself.”

“He wouldn’t mind?”

Jake shook his head. “No, Hank’s a pretty good guy. He likes to help people.”

“Thanks,” RJ said. “If you could forward his number to me on your cellphone, I’ll give him a call.”

“I’ll do it right now.” He pulled out his cellphone, scrolled through his contacts and forwarded Hank’s number to RJ’s phone. “You should have it now.”

She pulled her cellphone out of her pocket and glanced down. “Got it. Thanks.” She smiled and left the men sitting at the table, heading back to the bar to return the coffee pot and collect another tray full of drinks for the guests.

Then Stover and Curry stepped through the front door of the Watering Hole.

Max glanced toward JoJo at the bar. Her gaze swept the people coming through the front entrance, and her smile tightened. The two men glanced around the room, probably looking for an empty table. None were available, but there were two chairs at the bar. Max had second thoughts about coming to the table with Jake and Weaver. He wished he’d stayed at the bar. As the politician and his aide settled onto stools, JoJo pushed her shoulders back, lifted her chin and said something to them. They must have placed their orders because she went to work getting them between filling another order for RJ.

Gunny looked through the window between the bar and the kitchen and yelled, “Order up!”

RJ hurried to get to the order and took it out to the table full of hungry patrons. It appeared to be a typical night at the Watering Hole, with one exception. JoJo seemed very tense. Her movements were stiff, her brow puckered.

Max pushed to his feet. “If you guys will excuse me, I think I’ll go give JoJo and RJ a hand.”

Jake looked up, his eyes wide. “Maybe I should go check with Gunny. He might need some help in the kitchen.” He turned to Weaver.

The newest man on their team smiled. “I can do kitchen or waitstaff.”

“Why don’t you come do kitchen with us,” Jake said. “You can get to know Gunny better.”

Weaver nodded. “Gotcha. But if you guys get backed up out here, just let me know.”

Max strode across the room to the bar and leaned across the counter. “Could you use a hand mixing drinks?”

She nodded. “I could use a hand back here so that I can help RJ deliver food and drinks to the tables.”

“Show me where everything is,” he said, “and I’ll take over.”

She lifted the countertop door and let him through. The space behind the counter was pretty tight. They bumped into each other several times as she showed him where everything was and how everything worked. Each time they bumped into each other, a shock of electricity ripped through him, and he wondered if it did the same with her. If her widened eyes were an indication, each contact impacted her as well.

Stover and his aide’s gazes followed her every move.

After Max made a couple of drinks, JoJo was satisfied that he could succeed, and she slipped out from behind the bar. With a quick grin and a good luck, JoJo took a loaded tray and carried it over to the farthest table. Between mixing drinks, Max kept a close eye on JoJo to make sure nobody made any unwanted advances toward her. He also kept a lookout for Roy to make sure he didn’t return to the bar.

“You doing okay back there?” RJ asked as she came back with empties and orders for new drinks.

He’d been struggling with one of the taps.

RJ grinned. “That one’s a little bit sticky; you have to really work with it. Try wiggling it side to side, and then pulling back on it.”

He did and the beer flowed freely.

“I’ll take two of those,” she said. “And a Jack Daniel’s on the rocks.” She handed him a slip of paper. “And if you could put that up there for Gunny. They want some food to go along with their drinks.”

He passed the order ticket through the window to the kitchen staff. When he turned, RJ had already gone with the tray of beer and whiskey.

JoJo was back with another tray full of empties.

“Order up!” Gunny called out.

Max turned to retrieve the plates of food and set them on a large tray.

“I’ll take that,” said JoJo.

When she left again, he had a little lull between filling drinks and passing food orders back to Gunny.

Stover grinned. “Good thing we had KP duty on active.”

Max would bet that the politician never pulled KP. He’d likely been a high-ranking officer when he’d retired. “Yes, sir,” Max said. In actuality, he hadn’t pulled KP since basic, and even then, only to help stack the trays. The Army had been much busier training him how to be a soldier and fight, rather than how to cook and clean up. He’d quickly gone from basic infantry to special operations and, finally, Green Beret.

“So, what’s the story with Gunny?” Stover asked.

Max frowned. “Pardon me?”

“Is he collecting strays? With all these former active duty folks…you’d think he was running a halfway house for the military.”

Anger bubbled up inside Max.

Stover raised his hands. “Oh, I’m not trying to be mean or anything. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s admirable what he’s done, giving Ms. Ramirez a job when she got off active duty, and then