Nearly Departed, Max Schlienger [the gingerbread man read aloud txt] 📗

I’d put it quite like that,” Dennis responded. “But sure, that’s about the size of it.”

“Dude, what planet are you from?”

Dennis ignored the comment. He looked out across the tavern and watched as Christina, apparently oblivious to the eyes on her, cupped her breasts and examined herself in the mirror behind the shelves. When he turned back, Luke had averted his eyes, and was staring intently at the surface of the table.

“So, you’re not going to cash that check, then?” he asked.

“No, why?”

Luke shrugged. “Well, I mean, if you don’t need the money...” he trailed off. For a few seconds, Dennis felt that he had missed something. Then, realization dawned.

“Are you still in gambling debt?” Dennis asked.

“Yeah,” Luke replied miserably. “I have to pay up pretty soon.”

“How did you even get into this?”

Luke drained the rest of his beer before answering. “There were a couple of guys in here awhile back that had some inside information on something or other. They were regulars. They asked if I wanted in on the action, and I figured, well, what the hell. It went well, I made some money, and it turned into a bit of a habit.” He regarded his empty bottle forlornly. “Then it stopped going so well.”

“What happens if you can’t pay?” Dennis asked.

“Bad things,” replied Luke. “This wasn’t strictly legal, you know? Anyway, I talked to Sam about lending me some cash, but he says he needs a few days to get it together. I think that’s a shrink-talk suggestion that I handle it myself.”

Dennis shook his head. “I know Sam. If he says he’ll help you out, he will.” He dug out his wallet and pulled the check from its hiding place. “I didn’t think you guys were that close, though.”

“He came in last night and wouldn’t stop asking what was wrong,” Luke explained. “I figured there was no sense in lying to a shrink, so I told him.”

“Well, here, take it,” said Dennis, thrusting the check forward. “I’ll sign it over to you. Just don’t tell Alena about it.”

Luke hesitated, but then hurriedly took the check and examined it. “She’s pretty steamed about this, huh?”

“You could say that. To make matters worse, I still don’t know what’s going on with that detective,” Dennis said. He glanced back at Luke, and felt a subtle rush of fear at the look on his friend’s face.

“Dude, don’t you check your voicemail?” Luke asked quietly. Dennis started to answer that he hadn’t received any phone calls, but remembered that his phone was still in his car’s glove compartment.

“Why? What happened?”

Luke licked his lips and took a breath. “What did he look like?” he asked. “The guy you said was a cop, I mean.” Dennis struggled to picture the man from Harding’s office.

“Uh… He was big, as in muscular. Dark skin, and he had a short mustache.”

“Yeah, that’s him,” Luke said, looking worried. “He was in here yesterday at about seven. He asked about your picture.”

Dennis felt his face tighten angrily. “How many times have I asked you to take that thing down?” he demanded. Luke leaned forward slightly.

“Hey, don’t lose your head, dude,” he said firmly. “The guy obviously knew where to look for you. He would have asked whether he’d seen the picture or not.”

Dennis took a breath and tried to latch onto one of the thoughts that were making kamikaze runs through his brain. “What did he want?” he asked. “Did he say what he wanted?”

“No, he just asked who you were, and if you came in here a lot. It was right after Sam left.” Luke wrapped his hand around his bottle, but didn’t move it from the table. “I could tell that he wasn’t one of your fans, though. Remember that lady with the suitcase full of board games?”

“Can we focus here, please? Tell me about the cop.” Luke made a skeptical face.

“For starters, dude, he’s not a cop.”

Dennis shook his head, confused. “What? What are you talking about?”

“I asked him as a joke, and he told me that he wasn’t.”

“What does that prove?” Dennis asked, his tone going sour.

“Come on, dude. Everyone knows that cops have to say yes if you ask them that. There’s a law or something.”

“You’ve been watching too many action movies.” Luke shrugged, but didn’t reply. “Besides, Sam said that he was retired.” Dennis breathed out and tried to steady his nerves. “What happened next?”

“Nothing much,” Luke responded. He released his empty bottle and shook his hand a few times. “He had a drink, made some small talk, and then he left. I remembered what you said about that guy from the shrink’s office, so I called your phone. You’d know all this if you checked it once in awhile.”

Dennis sighed and slumped backwards in his seat. He took a drink and grimaced as the cold beverage stirred a mild cramp in his diaphragm, but continued to swallow until the bottle was empty. Luke looked on with an expression of concern.

“Do you want something stronger?” he asked.

“I’m fine,” Dennis replied, shaking his head. “Why the hell would he come looking for me here? How did he even find this place?”

Luke shrugged. “Maybe he followed Sam. Hell, he might have even come in on his own. It was pretty crowded last night.” He leaned forward and looked at Dennis with an uncharacteristic amount of compassion in his eyes. “Look, don’t let this get to you. We’ve both done crazier things than your Doctor September act, and nothing bad ever happened.”

Dennis nodded inattentively, still trying to calm the storm of urgent warnings in his head. He hadn’t done anything wrong, and even if he had, he doubted that a retired detective would be the one to pursue him. Still, something felt suspicious, even if he couldn’t put a finger on what it was.

“I think you had better get back to the bar,” Dennis sighed. Luke arched an eyebrow.

“Oh, really? Are you my boss now?”

“No.” Dennis smiled weakly. “But I think that I could use