Page 22 of Shaded Amethysts
Avery’s eyes lit up with more vigor than she’d shown all evening just before she said, “We’re gonna get her!”
18
Avery
Meg was more than happy to show up at the seedy bar on her night off for the chance of making an arrest. The tiny, pushy woman arrived and scooted a bar stool that was almost bigger than her over to our table. Making herself at home, she reached over and grabbed a loaded baked potato skin from my plate.
“Help yourself,” I said, sounding more perturbed than I really was.
Completely unfazed by my snarky comment, Meg asked, “Is this all you’re having? I could take down an entire pizza all by myself.”
“Charming,” I muttered, but couldn’t keep from smiling at the petite, surprisingly tough woman with the hollow leg when it came to food.
She waggled a finger at Gage and boldly said, “I’ve been keeping a very close eye on you since your arrival in town.”
“Meg!” I half-shouted, stunned that the woman would be so openly rude.
“It’s my job,” she reminded me before turning back to Gage and continuing, “I’ll likely continue to watch you, but we have determined that you aren’t responsible for the recent crime spree.”
Looking at me, she added, “It was those Libby twins and their friends. They were bratty children, so I always knew they’d be trouble as teenagers.”
I hadn’t believed that Gage was behind the vandalism or thefts, but it was a relief to know the police had officially cleared him. Perhaps now people would stop being so suspicious of him.
Not wanting to get distracted and miss something important with Angie, I glued my eyes to the mirror. When I heard Meg slide my plate across the table in front of her, I chanced a glance in her direction.
At my narrow-eyed glare, she asked around a mouthful of greasy bacon and cheese, “What? Takedowns make me hungry.”
“I’m not sure why. We’re just sitting here doing nothing. Shouldn’t we get over there and cuff her before she gets away?” Deep-down I knew that Angie hadn’t yet done anything that we could legitimately arrest her for, but I was growing impatient with the lack of concrete results from this stakeout.
Meg picked up my just-delivered shot glass and said, “Look, there’s two ways to do this… My way and the wrong way. We’ll stick with my way.”
Once she uttered the words with finality, she tipped her head back and easily downed the shot. She must have felt my gaze of disapproval because she bugged her eyes out in my direction and said, “I’m off-duty.”
“But we need you to be at the top of your game,” I hissed in her direction.
Without taking her eyes off me, she said, “Then tell Giant Romeo over there to start recording because the deal is going down right now.”
My gaze shot to the mirror. Sure enough, a covert exchange was happening between Angie and the bartender.
“Are you getting this?” I stage-whispered to Gage out of the corner of my mouth.
“Yes,” he answered as he adjusted the angle of his cell phone.
Meg rolled her eyes before saying sarcastically, “Very subtle.”
When Angie turned to leave, I grabbed my purse in preparation to chase after her. Meg gripped my arm with her small, shockingly strong hand before muttering, “Patience.”
“She’s going to get away!” I said in a too-high voice. Meg was always ready to arrest a wrongdoer, so it was beyond frustrating that she was stalling now.
“We’ve seen her drinking, and we know she has drugs on her,” Meg reminded me calmly.
“Exactly.” I bugged my eyes out at the stubborn woman, letting her know she was proving my point.
“I have plenty of eye-witness evidence to justify pulling her over. Driving under the influence will be an additional nail in her coffin when I arrest her,” Meg said before scraping the last bits of crumbled bacon from my plate and tossing them into her mouth.
Gage beamed at the other woman and said, “I like the way your mind works.”
The irrational flare of jealousy that burned hot in my chest took me by surprise. Meg was a happily married woman with a child, and I had no claim on Gage. My aching heart didn’t seem to recognize these facts, though. I wanted Gage’s kind words and warm looks to be reserved exclusively for me.
