Sandra Thoreau sat at the bar, nursing a beer and a Merit. She raised her mug at me in a toast. She wore a fraying sky-blue turtleneck, faded jeans, and American flag cowboy boots. She faced outward on the stool, making eye contact with the men around her, assessing who she was going to bring home tonight.
I excused myself from Darrell’s table and brought my basket of chicken to the bar.
“Hey,” I said to Sandra as I squirmed onto the stool next to her.
“Hey, yourself,” she replied with a sympathetic chuckle at my condition. “Looks like you’re getting close.”
“I’m a couple of weeks away, but it feels like it could be any day now.”
“You ready?”
“As ready as I’m going to be.”
“Got names picked out?”
“Actually, I was thinking about Shelby,” I told her.
“Shelby. That’s cool. It’s different, I like it. Works for a boy, works for a girl.”
“It’s a girl.”
Sandra smiled. “Well, you say that now, but prepare to be surprised. I was sure Henry was a girl, until the doc held him up in the hospital and showed me his little dick.”
“It’s a girl,” I said again.
Sandra shrugged and puffed on her Merit. On one level, I knew she was right, because everyone had been telling me the same thing for months. Feelings don’t matter, and God doesn’t care what you think you’re having. But you were you, Shelby. You were always going to be a girl. I never had the slightest doubt.
“So, Ajax,” Sandra commented. “That’s awful, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“That makes four now. The Ursulina’s been busy. Not that I have a problem with his taste in victims.”
“You shouldn’t make jokes like that,” I advised her. Then I added in a hushed voice, “I do need to ask you something. Have you heard any rumors at the mine about Gordon Brink paying Ajax?”
“Paying him?”
“Five hundred dollars a month.”
She whistled. “Wow, nice gig.”
“We’re not absolutely sure it was Brink, but the payments stopped after Brink was killed.”
Sandra took a long swallow of her beer. “Norm told you about Ruby getting harassed at the mine, didn’t he?”
“Yes. He also said she denied that it ever happened.”
“Exactly. There you go. The little liar. Brink and the mine bought her off. There’s your five hundred a month.”
“You think?”
“Sure. They tried it with me, but I told them to stick it.”
I didn’t offer any opinion on Sandra’s theory, but it had a plausible ring to it. I had no trouble imagining Ajax trying to squeeze the law firm for cash. On the other hand, if they’d been paying Ruby to stay quiet about the harassment, I didn’t know why Ajax would have been keeping the money in a separate account that Ruby didn’t seem to know anything about.
“Speaking of Ajax,” Sandra murmured.
“What?”
She gestured at the entrance to the bar, where I noticed Penny Ramsey standing underneath a big moose head mounted above the door. The legal secretary looked around for an empty table with an awkward, uncomfortable smile on her face. Even after a year in Black Wolf County, she looked out of place, a city girl in Reagan country.
“You know about the two of them?” I asked.
“Well, that’s the hot gossip.”
“Do you think Ruby knows?”
Sandra shrugged. “I can’t believe she doesn’t.”
I watched Penny. She was alone, but women who came to the 126 alone didn’t stay that way for long. I wondered if that was her plan. Drown her sorrows over Ajax. Pick up a boy. When she took off her coat, I saw that she was spilling out of a seriously low-cut blouse and push-up bra. If she wanted attention from men, that outfit would get her plenty.
She was wearing the necklace, too.
Not a good idea.
I thought about going over and telling her to take it off. Anyone who looked at that necklace knew it was expensive, and there were people in the bar who would happily swipe it and hock it. But that wasn’t the real problem. If Ruby knew about Penny and Ajax, she was going to spot that necklace in a heartbeat.
“I don’t get it,” Sandra went on. “Ruby’s way hotter than her. I mean, I could see Ajax getting hung up on you, but why horn around with Little Swiss Miss over there?”
I was flattered by Sandra’s comment, but it reminded me that rumors had been flying about me and Ajax all year. “Penny had a thing for Ajax. I doubt he had to ask her twice.”
“Well, to screw, sure, but not to spend money on.”
I frowned, because Sandra was right. Penny would have been fine for a no-strings-fling, but she didn’t look like the kind of woman who would pull Ajax away from his wife. And yet he was buying her expensive gifts.
“Think she did it?” Sandra asked. “Sometimes it’s the quiet ones, you know.”
“Actually, I think she loved him,” I said. “Ajax probably let her think he loved her, too. She was naive enough to believe it.”
Sandra sucked on her Merit. “Men. If I didn’t like what they had between their legs, I’d give them up for good.”
I laughed. “Not likely.”
“No. Not likely at all.” She gave me a penetrating stare. “What about you? You got your eyes on anybody?”
“Yeah, because I’m a real catch looking like this.”
“Don’t sell yourself short. You’re a catch in any condition, honey. I just mean, you’re going to be a single mom like me. I wouldn’t encourage anybody to join the club. Life’s a lot easier with a man around.”
“Not always.”
Sandra frowned. “Well, I mean the right man. If there is such a thing. You got the wrong one, that’s for sure. At least he’s long gone. Good riddance to that son of a bitch.”
I glanced around to make sure no one was listening to us, not that they could have heard us over the noise of the bar. “Actually, Sandra, that’s something else I wanted to ask you. Have you heard any talk about Ricky lately?”
“What kind of talk?”
“About him being back.”
“Ricky?” Sandra hissed, with genuine concern in her voice. “Are you serious? Is he in town again? Have you seen him?”
“No, I haven’t seen him. I could be completely wrong. I don’t know, it’s just a feeling. On Sunday night, I could swear someone had been in my house.”
“Jesus.”
“Nobody’s said anything to you?” I asked.
“Not a word, and that would be a tough secret to keep. If he came back, he’d have to be bunking with a friend, right? I think the boys at the mine would know, and I’d hear about it fast.”
“Well, keep an ear to the ground, okay?”
“I will. Have you told Darrell?”
I shook my head. “He’d want me to come live with them, but he’s got enough to worry about with Marilyn.”
“If Ricky’s back, you’ve got shit to worry about, too,” Sandra replied. “This isn’t the time to be proud, honey. You’ve got a baby to think about.”
“I know.”
“That little prick should be in jail for what he did to you.”
“Yeah.”
“Do you need a gun? Are you packing?”
I patted the purse that was slung over my shoulder. “Always.”
“Well, good.” Sandra smiled at me, but then her face darkened. I saw her staring over my shoulder. “Uh-oh. Here comes trouble.”