and when they reached the front of the dive bar, Darcy stopped walking so abruptly that Ember walked right into her. The parrot on the sign was the same one from the matches in her mom’s apartment.
Ember asked, “Why did you stop?”
“My mom comes here.”
“That’s interesting. Maybe she started coming here regularly after she made her deal with the devil. At least we know we’re on the right track,” Ember said.
“Let’s see if anyone in there looks familiar, but stay close,” Kyle cautioned. “If something happens to either of you, I’m as good as dead.”
Darcy stepped into the bar and the smell of grease and alcohol made her think of her mom’s apartment. An old scarred bar lined one wall and was packed; not a stool was empty. Floors that were sticky from spilled beer fit in perfectly with the scattered tables that sat mostly empty, except for a few with remnants of meals.
“Nice place,” Kyle muttered.
“That table over there has a good view of the bar,” Ember suggested before she started over to it. Once settled, a waitress walked over.
“What can I get you?”
“Two bottles of beer and a glass of ginger ale,” Kyle said. The waitress barely acknowledged the order before she turned away.
“Beer in a bottle, good call,” Ember said before she looked over at Darcy. “Anyone look familiar?”
“Not yet.” Darcy didn’t take her eyes from the bar when she replied, but after a few minutes she leaned back in her chair. Her disappointment was obvious when she said, “He’s not here.”
“Well, he’s not here now, but we know he’s been here,” Ember said encouragingly.
“I know. I was just hoping that we’d walk in and find him standing in a spotlight with a large black arrow over his head.” She tried for a grin over her silliness, but was feeling too dejected.
“I say we have our drink and give it an hour. We can come back as often as we need,” Kyle said.
Darcy tried for optimistic, but failed. “Okay.”
They stayed for a little over an hour before Darcy made the call that they should go.
“I need to pee. I’ll be right back.” Ember was almost halfway to the restroom before Darcy caught up to her.
“I remember peeing all the time.”
Ember stopped so fast that Darcy almost tripped on her own feet to keep from hitting her, and when Ember turned to her, there were tears in her eyes.
“I’m sorry. I’m crying all the time these days, but in this case—Christ, Darcy. I’m here if you need to talk.”
Darcy felt her throat closing up because she hadn’t realized how much she missed having a close girlfriend in her life until that moment. Words wouldn’t come, so she simply replied, “Thank you.”
Ember took her hand and squeezed as if she understood exactly what Darcy was thinking.
“Okay, I need to pee or this is going to be embarrassing.”
Ember took a step away from Darcy, which gave Darcy a clear view of the hallway in the back where there was a picture on the wall; it looked as if it had been taken when the bar had first opened. There were several people in the shot, but one person in particular caught her attention.
“That’s him.”
Ember was looking down the hall for the person in question. Darcy stepped up in front of the picture and pointed.
“Not what I was expecting.”
Darcy’s head tilted slightly in Ember’s direction. “Yeah, he doesn’t look as intimidating now that I’m older, but when I was sixteen, he scared the shit out of me.”
“No doubt.” Ember tilted her own head. “I think we could totally take him.”
Darcy hadn’t meant to smile, because the emotions that were coursing through her were intense, but her lips curved up just the same.
A waitress passed by and Ember turned to her and pointed to the man. “Do you know who that is?”
There was definite distrust in the older woman’s eyes, but she obviously wasn’t that suspicious, since she offered up his name rather easily, “Nick DiNuzzio, why?”
“I think we may have gone to school together,” Ember said before turning back to the picture.
The waitress walked away, shaking her head. Darcy leaned closer and whispered, “You do realize that he’s twice your age?”
“I know; I panicked.”
Ember looked around before lifting the picture from the wall and stuffing it into her bag.
“We can’t take her word that his name is Nick, but with his picture, my uncle can find out everything about him.”
Darcy would have taken the picture if Ember hadn’t, but she couldn’t