ain’t no use.” She grabbed the wheels of her chair and made her way over to the table. “Josie—I need a beer. Get one for my friend.”
She gave Damon a dark look. “You ain’t my friend.”
Damon lifted his hands.
Josie—at least I assumed that was her—was a girl I hadn’t met, working back behind the bar. I’d worked there for a long while. Before I was old enough to be legal, truth be told, but TJ had taken care of me. She’d been the first person to do so. As I sat down, I positioned myself so I could see both doors and the bar. TJ didn’t bother watching either one. Nobody would get through that door without Goliath approving them.
“Been a while since you came this way,” TJ said softly, her eyes resting on my face. “Still running?”
“No.”
Josie came over and plunked two beers down in front of us before stomping back over the bar. There were a couple of men hunched over their drinks there but they weren’t looking at us. People in TJ’s joint made a study of not noticing anybody.
Unless, of course, they were TJ. TJ made of a study of noticing everybody.
“So if you’re not running, what you up to?” TJ asked, taking a drink from the mug in front of her.
“Working.” I shrugged. I glanced around, remembering the day when I realized I had to do something other than pull drinks behind the bar. TJ had pushed that on me. She knew a witch, she told me. They needed grunt work. Wasn’t much, but they needed somebody decent, trustworthy…that was how I had met Colleen.
“Hear you’ve worked your way up…doing shit for the Assembly.” Her eyes narrowed. “That can be dangerous. You okay with that?”
“Sometimes.” I shot a dark look at Damon. “Lately? Not so much.”
“I could help with that.” She smiled at me.
Damon’s eyes flashed.
Sighing, I said, “Not necessary, TJ.” Reaching into my vest, I pulled out the picture. The only reason why it wasn’t necessary. It was nice, though, realizing she’d be willing to help me out. Of course, if she knew who he was…
Even before I had the picture out, though, she grimaced. “Just keep the option open, Kit. Don’t know why you’d wanna work for that crazy bitch in Orlando.” She looked at Damon. “Only reason why he would be with you.”
“Damon, your rep precedes you.”
He skimmed a hand back over his head. “Can we hurry this along?”
Flashing a grin at TJ, I said, “He’s cranky.” Then, as I laid the picture flat, my smile faded. “We’re looking for a kid. He’s young. Close to spiking. He ran.”
TJ reached out and caught the bottom edge of the picture, drawing it close as she hunched over it. “Lots of bad shit happening with kids lately, Colbana. You heard any of it?”
“Seen all sorts of runaway reports, but that’s it.” Impatience gnawed at me, but I didn’t rush her. I knew better. Instead, I studied the mug in front of me. I hadn’t taken so much as a sip yet and I was kind of nervous. This was a shifter bar. And although shifters couldn’t get drunk the way humans could, if they worked it right, they could get a little bit of a buzz. TJ made her own beer. Think 200 proof. Maybe 400 proof.
Curling my hand around the mug, I lifted it up. One sip had my eyes popping open. “Wow.”
TJ snickered. “Couple drinks of my brew and I’ll have you dancing naked, Kit.”
“Then I’ll stop at two.” I took one more and eased it away. A comfortable buzz settled in my head and I studied the mug consideringly. If I didn’t have to work…
A big, bronzed hand closed around it.
Scowling, I watched as Damon pulled it out of my reach.
“She already said you ain’t her friend,” I muttered.
“I ain’t,” he retorted. “But I am your bodyguard.”
Then, with a smile, he downed half of it.
“Jerk.” I looked at TJ and asked, “Why do I always end up surrounded by jerks?”
She shrugged. “Beats me. There was that one kid from the Banner unit. He was nice.”
“Oh.” A smile curved my lips. “Yeah. Justin. I liked Justin.”
TJ snickered. “A girl would have to be dead not to like Justin.”
Sighing, I muttered, “I ain’t dead.”
Justin had moved on to more profitable, more pleasurable pastures. The kind where he could kill many, many things without getting in trouble for it, and get paid lots and lots of money.