A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he turned to the bartender. “Bourbon, neat, Marty. And since the lady with the designer handbag is paying, make it top shelf.”
“You got it, Cole,” Marty replied, and moved off to get their drinks.
Shannon fiddled with her handbag, drawing Cole’s attention. His eyes darted to her hands, noting the perfectly manicured nails, and the expensive gold bangle at her wrist. His gaze slid over the rest of her. Her long, blonde hair was now cut in a pageboy style, just below her chin, and looked like it had been styled in a salon. She wore a tight fitting, black skirt, a white short-sleeve silk blouse and black high heels. Her cute, girlish figure was all ‘woman’ now. She didn’t look much like the frightened young girl he remembered.
Marty returned, and set a short tumbler with about an inch of the amber liquor in front of each of them.
Shannon reached for hers, and took a small sip.
Cole watched her, and took a sip of his drink.
She turned, and smiled at him. “I want to thank you for what you did for me that day.”
Cole looked away, and shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”
Shannon could see that having someone thank him made Cole uncomfortable. “Can I ask you something?”
He looked at her, and grinned. “Depends on what it is. You can ask. I might not answer.”
“That day you found us? Were you really there to…buy us?”
Cole shook his head, and gave a short laugh. “No! Hell, no.”
She watched him raise his glass to his lips, and realized he wasn’t going to say anymore than that. She continued, “I’d just always wondered, you know, how you ended up being there that day.”
He lit a cigarette, and tossed his lighter on top of the bar. He turned his head, and studied her, wondering just how much he should tell her. “You remember Angel?”
“That girl that was with you?”
“Yeah.”
Shannon nodded.
“The same thing had happened to her.”
“That’s right. I remember her telling us that.”
Cole nodded. “I was there to get Ling. For what he’d done to her.”
“Oh.”
He sipped his drink, and then looked over at her. He tapped his cigarette in the ashtray nervously. “To tell the truth, I had no idea there would be anyone in that van but him. Shocked the hell out of me when he opened those doors, and there you all were. Hadn’t counted on that.”
She nodded, and took another sip of her drink.
Cole downed his, and raised his finger at Marty.
The bartender walked over, and refilled his glass.
Cole took a hit off his cigarette, and watched Shannon. She had gotten quiet. Maybe it’d be best if he finished this drink, and left. It was sweet of her to buy him a drink. Hell, it amazed him she’d even acknowledged him. Her kind didn’t usually want anything to do with someone like him. He picked up his silver lighter, and toyed with it, opening it, and closing it.
She spoke, and he turned to look at her. She was staring at the bar top, and he could tell that in her mind she was far away. Reliving it all, probably.
“I was so scared,” she whispered.
Cole stared at her.
She turned to look at him. “And we didn’t even have to go through what your girl went through. It must have been horrible for her. She’s okay, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah. She’s okay.”
“I remember her being really sweet to us.”
Cole smiled. “Yeah. I’m glad she was there to help calm you all down. I guess we kind of did a good cop/bad cop deal with all of you. Me? I was the asshole, right?”
She grinned, and raised her eyebrows. “You were sweet at first. But then you did scare the hell out of me at the end.”
His gaze roamed over her face. “Sorry about that, but it was necessary. “Did you, uh, ever tell anybody about it?”
Shannon shook her head. “No. I wanted to. I almost told my sister a couple of years later. But then…”
Cole looked over at her when she hesitated. “What stopped you?”
She looked at him, and smiled. “You mean other than you threatening to find me, and kill me?”
He grinned. “Yeah.”
She shrugged. “I guess I didn’t want her to be afraid.”
Cole nodded, and watched her for a moment, and then asked softly, “How’d he get you?” She looked at him, startled, he supposed, by the question he’d asked.
She swallowed, and looked away. “It was late at night. I was walking on