and blue label identifying the brand as Point. "They were swarming at me, likeNight of the Living Dead . Anyway, I dropped off one, then another, then looked in the back, saw four people crammed back there and said, 'Jesus, where did you come from?'"
The trio laughed, then turned and saw me standing at their side. "Hey, Count," Kern said. "Glad to see you could make it."
Nicole smiled warmly and said hello. Henry grunted as he took a long sip of his cocktail. I turned and saw the bartender with the cowboy hat staring at us, both hands pressed against the black plastic railing circling the entire inside edge of the bar. The stance made his biceps flex into hard, round clumps of muscle.
"Hey, Todd," Kern said, turning to the bartender, "this is the Count."
"A Bloody Mary for you tonight, Count?" Todd smiled graciously.
"Thank you, no," I replied, laughing lightly, "but Kern, I do believe I owe you a drink, do I not?"
"That's right, that four-way I set you up with." Kern lifted the empty bottle to his lips and sucked at the remaining foam residue at the bottom. "Can't say no to a free beer. Thanks Count. Another Point, Todd."
Todd reached into the cooler behind him, grabbed a bottle of Point by the neck, and in one fluid motion, flipped the bottle, caught it at the bottom, drew a bottle opener from his belt and popped the cap. He handed the beer to Kern and quickly replaced the opener as a movement caught his attention. In what seemed a continuation of the previous motion, the bartender pulled a cigarette lighter from the pocket of his black denim trousers, loudly flipped open the cover, struck the flint and lit the cigarette that Henry had just drawn from a pack that sat on the bar.
"That's one-fifty, Count," Todd said.
"Keep the change," I said, handing him three dollars. Such panache, such savoir fairedeserves ample reward.
Nicole looked down at her half-full glass of beer and shook her head. Henry downed what remained of his drink, ice clinking against his teeth. He handed the wide-mouthed, cut-glass tumbler to the bartender. "Stoli and cranberry," he said.
"A man of impeccable taste." Todd grabbed the glass and took his leave to pour a fresh drink.
"Yeah, Count," Kern said, "we were just talking about the goodies from the Cab Gods out there last night."
"Ah, the end of Spring Break," I replied. "All those college students returning from their vacations, tanned and refreshed."
"It was so nice and quiet while they were gone," Nicole said.
"But their absence was a detriment to business," I replied. "I do not know how I managed to survive the boredom last week. The tedium was so excruciating that even the great joy of the printed word could not save me."
"You need something more interesting to read, something you can sink your teeth into," Nicole replied, taking a small sip of her beer. "Like Seutonius, maybe."
"I concur completely," I replied blandly, ignoring her clumsy double entendre.
"Too damn busy to read," Henry said, taking a large gulp of the cocktail Todd had just handed him. "Hell, whoever killed those women, we outta give the fucker a goddamned medal."
"Especially with the students back," Kern said. "Hell, anybody can make money with it that busy, even the Count here."
"Thanks to the expert training I received," I said.
"And don't you forget it," Kern said, taking a long drink from his beer. In a few gulps, the bottle was nearly empty.
"You want another beer, do you not?" I said.
"Beggar!" Nicole mocked.
"The successful cab driver has no shame," Kern replied. "You can call this job, 'anything for a dollar.' The time I picked up this little old lady at Sentry Hilldale and she says, 'Would you like to earn an extra dollar?' I said, 'Sure. What do I have to do?'"
"Whatdid you have to do?" Henry asked.
"And was it as good for you as it was for her?" Nicole added.
Kern laughed heartily, shaking his head and waving the bottle of beer at Todd to get his attention. I put a couple dollars on the bar and shoved them toward Kern.
"What the hell," Kern said. "Got about another fifteen minutes before we head to the ballpark. So, Count, how'd you happen to hear Uke's home run call? You must've been pretty bored to cruise the AM dial."
"Yes. And I was so bored driving Friday and Saturday night that I listened to the games played on those nights