get the best of me tonight. Flying off the handle and breaking the guy’s face wasn’t going to get us the answers we needed.
I’d keep my shit together for Callie. I could do it for her.
Finally, Lee Williams wandered in, crooked nose and all. Took a seat at the bar, just like we’d hoped. His clothes were plain—a shirt and brown pants—and I didn’t see a bulge at his waistband. Hopefully he wasn’t packing heat tonight.
I waited to give Nicolette the signal. Let him order a beer and sit with it for a while. Didn’t want to make him suspicious before we’d had a chance to get the moonshine down his throat.
Jameson met my eyes and we nodded to each other. It was time. I caught Nicolette’s attention and gave her a nod.
“Hey, y’all.” She lined up shot glasses and started pouring. Damn, I hoped she’d keep them straight and give Lee Williams the right one. “You know what today is—Moonshine Day! That means shots of the Lookout’s finest, on the house.”
Cheers rose up from the patrons and her customers went to the bar to collect their shots.
Nicolette pushed a shot glass at Lee. I held my breath, too far away to hear if he said anything to her. People around him downed their shots and set their glasses on the bar, thanking Nicolette.
Come on, you piece of shit. Drink it.
He lifted the shot glass to Nicolette, then tossed it back in one swallow. And then, badass bartender that she was, she grinned and poured him another. He drank that one, too.
Jameson twitched.
“Wait for it,” I said, my voice low, eyes locked on Lee.
Nicolette started cleaning up the shot glasses. Bowie took up a spot at the end of the bar, leaning against it like he didn’t have a care in the world. Jonah and Devlin went back to their stools, looking tense.
Lee tilted to the side, almost falling off his stool. Bracing himself on the bar, he struggled to keep his seat. He straightened, but shook his head and started rubbing his eyes.
“Now,” I said quietly.
I stood and wandered to the bar, taking the empty stool next to Lee. Jameson hung back, ready to detour anyone who might try to get too close. Jonah and Devlin were on Lee’s other side, and Nicolette kept on with what she was doing.
Nothing unusual here.
“Holy shit,” Lee muttered, still trying to shake off the initial dizzying rush of the moonshine.
I leaned forward, elbows on the bar, keeping my face forward. “Potent stuff.”
“Jesus fuck,” he said. “What the hell was that?”
“Bootleg moonshine ain’t for the weak,” I said.
He glanced at me, blinking hard like he was trying to focus. Between the dim lighting and the quick dose of moonshine, he didn’t seem to recognize me. Yet. “Guess so.”
“Seems like you’re new around here. What do you think of Bootleg?” I needed to get him answering questions so I could be sure it was working.
“Small town shithole, basically.”
He might have said that without the truth serum. I couldn’t be sure. “Is it, now? I take it you’re a city boy?”
“Oh yeah. Born and raised in Baltimore. Wound up in Virginia, but Richmond isn’t bad. Always wanted to live in New York City, though.”
I suppressed a grin. It was working, all right.
“You know what I hate about small towns?” He turned toward me, resting one arm on the bar, and his voice was nothing but friendly. Part of the magic of Sonny’s moonshine was what it did for a person’s mood. Made them feel great. And extremely chatty. “There’s nothing to do. I’m stuck out here, bored off my ass.”
“That’s a damn shame,” I said. “What are you stuck here for?”
“A job. It’s a dead end, if you ask me. But my boss is fucking paranoid.”
“Huh. Paranoid about what?”
“Oh man, it’s a good story.” His speech slurred a little and he jabbed a finger toward me.
“I’m always up for a good story,” I said, trying to seem like a friendly listener without looking at him straight on.
“This guy I work for, he’s a big shot, right? Dirty fucker, but he keeps his hands squeaky clean. I mean, he’s good. Even kept me out of prison all these years. Anyway, some twelve or thirteen years ago, his teenage daughter goes missing. Shady shit, let me tell you. He had me searching for her, but he called me off after a while. Didn’t say a word to me about it for, I don’t know, ten years? I