of people coming in with no interest in spending money, but when he mentioned it to Bill, the man just laughed and shook his head.
Jodi kept her distance, which infuriated him even more. He would much prefer coming in early and staying late to spend time with her rather than cutting out the second they closed and rushing in the moment they opened to keep Katia from accusing him of cheating.
The stakes were high. He wouldn’t put it past that woman to have someone tailing him and spying on him inside the bar in an effort to catch him doing anything untoward.
Tuck was nothing if not squeaky clean lately. No more late nights laughing with Jodi in the office. No more grazing against her intentionally every time he got near. He even forced himself to keep his gaze from wandering her direction every five minutes.
It was wearing on him. He wanted her more every day. She gave him no sign she was even interested in the last week. He prayed she was doing so to keep suspicions down. She definitely wasn’t herself. She smiled less. Her brow was often furrowed with frustration, and she struggled to interact like her usual self with the regulars. Tuck wished he could confront her, but he didn’t have the right. Until this stupid contract was up, it was selfish of him to toy with her emotions.
True to her word, Maria provided security outside of his mother’s nursing home. That appeased the facility enough to permit him to keep her there and continue visiting. As if he didn’t have enough frustration, she had deteriorated more in the last few weeks. She no longer spoke at all, not to him or anyone. Gone were the days when she might recognize him for a fleeting moment.
The director of the facility even came into her room while Tuck was visiting yesterday and gently told him he didn’t need to feel guilty if he didn’t visit as often. She would never know the difference. He couldn’t bring himself to abandon the woman who raised him like that though. The guilt would eat at him.
The best part of every day, no matter how equally frustrating, was arriving at the bar. At least he got to spend those ten hours in the same room as Jodi even if he couldn’t do anything to compromise his stupid contract.
As he pulled into the parking lot, trying to clear his mind of all the shit that cluttered it, he stiffened. A squad car was parked directly in front of the bar.
Tuck hurried to park and get inside, his mind now racing with the possibilities, all of which he feared had something to do with the damn drug dealer he had yet to identify.
He squinted at the dim lighting as he stepped inside. The bar was supposed to open in fifteen minutes. Bill, Jodi, Stan, Liz, and Roxie were standing in a circle near the bar itself. Bill waved Tuck over and introduced him. “Tucker Lawler, this is Officer Roger Feltner.”
As Feltner shook Tuck’s hand with a nod, he wasted no time bringing Tuck up to speed. “I understand you were hired to keep a close eye on the place. Bill tells me you’re a SEAL. Oh, thank you for your service, by the way.”
Tuck nodded. “Did something happen?” He glanced at Jodi. She looked more forlorn than usual. She had her arms wrapped around her body as if she were cold. Her face was pale, and her hair was down. He almost never saw her without the signature clip she wore when she worked.
Feltner responded. “A woman came into the ER last night complaining of a severe headache and blurred vision. Her heart rate was elevated, and eventually she told the physician she had taken weight-loss pills she bought from someone here.”
Tuck winced. It infuriated him that he had not managed to spot a single illicit interaction between customers. Obviously, even with his added presence, it was still going on. “Did she say when she bought the pills?”
“Wednesday night.”
“Did she have a description of the dealer?”
Feltner shook his head. “Unfortunately, no, but we did get more information out of her. The previous women were reluctant to divulge much. This woman says she got the number of the dealer from a friend of hers. Everyone passes around this number. It’s well known. I’m betting this bar isn’t the only place used for transactions. She called and spoke to a man on the phone. He had