He entered the gloomy bar and quickly assessed the interior like he’d done several times before. The place smelled like hot wings, beer, and sweat, and in addition to the loud music, there was loud talking from the mostly male clientele. Through an open door, he saw a group of men playing pool, yelling and trashing each other over the table. His gaze landed on the brothers seated on two wooden stools in front of the bar. Now that he had them in sight, he scanned the room to find a spot where he could keep an eye on them.
No one paid him any mind as he sauntered to a corner, deep in the shadows so he wouldn’t draw attention to himself. Not easy to do with a man of his size, but he learned long ago to blend into the background. He sat on a plain wood chair at the plain wood table, and from this vantage point had a view of the bar where the brothers sat yakking it up with the Dominican bartender and other customers.
The waitress came over, chewing gum, and flicked her gaze over Cruz. He recognized her from one of the other nights he had been there. She wore false lashes that were too long and her dark hair pulled back into a short ponytail.
“Hi, I’m Tina. I’ll be your server tonight. What can I get for you, papi?” She popped her gum and pulled a pad and pencil from the pocket of her apron.
“Whiskey, straight up, then a root beer with your largest hamburger and two orders of fries.”
“Two?”
Cruz nodded.
The waitress scribbled down the words. “Cheese on that burger?” she asked.
“Sure, why not?” He flashed a disarming smile, and she smiled back.
“Coming right up, big boy.”
She walked away with her hips swaying and looked over her shoulder to make sure he was still watching. He flicked his gaze away before she could see that he had been watching because he didn’t want her to think that he was interested.
Cruz widened his legs and sat back in the chair. The bar would be filled to capacity soon, with people anxious to burn through their paychecks. The brothers worked on beers and a basket of wings each. He knew that this was just the beginning for them. They would be there for at least another two hours.
But he had nothing better to do than wait. He no longer had a job ever since he had left his position at Plan B. He no longer had a woman, because someone had taken her life and destroyed his in the process. It took a lot of willpower not to charge over there and bash their skulls against the bar top for what they had done…
