At the end of the night he also helped clean the place so that it was bright and shining for the next day. That included everything from cleaning the tables to sweeping the peanut shells off the floor. He was just glad he didn’t have to clean the bathrooms.
Between him and Joey, they were able to get the cleaning knocked out in a little under thirty minutes. After making sure the front door was locked, Hector grabbed his jacket and walked with Joey toward the back of the bar.
“Whatever happened to Dixie?”
She had never shown up for work.
“I had Harvey call her and give her the night off. Harvey had a bunch of paperwork to do, so I would have been twiddling my thumbs, bored out of my mind. Working the bar gave me something to do.”
Okay, that made sense.
“All right, I’m headed out. I’ll see you all tomorrow.”
“Night, Hector,” Joey called out.
Hector walked to his bike and swung his leg over. He glanced toward the door, making sure it was closed. Harvey would check all the doors before he and Joey went up to their apartment for the evening, but Hector always liked to make sure everything was closed up before he left.
He pulled on his helmet and started his bike. He really needed to talk to someone about a truck. He hadn’t even gotten on the road yet, but he could already feel the cold seeping into him. Considering winter hadn’t even gotten here yet, that did not bode well for the temperatures this winter.
Thankfully, the drive home was quick. There was no one on the road. Hector made it in about fifteen minutes. He probably could have made it ten, but it was dark out. He tended to drive a little more cautiously when it was dark. He preferred his head attached to his shoulders and not splattered all over the road.
Even after the easy night he’d had, Hector was still dragging ass when he pulled up in front of his house and parked his bike. He turned off the engine and climbed off. He removed his helmet as he walked toward the house.
Hector let himself in then locked the door before heading for the kitchen. He set his helmet down on the counter then pulled the fridge open and grabbed a bottle of water. Hector screw off the lid and took a long swallow.
As he was drinking, his eyes fell on a ten-dollar bill stuck to the outside of the fridge by a piece of painter’s tape. Hector slowly lowered the bottle of water and reached out to grab the money.
Where in the hell had that come from?
Chapter Three
Hector groaned and pulled his pillow over his head, trying to make the incessant pounding go away. It was aggravating, especially when he was trying to sleep. When the pounding continued, and his phone rang, Hector growled and threw his pillow across the room.
He rolled to the side of the bed and grabbed his jogging pants, yanking them up his legs. His movements were jerky and abrupt, mostly because he was trying to talk himself out of strangling whoever was pounding on his door.
He stormed down the stairs and right to the front door. There was a scowl on his face when he flung the door open. “Do you have any idea what fucking time it is?”
Sheriff John Riley raised an eyebrow at him. “Nine thirty, give or take a few minutes.”
Damn, it was early.
Hector dragged his hand down his face before facing the sheriff again. “What can I do for you, Sheriff?” It wasn’t like he could slam the door in the sheriff’s face, no matter how much he might want to.
“I need to talk to you about the signs out on the road.”
Hector knew he had just woken up and hadn’t had any coffee yet, but that just didn’t make any sense. “What signs?”
“The ones that start at your driveway and go all the way to the Rusty Nail.”
Hector frowned before stepping back. “You’d better come in.”
He waited until the sheriff entered before shutting the door and making a beeline for the kitchen. This shit was too intense before coffee. He walked directly to the Keurig machine and popped in a pod.
“Do you want a cup of coffee?” he asked once his was done.
“Sure, that’d be nice.”
Hector popped in another pod then went about doctoring his own cup just the way he liked it. By the time he was done fixing his cup, the sheriff’s was done. He handed it to the sheriff then pointed to the sugar and creamer jars.
