“That jerk is not going to sue you, or me, or Harrison,” Tanner replies as he slips past me holding a couple bottles of wine to restock Auden’s wine fridge which is getting low.
“What happened?”
“The other night, you weren’t working, but we had a real piece of work in here,” Auden explains. “He’d been drinking before he got here, I think, because I only served him two and he was slurring his words.”
“And what words they were.” Tanner frowns. “He was hitting on a guy at the bar, which would have been fine but the dude needs to take classes in how to pick up or something because he was saying all the wrong things.”
“Bragging about his dad’s construction business. How he’s gonna be rich when he takes it over and how his ex was too stupid to see it,” Auden explains and rolls his eyes.
“Just what every man wants, right?” Tanner lets out a soundless laugh. “A dude with daddy issues who still wants his ex back. Thank God I’m married.”
“Anyway, the guy he was trying, and failing, to pick up finally told him to fuck off. Like exact words.” Auden is grinning but then it slips into a frown. “And he gets stupid belligerent. Yelling obscenities and disturbing everyone so I told him he was done. I wasn’t serving him anymore and he would have to leave.”
“What happened?”
“He didn’t want to leave,” Auden replies. “So I called Tanner, who came and backed me up but he still didn’t want to leave.”
My eyes are bouncing between Tanner and Auden and I almost laugh as I picture this. Tanner is all tattoos and muscle and has got the dark broody look down. I can’t imagine being drunk enough to lip off to him. He looks like he would end you. And Auden is built like a brick wall so this guy must be a moron on top of drunk.
“He changed his bitchy little tune when I told him I was going to call the police,” Tanner adds as he crosses his arms over his wide chest. “And you’d think that would shut him up. But it didn’t. He started telling me that I was going to pay. That the whole bar would pay. He was all about the payback. Just ask the last guy who screwed with him. He stole his drums and this guy made sure he got what was coming to him.”
“Wait… what?”
Auden is laughing as he uncorks a bottle of Prosecco. “Aye. Mr. Wanker McWankerson compared Tanner kicking him out of here to a dude stealing his drums. Like Tanner is a criminal who stole his toys.”
The hair on my arms starts to stand on end, and the goosebumps keep crawling up my arms and up my spine until the hair on the back of my neck is also on end. “What was his name?”
Tanner shrugs. “Well Auden calls him Wanker McWankerson apparently. But I never got his full name because he left before I had to call the cops.”
“I wrote his name down along with a description for the other bartenders in case he dared to come back.” Auden points to a scrap of paper taped to the back bar where the staff sometimes leaves notes and To Do lists for each other. “Got his name off his credit card.”
I walk over and read it. Benjamin Johnson. Dark hair, dark eyes. Around five foot eight. Medium skin tone. Wanker.
“Bennie.”
“Yeah!” Auden’s eyes widen. “That’s how he introduced himself to the guy he was hitting on. Please don’t tell me your friends with the wanker?”
“Hell no.” And then it hits me.
I went over the fundraiser guest list looking at the names that RSVP’d, not the people who actually showed up. A Chris Johnson from Green Mountain Construction was a donor and was supposed to attend. But Bennie Johnson was the person who showed up. I remember him talking to Chase and his brother that night.
On the side of our house.
Near the shed.
“Fucking Bennie.”
“Bowen?” Tanner looks stunned and unimpressed, and I realize I said that a little loud for a crowded work night.
“Sorry. I’m so sorry,” I reply.
“Did you drop something again?” Molly asks, bouncing up to the server station, her round eyes even rounder with excitement. “If you break one more dish or glass, you’ve beat my record.”
Auden laughs. I want to laugh because that is funny but I’m reeling. “I think that Bennie kid is the one who planted the fake story with the news. He was at Woody’s fundraiser at our house.”
“Holy…” Tanner has the common sense not to finish that in front of the customers.
“Yeah. Holy…” I pull my phone out of my pocket. “Can I make one very quick text?”
