The noise of pins getting obliterated in the background is as much comfort to Zale as a glass of whiskey. His seat squeaks every time he adjusts himself in the slightest, the newness of the bar and the seats make the bartender seem even older. She has more wrinkles than a gym sock and smells so heavily of cigarettes the air almost seems to take on a smoky appearance around her. Unfortunately they didn't think it worth it to change the TV in the newly remodeled bar, and the woman talking on the nightly news is so small on the screen she looks to be an ant trying to form human words.
"Want another one?" Zale inquires nudging Azelia.
"Sure, sorry I got tired. My wrist couldn't take another game," she says, rubbing her fingers for emphasis.
"It's okay, I know I get carried away," he says with a chuckle and calls to the bartender. "Can we have a couple more?"
"What you havin' hun?" she responds, her voice laden thick with a Baltimore accent. Before he can respond she leans close to see what type of beer they're drinking, her closeness makes his eyes water from the smoke coming off of her, as a bonus, he gets a nicotine buzz just from being next to her. He reels back to clear his eyes, but when he reopens them the picture on the TV amazes him.
"Could you turn that up?" he asks the bartender. Without a word she turns it up and again Zale nudges Azelia, pointing to the small ant woman blabbering away on the tube.
"Police don't currently have any suspects, but they are calling this a murder and anyone staying at the Red Range campsite is currently a suspect. In other news..." The news anchor says but Zale tunes her out, he's still focused on the picture. It's Clint. He turns with his mouth open in shock to Azelia. She's so white in the face Zale thinks he can see the bowler behind her.
"You gonna be okay?" he asks. She stands up and pushes by him, running almost in a sprint towards the bathroom. The bartender sets the drinks on the table.
"You know that guy hun?" she asks in a voice much more masculine than it should be.
"He was um... her cousin; I didn't know him that well," he says and takes a drink of his beer; he almost spits it out do to its warmth, seeing Clint on the screen made him forget about the broken fridge.
"Sorry hun, fridge ain't workin right now, not sure why they redid this place and left the same crappy fridge. Shame about your girl's cousin," she says and goes to turn down the TV. As he sits in silence the light bulb goes off in his head: she did it. It doesn't make all that much sense to him. She doesn't seem the type, definitely not like Jade, maybe it was in self-defense. That has to be it. He instantly regrets making her buy a gun. She must assume he knows she did it, but if she didn't tell the police than why should she tell him?
One thing he knows for certain, he can't let Jade find out about this. If silence doesn't work with Azelia he plans on convincing her he knows it was in self-defense, whether it was or not. Now it all makes sense, why two women at once would want him, they're both crazy. The last thing he wants to do now is help Jade with her next assignment, he can only deal with one killer and wants to pick Azelia. He just hopes he can break ties with Jade when she calls on him, even though her power over him is waning he's not sure he can make the breakthrough permanent.
At this point he really wishes he hadn't come here, he should have just stayed home. How did he get himself so mixed up in all this? Either way he is now, and he has no choice but to face the consequences. Maybe, if he's lucky, Azelia will run further into the desert with him and find the seclusion he's always wanted. Azelia must be the reason fate moved him here. Being able to pull off his escape from his very real problems depends on two things: can he get away from Jade and can he convince Azelia he doesn't care she killed Clint.
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After about five tries of splashing water on her face Azelia manages to revive some color, she is soaked from all the water needed. Azelia evaluates herself in the grimy mirror; she looks at least somewhat presentable. She laughs at herself hardily. She's still worried about looking good for Zale, even when she's probably the lead suspect in a murder case. She can only imagine that Zale has put two and two together. If only she had tried to go to the police with that excuse, instead of burying Clint, she might have a chance at survival, now she has no choice. She has to live the rest of her life on the run.
A pretty woman brimming with a child bursts through the door and nods at her as she goes to the nearest stall. Azelia tries to compose herself, maybe she has a few days to convince Zale to run with her. If he disagrees... she doesn't even want to think about that possible eventuality, she can't handle another debacle. The small bathroom doesn't provide much privacy, so she's left with no choice but to confront Zale out in the open. At least her situation can't get much worse than it is now. She pulls out nearly all the paper towels left in the receptacle to dry off her face and mass of hair. She examines herself again in the mirror. The look in her own eyes is so frightened and demoralized; maybe a little makeup wouldn't hurt to break the news. The resolve she found when she met Zale a few months ago has crumbled into dust. She didn't know it was possible to experience such a roller coaster of emotions, the ups and downs of the past few weeks feel like they are quickly picking her apart, reducing her to an unemotional shell. After putting on what small amount of makeup she carries she holds her head high and walks back to the bar.
Zale's sitting in the obviously uncomfortable chair with his arms at odd angles to counteract the discomfort. The nasty bartender is serving someone down by the other end of the bar, it seems like the perfect time for them to get out of here without too many questions. She smiles at Zale, picks up her beer, and chugs it in one drink before he has time to say anything. She barely tastes just how warm it is, and that's fortunate for her.
"Let's get out of here," she says with zero authority or confidence, his smile restores some of her lost hope. He looks down at his beer and decides better than wasting time drinking it. He lays a twenty on the counter, much more than the wrinkled bartender deserves. She hustles towards them.
"Sorry to hear about your cousin hun," the bartender says as she collects the money. "Need change?" she asks Zale.
"No, you're good," he says with a smile and stands up from his chair. He stretches for far longer than necessary, thrusting his hips out with his hands on his back.
"My cousin?" Azelia asks the bartender.
"Shame he died, specially in a murder like that. My cousin was murdered out in Missouri last March," she says while shaking her head.
"Real shame," she adds looking apologetically at Azelia.
"Yeah, we were just talking about how sad it is," Zale says lifting his eyebrows at her, seeing the clear confusion on her face.
"Oh, yeah... real shame. Thanks, uh, for saying something," she says, Zale grabs her by the arm and walks them out of the claustrophobic bowling alley before she can stumble further. She can almost feel the jaundiced eyes of the old bartender stare at her the whole time they're leaving.
The night air feels good on her damp features, sadly the sounds of the city aren't much more soothing than the bowling alley. They stand in front of her beat up car in silence after the short walk. She can tell by his pained expression that he wants to say something, she doesn't let him and starts first. The cold metal of her pistol is sickening.
"I've gotta tell you something..." she starts, he cuts her off quickly.
"You've got nothing to explain. I understand things happen in self-defense. Not saying you did... but, if you did, I don't care," he says and fidgets under her gaze for a second before continuing. "I've got plenty of demons, probably worse than yours. Let's just drop our pasts and move on."
He pauses for a response, she offers none but stares at him bamboozled. She holds back tears of relief, for the first time in weeks an ounce of happiness sneaks into her. He stands silently for a few minutes before filling the gap of noise.
"That being said, it probably wouldn't hurt if you laid low for a while. I... well, I had an idea. And, well, this may be too much t
o ask, so don't feel bad if you wanna say no. So I... um. Well, I was wondering, if maybe, you'd want to run away with me, you know let things calm down for a while. Now, before you say anything, let me explain. I just think you could use some help right now and... I mean, I'd love to help. And if you want to go somewhere else I'll understand, but for your safety, the more secluded the better," he says and tries to start in with another explanation but before he can voice the first word of it Azelia pulls herself close against him and kisses him. Tears stream down her face in relief. They kiss for what seems an eternity. She wants to stay in this moment of heaven forever, she feels so secure in his arms she almost forgets about her situation. The parking lot and the city disappear into nothingness.
"Get a room!" a college kid with more popped collars than a whole frat house combined yells. Zale flicks him off but doesn't let her go. The kid yells something incomprehensible back but leaves them alone. She never wants the embrace to end. It does and she's left facing the world with at least one less problem.
"Let's meet tomorrow morning after I get my check. Couldn't hurt to have some cash," she says, he nods in agreement.
__________
Jade pulls an apple out of her bag and idly chews through its crisp skin. Summer is finally coming to an end and the cool night breeze rewards her for making it through the hottest one on record. Her plans need to be accelerated, she promptly decided after watching them at the bowling alley. The way that girl was hanging on him may falter his obedience.
Only one thing can be done, his little girlfriend must be taken care of right away. She might prove to be a real problem if she isn't disposed of soon. The recklessness with which she carries that little gun around has Jade a little nervous. The most sane option would be to chase her down tonight and nip the problem in the bud for good. But then she has a better idea. If she can convince Zale to kill her it will be all the sweeter, it's a way to prove his true loyalty. She's sometimes surprised by her own disturbing ideas. She feels in full control of him, but a final test couldn't hurt.
She tosses the core of the apple aside and lets the slight breeze blow over her for some time before deciding it's time to go get some rest. Goose bumps populate her skin when she thinks about what is coming. Getting Zale to kill that little hussy will be the highlight of her murderous adventures.