Arrow's Rest by Joel Scott (best books to read all time .TXT) 📗

“Well?” Jared said.

Danny might have looked a little uncomfortable.

“Joseph is going to come with us,” he said.

Joseph smiled and nodded.

“Come with us where?”

“To the clubs.”

“Seriously?”

Joseph nodded again and got up and left the room.

“He’s gone to change,” Danny said.

“Well, that’s a relief. Is he bringing his dog along?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Jared,” Danny said.

They sat in silence for the next few minutes while Joseph got dressed.

Chapter 13

“We’ll start with the Lamplight,” Danny said.

According to Cat it was the first club Lauren had visited on the night of her assault. While it was unlikely that they would learn anything of value, there was a remote possibility that her attackers had singled her out there and followed her on to the Sergeant at Arms. It was the roughest and least upscale of the three locations Clarke had told them about, and was situated in the East End adjacent to the commercial docks. In spite of this location, or perhaps even because of it, it was a popular spot for the in-crowd. It wasn’t unusual to see fashionable women in the latest runway dresses out on the floor bumping loins with stevedores from the port while their overdressed escorts looked uncomfortably on.

“I’ve always liked this place,” Danny said when their drinks arrived. “Even got myself barred for a week once. Not easy to do.”

Joseph nodded in agreement. He was dressed in a beautifully cut herringbone suit with a matching vest and colour-coordinated grey tie. An expensive felt homburg with a tiny raven feather in the band rested on the table in front of him. The outfit minus the feather had belonged to a top-end Vancouver fence, and Joseph had acquired it through criminal circumstances, although you could debate that. Under his blue silk shirt would be the century-old lava knife in a scabbard suspended by a leather thong around his neck. While it was never visible, he was never without it. The last time Jared had seen the lava knife up close, it had been buried to the hilt in a man’s back.

Feeling Jared’s gaze, Joseph turned and winked at him before emptying his glass and signalling the waitress for another. No money changed hands during the subsequent transaction, and Jared knew the drinks were going on the tab. It didn’t surprise him. In all the years he’d known Joseph, he had never seen him pay for anything, from drinks in bars to an unscheduled plane charter in the South Pacific that had set Jared back in excess of a thousand dollars. Not only that, he cheated at cards, although Jared had never been able to catch him at it. The family issued Joseph a free pass on all of this because his Clan was Raven, the trickster. His grandson Danny, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. Generous to a fault. If you didn’t pay attention, he would cheerfully pick up every tab and pay every bill with never a second thought. Go figure.

Jared ceased his brooding and turned his attention to the dance floor. Things were slow, but it was still early. Most of the tables were occupied by after-work drinkers who were beginning to wind down and would be replaced by clubbers as the evening wore on. Women were starting to trickle in, singly and in groups, and the bar music had been switched from country to rock. A drunken longshoreman got up and began a slow, lugubrious dance until one of his workmates corralled him and herded him out the door. It looked like being a long evening. There were worse places to spend your time than in a bar, though, and Jared leaned back and settled in with his drink, watching the crowd.

Joseph reached across and pinched him and motioned towards the corner.

The man sitting there alone at the table was someone Jared had never seen before. He was pretty sure of that. Average size, glasses, not one of the after-work crowd from the docks at first glance. He was dressed more for night work in a blue blazer and grey slacks. Jared studied him, but got nothing. Seemed like just another ordinary guy out for the evening. He had his cell phone out on the table in front of him and was busily texting. The man looked around the room, his gaze resting on them for a moment before it slid past and he went back to his phone and resumed tapping.

“Looks to me like someone checking the talent out,” Danny said. “Probably his buddies are in other bars doing the exact same thing and then they’ll meet up at the one with the best prospects. The marvels of the social-networking age. No doubt some of the women in here are doing likewise. Sit up straighter, Jared, and try not to scowl, they may be texting pictures.”

“Go fuck yourself,” Jared said amiably.

Joseph leaned forward and said something to Danny.

“I’m not sure,” Danny said after a pause. “Could be.”

“What?”

“Joseph thinks the guy in the corner has the Queens Own Yacht Club emblem on his blazer. He says he’s watching us.”

Jared squinted. The guy had a patch on his blazer all right. Could possibly be an anchor on it. Hard to tell. Joseph stared at him and nodded.

“Maybe,” Jared said. “But so what? Doesn’t have to mean anything. It’s a big club with hundreds of members. Bound to be a few of them scattered around in different places.”

Joseph stared at him and inclined his head towards the corner.

“All right, all right,” Jared said. “Jesus. I’m going, I’m going.”

He stood up and headed towards the restrooms located on the far side of the room just beyond the lone man sitting at the corner table. He passed him, did a double-take, and moved in.

“Well, I’ll be damned. A fellow member. Good to see someone flying the old flag here. Jared Kane.” He held his hand out. “Been waiting for a long time to get in, but the day has