The Bartender's Daughter

Chapter 4

The next couple of weeks went by without much incident. Jack worked and I worked and sometimes we would go out, but everything stayed relatively normal.
 Well, sort of normal.
 Every Friday night, three men in suits would come into the bar at 8:30, by two martini's each, and watch the restaurant for 45 minutes and then leave. And in that time, Jack would disappear into the back to help with the food and come back out when they left.
 After four weeks of these visits, I cornered Jack after closing.
  "Who are those men and why are you hiding from them?" I asked, cleaning up the tables.
Jack stopped scrubbing his cup and looked up at me, serious look on his face.
  "I don't know who you're talking about."
I glarred at him. "The three men you hide from every Friday from 8:30-9:15. They were suits. Always order martini's. And you always seem to go poof." I made a popping hand gesture and leaned against the counter. I gave him an expectant look but he didn't budge.
  "I'm sorry Alli. If they eve bother you, just let me know." He put the glass in the cup board, grabbed his stuff and left.

And next Friday, they did.

It was really busy that night after a concert down the beach, and bar space was tight. People were bustling in out and drinks were flying. Casey and I were doing our own dance behind the counter, mixing, pouring, blending, serving. We had to keep everything moving, and the three men sitting at the end of the bar for 45 minutes wasn't going to work tonight.
  "Hello gentlemen, I'm sorry to bother you this Friday, but if it would be any trouble I'm going to have to ask you to leave if you're not going to buy anything else." I said in what I assumed to be a sweet tone.
 And of course, they didn't move. More people pushed in and someone who I had noticed had consumed more than a few shots, stumbled and fell into one of them.
 And he did not take it very calmly.

He stood slowly, like you see men do in movies when they're about to wreck some serious havoc. I probably should have gone to get Jack just then, but couldn't move as I watched the man pivot and grab a fistful of the drunk man's shirt.
  "Aw, come on now man. I only tripped. No harm, no fowl." He slurred, holding up his hands.
But the man didn't let go. In fact, he pushed the drunk man up against the wall. The drunk man's friend grabbed the man's shoulder.
  "C'mon dude, lets not start a fight or anything."
Oh but a fight he did. And I don't mean two men fist fighting surrounded by people. I mean suddenly two groups of three strong men completely going at it in half the bar; slamming into tables, throwing around chairs. I grabbed Casey's arm, "Go grab Jack."
 I lept over the counter and ran across the bar. I grabbed the most injured guy, the one who had tripped into the other man, and pulled him out of the circle, propping him up against the wall. Suddenly, the one who had grabbed him cornerned me, and I was suddenly extremley glad I had kept going with those self defense classes.
  "Your quite apt for a female. Very light on your feet. Keep your hands up a little higher though." He swung and I rolled, finding myself pressed up against the wall and the counter of the bar. Trapped. Great. "Seem's the little mouse is cornered." He said, smirking.
  I saw Jack come flying out of the kitchen over his shoulder and smirked back. "And it looks like the cat's too fat to turn around." I put my foot on the stool and leaped over the counter, but he was faster. He grabbed my ankle and pulled me back down.
 I screamed, and kicked him square in the nose, managing to scramble myself up to a decent enough squatting position to give him a roundhouse kick to the jaw. He went flying across the bar into the wall, and my father came running out of his office. Jack was hauling the other drunk men to their feet while Casey showed two police officers where the men who had wrecked the havoc were.
 They began walking over to them when they pulled guns out of the waistbands of their pants.

Everyone froze, looking between the two men and the police officers. Jack looked at me, eyes wide, and let the men go. He moved towards me and one of the guns swivled in his direction.
  "Oh no you don't Jackie ol' boy." He said, a small trail of blood flowing freely down his forehead, staining the collar of his shirt.
  "Awh c'mon now. Let all these people go. Your fight is with me." Jack said, holding up his hands. "You really want all these witnesses?" He raised his eyebrows and the man slowly lowered his gun.
 But while the men had been in a gun-on-gun battle, the third man had managed to find his way to the light switch and in an instance the lights were flicked off and people screamed as one of the men fired a gun.
 I hit the ground and felt Jack grab my arm. "Follow me," he whispered. "Quickly." He held my arm tightly and dragged me out back, through the kitchen, and into the alley.
  "Jack what-"
  "Shush."
He pulled a pair of keys out of his pocket and I heard some car doors unlocking. He dragged me around a corner and a Jeep was sitting there, lights blazing, engine alread softly purring.  "Get in." He ordered, opening my door.
 I climbed in quickly and he shut the door, getting behind the drivers seat and throwing the car into drive and pulling away from the curve at 50 mph.
  "Jack! What in the world is going on? Who were those guys?" I shouted.
Jack turned onto a busy street and gunned it for the freeway. "Not important."
 I gapped at him. "Not important? They brought guns into my dads bar!" He pressed his foot on the gas and shot forward, weaving in and out of cars. I sighed, "Where are we going?"
 Jack swerved off the highway and onto the interstate. "Somehwere safe, thats all." He slowed down, meeting the speed limit, and turned on the radio. "We're probably going to be driving for a while, so you can sleep. I'll wake you up when we get there."
 I glarred at him, but the look he gave me kept me from asking anymore questions. I changed the radio station, turned it up, and leaned back, clsoing my eyes. It was going to be a long drive.