Hidden in the Blood: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 5)

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Joe, Friday

Joe felt another Incredible Hulk moment coming on as he saw his wife, along with Rachel and Tej, getting into it with the slimebag who'd moved in on Joanie, and the guy's three friends moving in to intervene. He looked over at Al, who was still on the phone with someone, his timing incredibly poor as always, and wondered who the hell was calling him at this hour, hoping it wasn't Logan with an emergency.

He sighed in frustration, downed the rest of his beer and rose from his stool, wondering if he'd be able to take four guys at once. Maybe Lauren could take one of them with an aikido move or a zap from her little illegal zapper, leaving a more manageable three. It would be best if this didn't have to come to blows, though, because then Joanie would have to get involved as an off-duty police officer, and the bouncers would also have to step in. This whole operation wasn't supposed to be on the books, and if they attracted the attention of the authorities they could get in a lot of trouble, and Joanie and her partner, Constable Fatima al-Rashad, would get in even worse trouble. Plus, he probably wouldn't be able to avoid jail time this time, if there was such a thing as three strikes, you're out in this province.

"Hey, whoa," he said as he approached the growing crowd. "What's going on?"

Lauren turned to him and said, "This man," pointing to the one who was talking to Joanie, "just went through the purse of the woman at that table."

She was playing the part of concerned stranger, making him play the same part. Joe wasn't a very good actor, because acting was a kind of lying, and he hated lying, despised lies. It was what had nearly drove Lauren and him apart, the keeping of secrets, the dissembling, the sneaking around behind the other's back. Oddly, last Saturday, he hadn't begrudged her visiting Al downstairs while he lay with Tej in their bed; he'd watched her pass by in her red kimono out of the corner of his eye and felt strangely resigned. Maybe it was because this time everyone had negotiated this, agreed on the ramifications. The lying had stopped... well, he still hadn't told her about that time with Rachel a couple of months ago, but as he was still catching up for all the times Lauren had been with Al...

Though he wasn't a good actor, he didn't need to feign the anger and indignation he felt on Joanie's behalf. What was required of him now was the appearance of objectivity a disinterested third party would convey.

"Is that right?" he said. He looked to the man and sized him up. Six feet, medium build, sandy blond hair. Jeans and a flannel button-down shirt. Totally nondescript, the typical patron of a bar like this. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

The man gulped at the sight of his much larger inquisitor but stood his ground. Arguing with three women was one thing, but this had gone to the next level. "I have no idea what they're talking about."

"I saw him do it!" Lauren said. "It was quick but the purse was right there on the table in view as I walked by."

Joe made a point of looking around. Two of the guy's friends had their phones out and were filming, maybe hoping to capture an assault on camera, and one looked to be heading to the bouncer at the door, probably in hopes of getting him to intervene.

To his surprise, Al appeared on his other side. "I heard what these women said," he said. "I'm filming, too. You're not going to get away with it, buddy." He directed this at the first man.

The man looked at Al, who was closer to his size, and felt braver about confronting him. "Fuck you," he said. "I don't answer to you."

"What happened to the woman sitting with you?" Joe asked, still playing the disinterested third party.

"She went to the bathroom."

"Thought you'd help yourself to her cash and credit cards while she was gone?" Al asked, and Joe fought a smirk. This reminded him of the time Al had been in the same jail cell with one of the guys who'd nearly beat Joe to death a couple of years ago, and had baited the man into revealing some useful information. Normally a non-confrontational man, he sometimes stepped up and needled other men who might hurt him if he wasn't careful.