Dark Direction

Chapter 12: Punk Debunked

Simon couldn't wait for morning to come, excited to tell Amy that he spotted the punk drug dealer they had been looking for. He decided instead of calling her at the cafe, he could stop in and talk over a cup of coffee. Thankfully there was no promotional offers going on and he was able to see her right away.

"Hey Simon" Amy says with a smile on her face. "The usual?" she asks as she grabs a disposable Grande cup.

"Yeah that'd be great." he said smiling at her. "Hey, I'm going to grab a seat, can I talk to you for a moment?" he asks paying for his coffee and placing money in the 'tips' jar.

"Sure thing... I'll bring your coffee over." she says turning back to switch off the froth machine.

"Great" says Simon as he grabs the closest table. She sets his coffee down on the table and takes a seat opposite from him.

"Hey, sorry I only have a few minutes, what's up?" She says placing her elbows on the table.

He takes a drink of his coffee. "You're never going to believe what happened to me last night!" Simon exclaimed.

"Judging by the look on your face...no I probably won't believe what happened." She said rolling her hand as if for him to hurry the conversation while glancing at her watch.

"OK, my buddy took me out to a strip club downtown last night, and I think I found the drug dealer we're looking for."

An amazed look came over Amy's face. “What?!... Wait, you think what's that supposed to mean?" she said leaning in towards Simon.

"I saw him... I headed over to where he was to confront him, got caught in the crowd and then he disappeared." he said taking another drink of his coffee.

"What do you mean disappeared?" she asked looking over at the registers.

"I don’t know, but I was wondering if you were up for some undercover work tonight and head back over there with me but...." Simon said looking down at his coffee.

"But.......? Why don't I like the sound of where this is going? And what do you mean 'undercover'?" she asked making eye contact with him.

"Well..." he said squinting his eyes "I was wondering if you could pretend you're an exotic dancer looking for a job." he said putting his head down waiting for the lasers to shoot from her eyes. 

"Simon!" she protested "Now I know you've lost your damn mind!" she said as she stood up.

"Wait! You haven’t heard the rest!" he grabbed her wrist before she could walk off.

"I think I've heard enough!" she said as she yanked her wrist out of his grasp.

"Will you just listen to what I have to say before you storm off in a huff."

She looked down at her watch and then looked at him. "Two minutes mister, I'll give you two minutes and it'd better be worth my while." she said crossing her arms over her chest.

"OK, say whatever you have to and lure him outside in the back parking lot so I can confront him about the drugs in my car." she shot him a look of disgust.

"One minute twenty seconds." she said looking at her watch.

"We've got his first name maybe we can get his last... or ask him if he knows anyone with the other initials on the paper... ok, now I'm asking you to be open-minded" he said leaning back in his chair. Amy exhaled

"OK Simon..." she said with a sigh "pick me up at ten o'clock? I gotta get back to work." she said as she turned around and headed back towards the registers.