things drop now.
The door to the office opened, and a lean, muscular man of about thirty poked his head in.
Stallings looked down at a sheet of paper and said, “Larry Kinard?”
“Yes, sir.”
Stallings motioned the bartender in and to a seat. “Thanks for taking a break to talk to us.”
“I’m not on break, I’m off today.”
“Why were you in the building?”
“Picking up my check and seeing if anything was happening. You know how it is. Work at night, you can never just sit at home.”
Stallings knew exactly what he meant. He looked at the younger man and said, “We’re hoping you might be able to identify a couple of photos for us from the other night.”
The lean man nodded his head and smiled at Patty. “I heard it had to do with a girl who died.”
“That’s right. From an overdose of X. You see much of that in the club?”
“I see signs of it, you know, the sweating and heavy water use. The flaky behavior. But truthfully this place hops so hard that I’m usually just slinging drinks and collecting money.”
Stallings set down Allie Marsh’s photograph. “Recognize her?”
The bartender nodded. “Yeah. Real cutie. I saw her a couple times recently. Probably in the last week.”
Stallings nodded and laid down the first photograph of one of the men Allie had chatted with.
The bartender studied it carefully. “He was at the bar. I served him. He’s been here before. Not a flat breaker.”
“A what?”
“A spring break student who’s flat broke and orders three cheap beers for the whole night.” The bartender looked at the photo again and said, “More likely a break runner.”
“Excuse me?”
“Break runner. A guy who slips into spring break crowds and tries to hook up with younger students. See ‘em all the time. Not too old. Fit and with more cash than the students. Girls love these kind of guys.”
“So they’d go for an older guy?”
“Like a Cajun for crawfish.”
Stallings smiled, then said, “If you saw the credit card receipts could you remember his name?” He slid over a stack of receipts.
Larry the bartender started at the top and within a minute pulled a slip and said, “This is him. Chad Palmer. I remember because he tipped me twenty bucks on a fifty-five-dollar tab. See.” He pointed to the tip line.
Patty said, “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Stallings shoved the next photo of a fit, dark-haired man in his early thirties. The photo wasn’t that clear.
“Oh, I know him.” Larry the bartender looked up at the two detectives. “What is this, a test?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because this guy is a cop.”
Seventeen
Holly’s bright smile accentuated her beautiful and nodding blond head when she agreed to leave the deli with him. It had happened so fast he had to plan things on the fly. First of all she wanted to leave her car there and ride with him. That’d be too much of a hint to anyone looking for her. He told her the little Toyota wouldn’t be safe there and had her follow him to a parking garage near the Modis Tower. Then she jumped in with him as he considered all the places they could go to be alone. So far his predatory instincts had been perfect. No one had noticed them together. She’d told him about her wild experiences with other drugs, so he knew that she wouldn’t turn her nose up at the X when he offered it to her. All that was left was the location.
The thrill he knew so well rushed through him like a drug. Like some kind of super Viagra that kept him hard and dangerous as a predator should be.
As he navigated the straight streets of downtown Jacksonville, Holly turned in her seat and said, “Let’s go to my old sorority house. It’s quiet and we can be alone.”
“What about your sorority sisters?”
“Oh, we don’t use it anymore. It got condemned. But it’s really cool.”
He smiled and said, “Sounds like a plan.”
It was hard to describe what she was feeling right now. Almost like electricity
The door to the office opened, and a lean, muscular man of about thirty poked his head in.
Stallings looked down at a sheet of paper and said, “Larry Kinard?”
“Yes, sir.”
Stallings motioned the bartender in and to a seat. “Thanks for taking a break to talk to us.”
“I’m not on break, I’m off today.”
“Why were you in the building?”
“Picking up my check and seeing if anything was happening. You know how it is. Work at night, you can never just sit at home.”
Stallings knew exactly what he meant. He looked at the younger man and said, “We’re hoping you might be able to identify a couple of photos for us from the other night.”
The lean man nodded his head and smiled at Patty. “I heard it had to do with a girl who died.”
“That’s right. From an overdose of X. You see much of that in the club?”
“I see signs of it, you know, the sweating and heavy water use. The flaky behavior. But truthfully this place hops so hard that I’m usually just slinging drinks and collecting money.”
Stallings set down Allie Marsh’s photograph. “Recognize her?”
The bartender nodded. “Yeah. Real cutie. I saw her a couple times recently. Probably in the last week.”
Stallings nodded and laid down the first photograph of one of the men Allie had chatted with.
The bartender studied it carefully. “He was at the bar. I served him. He’s been here before. Not a flat breaker.”
“A what?”
“A spring break student who’s flat broke and orders three cheap beers for the whole night.” The bartender looked at the photo again and said, “More likely a break runner.”
“Excuse me?”
“Break runner. A guy who slips into spring break crowds and tries to hook up with younger students. See ‘em all the time. Not too old. Fit and with more cash than the students. Girls love these kind of guys.”
“So they’d go for an older guy?”
“Like a Cajun for crawfish.”
Stallings smiled, then said, “If you saw the credit card receipts could you remember his name?” He slid over a stack of receipts.
Larry the bartender started at the top and within a minute pulled a slip and said, “This is him. Chad Palmer. I remember because he tipped me twenty bucks on a fifty-five-dollar tab. See.” He pointed to the tip line.
Patty said, “Now we’re getting somewhere.”
Stallings shoved the next photo of a fit, dark-haired man in his early thirties. The photo wasn’t that clear.
“Oh, I know him.” Larry the bartender looked up at the two detectives. “What is this, a test?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because this guy is a cop.”
Seventeen
Holly’s bright smile accentuated her beautiful and nodding blond head when she agreed to leave the deli with him. It had happened so fast he had to plan things on the fly. First of all she wanted to leave her car there and ride with him. That’d be too much of a hint to anyone looking for her. He told her the little Toyota wouldn’t be safe there and had her follow him to a parking garage near the Modis Tower. Then she jumped in with him as he considered all the places they could go to be alone. So far his predatory instincts had been perfect. No one had noticed them together. She’d told him about her wild experiences with other drugs, so he knew that she wouldn’t turn her nose up at the X when he offered it to her. All that was left was the location.
The thrill he knew so well rushed through him like a drug. Like some kind of super Viagra that kept him hard and dangerous as a predator should be.
As he navigated the straight streets of downtown Jacksonville, Holly turned in her seat and said, “Let’s go to my old sorority house. It’s quiet and we can be alone.”
“What about your sorority sisters?”
“Oh, we don’t use it anymore. It got condemned. But it’s really cool.”
He smiled and said, “Sounds like a plan.”
It was hard to describe what she was feeling right now. Almost like electricity
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