Snippet Sunday – Hard-Boiled/Noir WIP – January 31, 2016

Snippet Sunday is a Facebook group for writers I’ve been privileged enough to have been accepted into.

From the group guidelines; “Welcome to Snippet Sunday, where writers come together to share a few sentences of their current project–whether it’s a recently released novel, a WIP (work in progress), or an older manuscript that’s being revived. Intended to hook readers, gather feedback and build an author’s fan base, Snippet Sunday is the FB group that does all three.”

This week’s snippet picks up where last week’s left off. The clown Jake refers to is Jed’s friend in the aloha shirt…

“Who’s the clown with him?”
“That’s Mickey,” she said. “One of Jed’s ex-brothers-in-law.”
“Should I be worried about him?”
“Mickey? He’s okay. Mostly.”
“Oh good.” I said, looking at the front door.
“I’m actually more concerned about Jed’s other friends.”
She looked toward the door too.
“Which other friends?”
“The ones he probably called a few minutes ago.”
“Jed doesn’t have friends so much as a bunch of guys who do what he tells ’em to.”
“Well that’s a relief.”
I pulled her in closer and we danced right through the next record change. The pickup in tempo brought people back out of their booths. They gave us much more than our fair share of space as they started moving to to the greasy blues groove.
“So your plan is to wait around for the rest of the gang to get here?” she asked.
“Better in here than out there. No telling what we’ll run into outside.”
Jed lumbered toward the far end of the bar. Martha and her husband saw him coming and vacated their seats. The husband gave Jed the stink-eye as they moved out of his way. Jed ignored the man and parked himself on an empty stool. Mickey stayed by the phone.
“If this town’s as small as you say,” I continued, “they ought to be here any time now. Once they’re inside I’ll know what I’m dealing with.”
She stared at me for a couple of seconds,
“You’ve done this before?”
I looked away, first toward Jed, then toward Beau behind the bar. The proprietor had relaxed a little. Both hands rested on the edge of the counter but he hadn’t moved from his spot.
“I’ve got witnesses in here,” I said, “and maybe I’ll even get a little help.”
She let her hands drop away from my shoulders.
“Were you listening to me? He’s got ’em all shit scared, Jake. Nobody here is going to help you.”
I nodded in Beau’s general direction.
“What about him?”
“Beau?” she asked, turning to look. “He’ll defend his bar, sure. Probably call the sheriff for you too, but I wouldn’t expect much more.”

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