Blood on Bourbon

4. Wine and Waiting

Title: Blood on Bourbon

Chapter 4: Wine and Waiting

Narrator

The loft creaked under the weight of its years, its wooden beams sagging like the shoulders of someone who’d seen too much. Erin stood near the window, arms crossed, staring out at the neon flickering of the bar signs below. The faint glow cast a red stream of light across the weathered alley. Her phone screen read 9:47 p.m., and she tapped her foot against the floorboards, counting the minutes. Three hours until midnight. Three hours until they were supposed to meet Duncan and Calum downstairs—two men who might hold the key to finding Mia.

Erin turned to the others, her voice sharp. “We’ve got to stay focused. Duncan’s intense, but he might know something. And Calum owns this place—he could check the security footage from last night. We need to hold it together until then.”

Jade sprawled across the lumpy couch, her dark hair fanning out over a faded cushion. She’d already fished a bottle of cheap merlot from a crate in the corner, the kind of wine that stained your lips and left a headache as a parting gift. “To Mia,” she declared, holding the bottle aloft like a torch before tipping it back for a long swig. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and passed it to Tara, who was perched on a wobbly stool, her phone balanced on her knee.

Tara took the bottle, her fingers trembling slightly as she raised it. “To Mia,” she echoed, her voice softer, almost breaking. She drank, then set the bottle down to type, her thumbs flying over the screen. “‘Waiting in the dark for answers,’” she read aloud, her words starting to slur. “‘Where are you, Mia? #Missing #SendHelp.’” She hit post, and a faint smile tugged at her lips as the screen lit up with a notification—someone had liked it already.

Lexi, curled in an over-stuffed armchair with her legs tucked under her, reached for the bottle next. “That’s so creepy, Tara. I love it.” She poured a sloshing measure into a chipped glass she’d found on a shelf, swirling it like she was some kind of wine connoisseur instead of a twenty-two-year-old drinking to forget. “Here’s mine,” she said, tapping her post into her phone. “‘Midnight looms. Will we find her? #MiaWhereAreYou.’” She uploaded it with a flourish, the blue light of the screen reflecting in her wide, glassy eyes.

Erin watched them, her stomach twisting into knots. “Guys, come on. We’re meeting Duncan and Calum in a few hours. We can’t be a mess when we get down there.” She ran a hand through her strawberry hair, pacing in a tight circle near the window. She pictured Duncan—tall, clean-cut, with that stern, unreadable face that made her feel both safe and unsettled. Then Calum, all shaggy light brown hair and crooked grins, the kind of guy who could charm a room but still had an edge. They were opposites, but together, they might be her best shot at tracking Mia down. She just needed the others to stay sharp.

Jade waved a dismissive hand, her bracelets jangling. “Relax, Erin. It’s just wine. We’re grieving.” She hiccupped, then laughed—a sharp, brittle sound that echoed off the loft’s slanted ceiling. “Mia would’ve wanted us to drink to her, right? She loved a good merlot.”

“She loved a lot of things,” Erin snapped, her voice tighter than she meant it to be. “But she’s not here, and we’re supposed to be finding her, not toasting her like she’s already gone.” The words hung heavy in the air, and for a moment, the loft went quiet, save for the jazz and tourists' chatter outside.

Tara broke the silence, tipping the bottle for another gulp. “She’s not gone,” she said firmly, though her eyes were wet. "She’s just… lost. And we’re gonna find her.” She handed the bottle back to Jade, who took it with a sloppy grin.

“Right,” Lexi chimed in, her glass now half-empty. "Duncan and Calum will help. They have to. I mean, Calum’s got those cameras everywhere in his bar. And Duncan—he looks like he could stare down a brick wall and win.” She giggled, then typed another post: “‘Counting down to midnight. The truth is out there. #FindMia.’”

Erin pressed her fingers to her temples, fighting a headache that wasn’t from wine. “You’re not wrong,” she admitted. “But we need to be coherent when we talk to them. Calum might laugh it off if we stumble in drunk, and Duncan… I don’t think he’s the type to suffer fools.” She glanced at the clock again—10:22 now. The night was slipping away, and with it, her patience.

But the bottle kept circling, and the loft grew hazy with laughter and half-formed theories about Mia’s disappearance. Jade sprawled further across the couch, her posts turning cryptic: “‘The loft knows secrets. #MiaMissing.’” Tara slid off her stool to sit cross-legged on the floor, humming a tune Mia used to love as she scrolled through replies to her social media posts. Lexi’s glass tipped in her hand, a red stain blooming on the armrest as she muttered about how Duncan’s dark eyes were “probably hiding something.”

By 11:30, the energy had shifted. The wine hit harder, and the girls’ voices grew sluggish. Jade’s head lolled against the couch arm, her phone slipping from her fingers. Tara curled up on the floor, her cheek pressed into the cool wood, murmuring Mia’s name. Lexi slumped in the armchair, her glass finally falling with a soft clink, the last drops pooling beside her. Erin stood alone, her heart pounding as the clock ticked closer to midnight.

She checked her phone—11:55. The loft was a graveyard of snores and spilled wine, the air thick with the sour tang of it. She looked at her friends, sprawled and useless, and felt a surge of frustration mixed with something softer—pity, maybe, or just exhaustion. “Fine,” she whispered, grabbing her jacket from a hook by the door. “I’ll do it myself.”

The stairs creaked under her boots as she descended, the bar’s muffled noise growing louder with each step. Her mind raced with what she’d say. Calum, can you pull the footage from last night? Duncan, do you know anyone who might’ve seen her? She pictured them waiting—Duncan’s stern silhouette, Calum’s easy grin—and her resolve hardened. Mia was out there somewhere, and Erin wasn’t about to let a few bottles of merlot stop her from finding out where.

At the bottom of the stairs, she paused, taking a deep breath. Alone or not, she was going to find answers.