Murder Times Four Box Set

Chapter 4-1

Chapter 4

I got an answer to my question Saturday night.

It was my weekend day off. I get one every other week. So I spent part of it cleaning house, doing laundry, and grocery shopping. With that finished, around two in the afternoon, I settled on my back porch with a beer and a book. The temp was running in the mid-eighties, but clouds were moving in from the west, signaling the rain the weather-guessers had predicted.

“You look comfortable,” Brent said, coming across the yard. He had his own beer, so I didn’t offer him one. Instead, I waved at the other chair. “Not washing the car today?” he asked, after sitting.

I gestured to the clouds. “I think the rain will take care of it for me.”

“It’ll only rain if you wash your car. Not the other way around.”

“In that case, it stays dirty.”

Brent eyed me as if I was losing it, shrugged, and changed the subject. “What are we doing tonight to entertain ourselves?”

“You got me.”

“We should get out of here. Go to a club. Take in a movie. Hell, at least go out to dinner.”

“Take your pick. I’m easy.”

Brent snorted. “I’m keeping my mouth shut about that.”

“About what,” Tyler said, coming around the corner. “Beer?”

“Nope. I open my mouth when beer’s involved,” Brent told him. “Easier to get it into the system.”

“I meant…” Tyler looked at me. “Can you offer a thirsty man a drink?”

“Sure. Coffee? Water? I might have a pop or two in the fridge.”

He took a swipe at me when he came onto the porch. “I meant…”

“You’re repeating yourself,” Brent said.

With a shake of my head, I went in to get a beer for Tyler, and, as it turned out, Chase and Reed as well, since I heard their voices. They were sitting on the steps when I got back, so I passed them bottles after giving Tyler his.

“Brent said we’re planning something for tonight,” Chase said after thanking me and taking a drink.

“Apparently, although we haven’t decided what.”

“Count us in.”

I recognized Luke’s voice and a moment later he and David joined us. They had travel mugs of coffee, saving me another trip inside.

“All we need is Frank and Eliot and we’ll have a quorum,” Tyler said.

Reed counted us, saying, “Technically, we already do. Beside which, I saw them take off about an hour ago. It looked like they had golf bags in the back seat.”

“Probably. That’s Frank’s one big passion,” I told him. “Eliot goes along to cheer him on. If they hold true to form, they’ll stay at the club afterward for dinner, unless Eliot decides to go the restaurant.” He owns a very classy one downtown that, according to Frank, he tends to micro-manage when the mood hits him.

“Count me out,” Tyler said. “I’m due at the theater by six.”

“Well, damn. You can’t…?” Brent shook his head. “No, I guess not. They need their star actor.”

Tyler laughed. “And I need the money they pay me, or I’ll be looking for cheaper digs.”

“Okay, what are the rest of us going to do?” Brent asked.

We debated the options, finally settling on hitting up High Jinks, a new comedy club downtown. As Luke pointed out, it would definitely take our minds off of everything that had happened recently.

With that settled, we just hung out until it began to drizzle. Then everyone else headed home, to eat dinner and get ready for the evening. We agreed to meet at Luke and David’s at seven thirty so we could go to the club in their van. That way David, who wasn’t much of a drinker anyway, could be the designated driver for the rest of us.