Shake Down Dead by Diane Morlan Read Free Book Online

arrived, I saw that the Cozy
Corner parking lot was almost full. We drove up and down the three
aisles of cars until we found a place to park. I took the spot
closest to the front—second row on the far right, almost in the
wooded area that ringed the bar.
    Decker found a place further back and I
waited for him to walk up close to my car before I opened my door.
We walked arm in arm to the bar. Decker paid the $5.00 cover charge
and we looked around for a place to sit in the crowded
bar.
    Most of the tables were occupied. Some
were pushed together for groups of six, eight or more. I spotted
Lisa and Randy at one of the big tables. Randy was wearing a Burger
King crown that said “Happy Birthday.” In the middle of the table
were several pizzas, one with two fat number candles in the
middle—a four and an eight. I wondered what had happened to his
heart-shaped meat loaf. We waved when we walked by and kept moving
toward a small table we spotted in the corner.
    We squeezed our way through the crowd,
laughing when we plopped down on the chairs. The smoky room was
filled with noisy people eating and drinking. The jukebox added to
the din. Decker picked up the menus stuck between the ketchup and
mustard bottles and gave me one.
    A waitress wearing a size 2 t-shirt on
her size 4 frame winked at Decker. “What’ll you have,
good-looking?”
    “I’ll have the Cowboy Burger and a
Leinenkugel beer,” Decker said Looking at the menu, I saw it was a
quarter pounder with aged cheddar cheese, smoked bacon, red onions,
and topped with BBQ sauce.
    “What about you,” she asked me,
snapping her gum. I’ll have a Juicy Lucy and a berry wine
cooler.”
    Looking at her nametag, Decker flashed
his best sexy smile at the waitress. “Becky, Honey, could you bring
the drinks first?”
    “No problem, Chief. I’ll be right
back.”
    “Chief?” I asked.
    Decker laughed. “She knows I’m a cop.
Guess she thinks that I should be chief of police. Smart
gal.”
    “Sure,” I snickered, “She also knows
how to get a good tip.”
    “What’s a juicy Lucy?” Decker
asked.
    I picked up the menu and read, “A chunk
of cheese surrounded by ground beef and cooked until the cheese
melts, resulting in a molten core of cheese within the patty. It’s
topped with finely chopped fried onions and served on a sesame bun.
Sounds tasty, doesn’t it?”
    “Sounds dangerous, just like
you.”

    Becky brought our drinks and we settled
in talking and sipping. Cathy’s burgers are hand made from scratch,
nothing pre-made, so it took a little while for Becky to bring our
order. While we waited, Decker asked, “So, who was that guy you
were cuddling up with this afternoon?”
    “I knew you were going to do this. Do I
have to explain myself?”
    “Yes, you do. I thought that we had an
exclusive relationship. Are you seeing other men?”
    “Jerry, you never said anything about
our relationship being exclusive. When did this happen?”
    Decker reached across the table and
enveloped my hand in his. “The day I meet you, Jennifer. I saw your
pretty eyes and you were so upset after finding that body, you
couldn’t even stand up.”
    “Funny, you never mentioned it to me.”
I had been upset but that’s not why I couldn’t stand up. I took one
look at Decker and got weak in the knees. I sure wasn’t going to
mention that to him. It really hurt when Edwin the Louse, dumped me
for a younger, prettier woman. I was taking this relationship slow.
Very slow.
    Just then Becky arrived with our order.
“Wait a few minutes before you start eating.” she said to me. “The
cheese in that burger is hot as lava. Don’t burn your mouth when
you eat it.”
    I thanked her. She nodded and moved on
to the next table.

    8
    Decker cocked his head to one side and
looked at me. “Did you expect me to ask you to go steady? Do you
want to wear my class ring?”
    “Geez, Decker. I love it when you’re so
romantic.”
    “I aim to please.” He flashed that sexy
grin at