Here’s the prologue for Coastal Fury 58. You can grab a preorder here.
Enjoy~!
The Rolling Thunder was quiet, thanks to a combination of it being a Wednesday and it being an unusually stormy day. I, for one, was grateful for a bit of reprieve from the intense crowds of this past weekend, but from the looks of it, Hailey and Rhoda were both bored and disappointed in their night. I couldn’t blame them. When the bar was busy like it had been lately, the bar girls raked in a lot of tips, and the night had a tendency to fly by. A slow night like tonight meant no real tips to speak of, but even worse than that, time seemed to slow to a crawl.
“Hey, if one of you two wants to go home, I'm completely okay with it,” I offered. “There's no sense in three of us hanging around doing nothing.”
Hailey and Rhoda looked at each other, a silent discussion happening behind their eyes, but neither spoke for a moment. I got the distinct impression that Rhoda didn’t want to be the one to leave as the one in a position of authority, but Hailey didn’t want to jump at the chance to go home and risk not looking like a dedicated worker. The internal debate going on behind both sets of eyes was enough to make me to shift gears.
“You don't have to,” I amended. “I don't mind the company. I just figured I’d offer the option in case one of you could use the night off.” I shrugged nonchalantly to emphasize my lack of concern over their decision.
“I’ll stay,” Rhoda promised. “I have nothing else going on tonight, anyway. But, Hailey, if you want to go, please do. I don’t want to keep you here, and I don’t want you to feel bad leaving, either. It’s totally fine.”
Hailey hesitated for just a moment. “Honestly, I have nothing else going on tonight, either,” she replied thoughtfully. “I’d just go home and binge-watch a reality show, so I think I’d rather stay here, if that’s okay with you both? Besides, I’m enjoying the ambience.”
A clap of thunder boomed in the background, and together with the patter of rain against the windows and the low strumming of some guitar song on the jukebox, I had to admit the ambience was definitely something to appreciate.
“All right, fair enough,” I conceded. “But if either of you change your mind, the offer is still on the table.”
“Thanks,” Rhoda said appreciatively.
“Yeah, thank you,” Hailey added with a smile.
Just then, the front door flew open, and I heard the chatter of three familiar voices.
“Oh, I'm definitely not leaving now,” Rhoda replied stubbornly as she looked toward the source.
Hailey let out a giggle. “Oh, no, me neither. These three on a slow night like this? The night is about to take a good turn.”
“Hey, guys!” Mac shouted as she broke free from whatever she'd been discussing with Charlie and Ty. “We were bored and figured we'd come see if you guys were, too.”
“So bored,” Hailey agreed as Rhoda slipped behind the bar to start slinging drinks. “We're glad you're here!”
“Better than where we were,” Charlie countered. “It's like a ghost town over there.”
“Yeah, why is everyone afraid of a little rain?” Ty added.
The bar lit up from nearby lightning as if to underscore his point, and thunder boomed ominously over the bar and second later.
“The eye of the storm,” I argued. “That’s more than a little rain.”
“Eh,” Ty replied with a shrug. “I've been through worse.”
“You always act so tough until you find yourself in a bad situation,” Mac countered. “Then you're just like the rest of us.”
“Don’t act like you're not tough,” Charlie refuted as he looked over at Mac. “You're tougher than both of us put together.”
“I can agree with that,” Rhoda said sagely as she put all the drinks down in front of everyone.
“Hey, why does that sound like an insult?” Ty complained.
“If that's how you're taking it,” Rhoda replied vaguely. She smirked at Ty, who stared back at her open-mouthed.
“Wow, so that's how it is,” he muttered, but I could tell he hadn't taken it personally.
The lighthearted banter between everyone continued for a bit as Mac, Ty, and Charlie enjoyed their drinks, but eventually, as I'd known it would, the conversation shifted back to me.
“So, Ethan, since the bar is dead, could we hear your next story?” Charlie asked.
“I’m impressed it took you so long to ask,” Mac pointed out with a laugh.
“I'm trying to be better about it,” Charlie replied sheepishly.
“Well, I'm proud of you,” she assured him.
“I'm definitely down for a story,” I agreed. I reached for my drink and took a sip. “It might make the time go by faster.”
“Yes, I'm in support of that!” Hailey laughed. “It’s been way too slow here tonight. We could use a good story to keep our spirits up.”
“What's this one about again?” Ty asked as he took a sip from his drink. “I’m still hung up on the fact that you got thrown into a Bolivian prison.”
“You’re not alone,” Mac muttered.
“This next one is actually about an old film reel,” I replied as I thought back to the case. “I was looking forward to a straightforward case without too much fanfare after all I’d been through. It was an interesting case, full of history and old stories, but it wasnt without its risks, and there was definitely more fanfare than I’d expected.”
“Oh, wow,” Mac muttered. “What happened?”
“Yeah,” Charlie added. “Did you even get a chance to catch your breath before jumping back into things at work?”
“I did,” I replied thoughtfully, “but just barely.” I took another sip of my drink and then placed it down on the bartop. “It all started just as I was getting settled back in from Bolivia, and little did I know, Baker had his own case to solve at the same time, one that finally brought him a partner who seemed worth keeping…”