Jack Beale 00 - Killer Run

order for someone in the dining room. Automatically, she turned and tore off the order slip and reached for a glass from the shelf, her thoughts still on his invitation. She turned back to him and said, somewhat warily, “Sounds like fun. Let’s talk about this after I get off.”
    Jack swallowed the last of his beer. “Okay.”
    He slid off his chair and headed for the men’s room, leaving Max standing there, glass in hand, completely confused.
    Seconds later, Max’s best friend, a waitress named Patti, came in from the dining room to pick up the drinks, which normally would have been waiting for her. Instead she found Max standing perfectly still with an empty glass in hand and a strange look on her face.
    “Max,” she said.
    Max remained motionless.
    Patti stared at her and then repeated her name. “Max.”
    Max slowly turned her head and looked at Patti.
    “Max, are you all right?”
    “Yes, yes I’m fine.” With that she began making Patti’s drinks.
    “No, you’re not. I know you too well. Something’s up. What’s going on? Is it Jack? What happened? Where is he? Did he do something stupid?” All of this came out in one breath. When Patti got excited her tongue would often outpace her mind.
    Max finished making the drinks and placed them on Patti’s tray. “Patti, stop. Take a breath. He didn’t do anything stupid, and he’s in the men’s room.”
    Patti’s customer was probably checking his watch, but sorting this out seemed much more important. “So I was right. It was Jack. I knew it. What did he do?”
    “He didn’t do anything.”
    “Then what?”
    “He asked me if I wanted to go up north after Columbus Day for a couple of days. He made reservations at a B&B.” Max said this as matter-of-factly as she could, as if by doing so it wouldn’t seem quite so unusual.
    Patti stared in silence for a moment before blurting out, “Shut the front door! No way!”
    Max could see that she was about to get wound up again, and Jack was due back any second. Before Patti could say anything else, Max urged, “Patti, go. Go serve your drinks. We’ll talk later. Go.”

CHAPTER 4
    AS IT TURNED OUT, those were the last drinks of the night. Jack returned to his seat at the bar and waited for Max to close up. Max, still puzzled, said little while she began the end-of night-ritual. As she worked, she frequently glanced over at Jack, and once or twice she even turned toward him as if to say something, but didn’t. All the while a full conversation continued in her head.
    While Max finished in the bar, Patti followed a similar routine in the dining rooms, and she was equally curious. It didn’t take long for them to finish. Finally, the doors were locked and all that remained was to leave. Only thing was, no one was leaving. Patti came in, took a seat at the bar, turned, and stared at Jack while Max poured him another beer.
    Patti and Max had become friends shortly after Patti began working at Ben’s. While she pursued her lifelong dream of being a professional photographer, waitressing at Ben’s paid the bills. She had been introduced to Jack’s best friend, Dave, when Max had been kidnapped several years ago. Now the four of them were best friends.
    Before Max could even sit down, Patti started in. “So Jack, what’s this about going up north after Columbus Day?”
    Max flashed her a look that said, “Stop. Leave Jack alone.” Aloud she said, “Patti, I can finish up here. Why don’t you head home for an early night with Dave? Go get your things and then I’ll walk you to your car.”
    Reluctantly, Patti headed back to the dining room to look for her pocketbook With her best friend out of the picture, Max looked at Jack and said, “So tell me more about this idea of yours.”
    “What’s to tell? I just thought it would be a nice thing to do.” He knew that this answer would drive her crazy.
    “Jack,” she gave him a light punch in the shoulder. “You know that’s not what I meant. Whenever we have gone away like that, it’s always been my idea. You’ve never suggested doing something like this. Now tell me what’s going on.”
    Jack looked at Max and took another sip of his beer. She was right, of course, and as he looked at her he was trying to find the right words to explain this sudden departure from character.
    “A couple of days ago, after an early morning run, I was standing by the harbor.” He paused, then started again. “Actually, I was in the truck a few days