Out of Time 01 - Out of Time

was more than that though. There was something unnatural about them. She couldn’t quite place it. Like looking into a reflection of a flame, a mirror image of something once removed, something that existed in the periphery, lying in wait.
    She knew he wanted her to submit, to show her deference somehow. He was the predator, and she was the prey. As idiotic as it probably was, as dangerous as she knew it to be, she wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Men, modern or not, who expected blind deference weren’t going to find it in her. She stood her ground with as much calm as she could muster. Turnabout being fair play, she stared back at him, meeting his challenge with one of her own.
    A ghost of a smile crossed his face—surprised and pleased. He took another drag from his cigarette and flicked the ash onto the floor. “You’re an intriguing one, aren’t you?”
    “Not very,” she said. “I’m really more intrigue adjacent.”
    “Somehow I doubt that,” he said, amused, and then turned to Charlie. “I like this one.”
    Charlie cleared his throat and frowned. “She’s a hard worker. Maybe you should get back to it, Lizzy?” He looked to King for permission. “Lotsa thirsty people.”
    King nodded and narrowed his eyes once more at Elizabeth. “Yes, of course. Charles and I have some business to attend to. We’ll talk again soon, I’m sure.”
    There was an implicit promise in the way he spoke. Or was it a threat? She nodded once in his direction and carried her tray over to Dix.
    “You okay, kid?”
    “Yeah. Fine,” Elizabeth said and cast a glance back over to the table. “I think his bark’s worse than his bite.”
    Dix started and dropped her tray. “Damn it,” she muttered.
    Elizabeth knelt down to help her pick up the broken cups and noticed that Dix’s hands were trembling. “Are you all right?”
    “Yeah, sure,” Dix said, who was clearly anything but. She grasped Elizabeth’s wrist and looked at her with uncharacteristic seriousness. “Just stay away from him. He’s... just stay away, okay?”
    For someone who’d been around the block and back again, Dix was awfully jumpy about King. “Don’t worry,” Elizabeth said. “I’m not looking for any trouble. Believe me.”
    Dix nodded nervously and moved to dump the broken dishes in the trash. Elizabeth stood and took up her tray again. A pair of men at a nearby table called her over, and she went to take their orders. Grateful to be back at work, she tried to let the tension from her meeting with King fade away. But no matter where she went in the small room, she could feel King’s eyes on her.
    A few minutes later, King’s henchman whispered something in his ear. The gangster stood and said something to Charlie, who nodded vigorously. Finally, King left. The strangling energy that came with him began to lift, and the bar came to life again.
    Charlie hurried back behind the bar, mumbling to himself. “Damn Sully. Goin’ and gettin’... now what am I supposed to do?”
    “Anything I can do?” Elizabeth asked.
    “Not unless you play piano.”
    “Sorry. All thumbs,” she said. Once again, her curiosity got the better of her. “What happened to Sully?”
    Charlie’s ruddy face crumpled as he sighed. “King said he had an accident. Broke his fingers last night. All of ‘em.”
    Elizabeth’s stomach dropped as she realized what he meant. She remembered the man’s cries from the alley, the way he held his trembling hands.
    “I think I saw King and Sully the other night,” she said, thinking out loud.
    Charlie’s frown deepened. “No, ya didn’t.”
    “Yeah, in an alley. I was—”
Charlie reached out with his big, meaty hand and clasped her wrist. “You didn’t see nothin’, ya hear me?” he whispered urgently. “You didn’t see nothin’.”
    “Okay, Charlie.” The knuckles of his hand were gnarled and swollen. Silently, they spoke louder of pain than any words could, and she shivered.
    He must have noticed because his face softened and he patted her hand gently. “You stick to your own business. For my sake, all right?”
    “Sure, Charlie.”
    He sighed again and picked up his dishrag. “Where the hell am I gonna find another piano player? Sully wasn’t much, but he was cheap. They don’t fall outta trees ya know.” He rubbed down the bar and a small smile lit his face. “Course, you did, didn’t ya, Lizzy? Fell right outta the sky.”
    “Something like that.”
    “Maybe old Charlie