Laci Morgan tossed her suitcase into the trunk before getting into the back seat of the airport taxi. Her flight landed on time in Denver, but her sister couldn't get away to pick her up.
"Can I smoke in here?" she asked the driver, as she pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her laptop bag.
"I'd rather you didn't, ma'am." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out two twenties, sitting them on the middle console.
"How 'bout now?"
He rolled down his window. "Smoke 'em if you got 'em."
Laci lit her cigarette while the driver navigated through the pick up lanes. He introduced himself, but she wouldn't remember his name. Her sights were on the manilla folder she pulled out of her bag and the picture of the blonde woman smiling at her. Abby Lintner. The girl her husband had been fucking on his Denver trips for the last year. She was pretty. Young. Laci leafed through the file and ignored the heavy traffic and people outside her window. A cart of luggage toppled over in front of them as a bellhop tried to get it on the curb. People cussed and cars honked, and Lacy lit another cigarette off the first one.
Lawrence was smart and hid money well, but she knew him better than he knew himself. She found out he was stealing from their Chicago clients-the mob. Not to mention, she'd put the kibosh on his last two affairs. The best part? He thought they left him and he never got an explanation. She fixed them and she'd do the same thing to Ms. Abby here. She settled in and ignored the surrounding noise.
After finally getting on the interstate, Lacy closed the manilla envelope and opened her laptop to check the baseball scores before she would lose service going up the mountain. The driver spoke for the first time since they exited the maze of roads near the airport. "Ma'am, there's a wreck at the bottom of the mountain, so we'll be delayed getting to the ski lodge."
"Fine." She looked up and met the driver's eyes in the rearview. He was young. Nice looking. He wore a baseball cap that hid his dirty blonde hair. He'd been checking her out the entire ride and doing a terrible job of hiding it. Normally, she'd say something, but looking at the picture of Abby and imagining her with Lawrence, she wondered if her husband was on to something with the younger generation. Let the guy look, right? She laughed at the thought and shut off her computer. As she closed her eyes to get Abby out of her mind, she drifted back to her more adventurous years before she met Lawrence.
She would have been around Abby's age, she figured. Most of her nights were spent slinging food at a sandwich shop near campus. Lawrence used to come in, but she didn't pay much attention to him at first. Her attention stayed with her coworkers. One in particular. Elliot. They used to sneak to the dry stock closet and make out in the middle of shifts. Sometimes, she'd pretend to need help near the ice machine and would flash him as he came around the corner. His eyes used to devour her. They never had sex and rarely saw each other outside of work though. On his last day, just before he graduated college and moved out of state, they snuck into the attic where she gave him a blowjob. She'd only done that a few times in her life up to that point and she always remembered how he tasted and the feel of him cumming in her mouth. Her life was so different then.
A horn brought her out of her thoughts. She opened her eyes, and the driver adjusted the rearview, pretending he wasn't staring at her. This time she didn't blame him. Her memory was enough to make her nipples hard. Since padded bras weren't her favorite, they were very visible through the lace cups and thin t-shirt.
His eyes reminded her of Elliot; the excitement hidden behind them. Young eyes. Like Abby. Like Elliot.
"Excuse me, what was your name again?" Laci asked.
"Ted, ma'am. Teddy."
"Do you have your phone, Teddy?"
"Yea, do you need it?" He looked back briefly and held his phone up for her.
"No, but I just need to make sure you aren't using it. I don't intend to be internet famous." She took his phone and turned it off before pulling up the bottom of her shirt. "You want to see them?" she asked.
"Wait. What? See what?"
"Don't pretend. Do you want to see them?"
He nodded.
"Don't wreck." Laci pulled up her black t-shirt, exposing her thin bra for him. "They're pierced." She pulled her bra up and let her large tits go free so Teddy could dream about her later.
"They're perfect, ma'am."
"Thanks. Now, eyes on the road." Laci let him have one last look before she slid her bra back on and lit another cigarette. That was fun, she thought to herself. Too bad the ride was so short, or Teddy may have gotten more. As it stood, they arrived at the front of the ski lodge shortly after her show.
"Teddy, sweetie, give me your card. I may need a ride while I'm in town."
He swallowed hard and fumbled in the console for his business card. "Yes ma'am. Anytime. Just call."
"Will do, hot stuff. Bye now." She got out and grabbed her luggage from the truck. She didn't look back, but knew he watched her until she walked into the building.
Laci left her luggage at the front desk to be sent to her cabin and made her way to the bar. The crowd was sparse for the summer months, so no one flinched when she lit a cigarette as she strolled through the restaurant. The New River Ski Lodge and Resort was private, so it didn't matter if they flinched or not. She smiled when she saw her sister at the bar watching the game.
"Do all bar patrons have guns, or just the pretty ones?" Laci asked as she sat her laptop bag on the polished wooded bar.
Mandy startled and almost dropped her own cigarette, but she jumped up when she saw Laci and met her with a long hug. Anyone who didn't know them would assume they were twins. Mandy was a year older and celebrated her 36
th
birthday a few months back. That was the last time they'd seen each other.
"I've missed you. How is my baby sis?" Mandy leaned back to look at her but still held her tight.
"I'm fine. You're embarrassing me. Let me sit down." Laci squirmed out of her sister's embrace and sat at the bar.
"It's my job to embarrass you. Thanks for mentioning the gun. I forgot about it." Turning her attention to the bartender, she asked him to phone a security guard so she could turn over her firearm and have it put in a safe.
"You look like a cop with that thing on your hip. Do you really need to carry it?" Laci flagged down the bartender and ordered a beer and a shot of tequila.
Mandy took a swig of her beer as she sat back down. "Last week, I tracked down an abusive asshole who hadn't paid his ex-wife child support in 8 years. I served him at his new wife's family reunion. Let's just say the gun on the hip kept things calm."
"I didn't know you did that. Processing serving." Laci took the tequila shot and grimaced as it burned a path down her throat. Hard liquor before two in the afternoon wasn't new to her, but wasn't an everyday thing either.
"I do when my team has the capacity. It doesn't pay as well as my PI work, but it's not much different. How was your flight?"
"Fine. On time. Nothing unusual."
"Did Lawrence let on that he knows you know about Abby?"
Laci shrugged and checked the score on the tv. "No, and I would have noticed. He thinks it's still his secret. I suspect he called her as soon as I left."
Mandy had her laptop out already and quickly brought up a new screen. "He did. FaceTimed her."
"We'll handle her," Laci said as she ordered another drink.
"Her? What about him? This is the third one."
"Why don't you say it louder for everyone else in the fucking bar?" Laci cut her eyes at her sister and stubbed out a cigarette.
Mandy took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She looked around before responding in a lower voice. "I'm sorry. This whole thing pisses me off and I think you should confront him."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I don't want to be without him. I know that may sound sad and pathetic, but it's true."
