Abandoned in Death (In Death, #54)(22)

“Okay, that ups my worry level. McNab and I will stick close.”

“Stick close but keep the worry level low. She doesn’t fit. It’s just … Friends are a pain in the ass more than half the time.”

“Aw.” Peabody beamed a smile. “That’s down from what you probably thought a couple of years ago. That would’ve been more like eighty percent, not fifty.”

“I said more than half. Eighty’s more than fifty. Contact Hobe’s building super, get him or her to clear us into her apartment. We’ll walk her route once we check at the bar.”

“Already did. See? Friends are handy.”

Eve flicked a glance over as she rounded a turn. “That would come under partner. Partners are a pain in the ass about a quarter of the time.”

Eve spotted a slot in a loading zone about a block from Mike’s Place and decided to grab it rather than take time to hunt another.

She flipped on her On Duty light.

“Decent neighborhood,” she decided when she got out. “Not as quiet or high on the scale as Elder’s.”

“More crowded, dingier,” Peabody agreed. “Not as close to home,” she added.

“A solid walk from Elder’s, but if you’re hunting the area, this fits.” She paused at a crosswalk as vehicular traffic pushed by and pedestrian traffic crowded in.

“Maybe bars are part of it. If there’s a pattern, bars might be part of that. Maybe the mother worked at a bar.”

“Worked at one,” Eve agreed, “or spent a lot of time drinking in them.”

When the light changed, they joined the flood.

“According to the report, Hobe worked till twelve-fifty or clocked out at twelve-fifty. She walked a few blocks with a coworker—the same one who checked her apartment. Coworker peeled off to go another half block south to her residence. It was raining, so they were walking fast. Hobe’s building doesn’t have door cams, but she would need to code in. She didn’t.”

Eve stopped in front of Mike’s Place. It boasted a bright red door and a wide glass window filled with neon. The name of the bar, a figure of some guy with a mic and an arm raised. Under him, it announced: KARAOKE! NIGHTLY!

Eve considered working in a karaoke bar versus getting eaten by sharks. The sharks came close to winning.

She stepped inside, relieved the Nightly! hadn’t yet begun.

A few asses snuggled in stools at the bright red bar. A scatter of people slumped at shiny silver tables. Those struck her as primarily tourists worn out from shopping—likely for things they could just as easily find at home.

The stage—all silver and red—remained, thank Christ, empty.

Clean, she noted, and it probably packed them in at night with people who thought they could sing, those who wanted to humiliate their friends by making them sing, or those who couldn’t resist a mic once they had a few drinks in them.

A single waitress navigated the tables in high red heels, a short black skirt, white shirt, and red bow tie. She served one of the tables what looked like decent bar food and a carafe of white wine.

Eve crossed to the bar, where a lone bartender in a MIKE’S PLACE T-shirt pulled a draft brew.

“Ladies.” He had smooth dark skin, shoulder-length braids, and a killer smile. Eve imagined his tip pull proved awesome. “You can have your pick of tables or pull up a couple stools and keep me company.”

To give him a break, Eve discreetly palmed her badge.

She watched the killer smile fade.

“Oh crap. Is this about Anna? Did you find her? Is she okay? What—”

“We haven’t located Ms. Hobe. We’re here to follow up on the pending investigation.”

“It’s been days. It’s been, like, a week.”

“Were you working the night she went missing?”

“Yeah. I mean, I was on the stick till about eleven. She had another couple hours on, so she was here when I left.”

“Can we get your name?”

“Yeah sure. Bo—I’m Bo Kurtis—with a K. Look, Anna and I worked together the last four years—I’ve been here six. We even sort of dated a few years ago. Nothing major, and it didn’t, you know, happen for either of us. I just want to get that out there. We’re friends.”

Eve slid onto a stool and took him through the usual questions, ones she knew he’d have answered before.

“Honest to Jesus, she wouldn’t have just walked away. She liked working here. She could sing, and she’d get up there sometimes with some of the customers. She liked living in New York. She came here not long before she got the job—from upstate. She really liked living in the city, liked her apartment. It’s small, but she liked it. She had friends, man.”

“No relationship?”

“Not right now. I mean, sure, she dated. She just liked people. Nothing serious going. Like I told the other cops, I never saw or heard of anyone hassling her. This isn’t that kind of place, and Mike, well, he wouldn’t put up with that shit. People get lit up, sure, but they don’t come into a karaoke bar looking for trouble.”

“Where is Mike?”

“He’s in the back. He’s been sick about this. You want me to get him?”

“Yeah, why don’t you do that.”

“Give me a sec. They’re signaling me down the bar. We don’t get busy until about eight, but you gotta keep the customers happy.”