Shampoo and a Stiff by Cindy Bell Page B

Bekki turned to see Tom walking in nervously. “Should he be here?” Doug asked Bekki quietly.
    “ I invited him,” Bekki nodded. She knew that word had spread around town that Tom was the prime suspect in Brad's murder. She stood up and met Tom in the middle of the bar.
    “ Let's get a table,” she suggested when he refused to even look at her. She led him to one of the tables furthest from the bar. When she sat down, Tom hovered beside the table.
    “ Bekki, I'm sorry,” he said quietly. “I know how this must seem.”
    “ Just sit down, Tom,” Bekki gestured to the chair across from her. When Tom sat down he stared at the table.
    “ I guess you know by now that I know Steven asked you to stay late on Sunday night,” Bekki said calmly as she tried to meet Tom's eyes. Tom did his best to evade her probing gaze.
    “ I know,” he nodded a little.
    “ So, why did you lie to me?” Bekki asked with more confusion than annoyance. “I told you that I was on your side, Tom.”
    “ I just thought if I told the truth, it would make me look even more guilty,” Tom whispered and stole a glance up at Bekki. “The thing is, I didn't stay.”
    “ What do you mean?” Bekki pushed as she rested her elbows against the table.
    “ I mean, Steven asked me to stay. I didn't know why he wanted me to stay. I thought maybe he wanted me to load the truck. So I agreed. But when I saw him with this guy in a suit, I knew something wasn't right,” he sighed and shook his head. “I just should have turned around right then and left.”
    “ But you didn't,” Bekki frowned. “Who was the guy in the suit?”
    “ Steven introduced him as Mr. Blake, he said that he had an interest in the company. He asked me to show him some of the process of how the shampoo was made, and show him around the factory,” he closed his eyes briefly before gritting his teeth. “I didn't understand what it was about. So, I showed him around the best I could. I didn't work in the factory, so I could only show him some of the things, but by the time we met back up with Steven, he was smiling. He told Steven he was really interested in purchasing the company,” his voice cut off around those words. Bekki watched as the color drained from his expression. “I- I got so angry,” he stammered.
    “ See, Bekki, I ran into some legal problems after high school. I couldn't find a job easily. But Brad said he would take a chance on me, that he needed to have people that worked for him that he could trust. If I had known that Steven was using me to give a sales pitch, I never ever would have done it,” he shook his head and slapped one hand against the table. “I wouldn't have betrayed Brad that way. So, I got angry at Steven. I told him that he had no right to try to sell the company out from under Brad. Then Steven got angry, because I was confronting him in front of this big wig in a suit. I was so angry, Bekki,” he cringed and balled his hands into fists. “I wanted to punch Steven. But I knew I would get arrested if I did. So, I walked away.”
    “ You left?” Bekki asked as she tried to picture the scene in her mind. She was sure that a man like Steven would be livid that Tom hadn't bowed to his will in front of an esteemed business acquaintance.
    “ I did. I was supposed to finish loading the last boxes into the truck, I knew that Steven would be furious, but I just couldn't be there any longer. I left as quickly as I could,” he sank back in his chair and shook his head. “I was sure that Steven was going to fire me. So,” he cleared his throat and he looked up at Bekki, “I called Brad.”
    “ What?” Bekki asked with widened eyes. “Tom! Did you talk to him?” she demanded. She was getting more and more irritated that Tom had held back so much information.
    “ I did,” Tom rubbed his hands across his face. “I was in a panic. I didn't want Brad to think I wasn't loyal, and I didn't want Steven to fire me. So, I thought if I told