Page 28 of Cold Hard Cash

Jimmy’s head snapped up when he heard a knock at his door. He stared at the clock on his stove. It was four-thirty. Rowena apparently did not have the same appreciation for punctuality as her brother.

When he opened the door, Rowena was propped seductively against the frame with a brown paper grocery bag in her arms and a ridiculously giant purse over her shoulder, grinning slyly like a cat.

“Hello, Mr. Poe,” she said, dropping her voice low, imitating her sibling.

Jimmy smiled in spite of himself and gestured for her to come on in. “Hey!”

“Never too early for margaritas,” Rowena chirped, answering a question Jimmy hadn’t asked. She brushed by him and headed straight to the kitchen as if she had been over here a thousand times before. She pulled out bottles from the paper bag that Jimmy recognized as tequila and sweet and sour mix. “You know, you really live in a fucking dump,” she said dryly, glancing around the dilapidated kitchen.

“I know.” Jimmy frowned. “It’s all I can afford.”

“Aw, I’m sorry, sweetie.” Rowena batted her eyes at him. “Don’t feel bad. You know, me and Roddy used to live two blocks down from here.”

“Really?”

It was hard to imagine Cold living in this part of town.

It wasn’t exactly nice.

“Yeah. Fortunes can change overnight, sweetie.” Rowena turned her head to smirk at him as she pulled a blender out of her large purse. “You don’t know my brother very well, do you?”

Jimmy blushed. “Didn’t exactly have time to Google him while Jules was trying to roast my hand.”

Rowena laughed, a pretty sound like a bell ringing. “Aw, but it was worth it, right? After all, now you have this little arrangement.” She briefly paused making drinks to wiggle her fingers in air quotes.

“He told you.” Jimmy blushed a deeper red as he watched Rowena grab ice out of his freezer and then dump everything into the blender.

“There’s very little my brother doesn’t tell me,” Rowena informed him smugly, popping the lid on and hitting the start button. She let the machine do its thing, pausing to add more tequila and orange juice before blending it down to slush.

Jimmy gulped at that, wondering how much detail Cold was giving her. He must have looked properly horrified because Rowena laughed again.

“Oh! Sweetie!” Rowena patted his arm. “Don’t you fret. He doesn’t tell me everything. What you boys do behind closed doors is none of my business. Whips and chains, all that. Don’t care!”

Jimmy daydreamed about Cold tying him up for a moment but quickly aborted that train of thought. He did not need to catch wood while hanging out with Cold’s sister.

Rowena found a plate, poured a glittering liquor onto it, then pouted at Jimmy. “Don’t suppose you have margarita glasses, do you?”

“No.” Jimmy scratched the back of his neck and grinned sheepishly. “Um, but I have these?” He reached into the cabinet above the sink and pulled out two very cheerful Christmas mugs. One was a reindeer and the other was a snowman. “They’re clean at least.”

“Aw, they’re adorable!” Rowena laughed as she took them. She dipped the rims in the liquor on the plate and sprinkled salt all along the damp edges before pouring in the contents of the blender and holding her chosen reindeer mug out in a toast. “Cheers!”

“Cheers.” Jimmy chuckled, tapping the snowman mug against hers. He was honestly a little concerned about the taste, having seen how much tequila had made it into the blender. Taking a dainty sip, he was surprised to find that it was quite tasty. He smacked his lips, an unexpected taste pleasantly tingling on his tongue. “Is that… cinnamon?”

“Yup!” Rowena said proudly. “It’s Goldschläger. I always put it on the rim of the glass, in the glass, wherever. I love that stuff.”

“Pretty good,” Jimmy agreed, taking another sip.

Rowena hopped up on the counter to perch there as she drank. “Now, here’s the plan, Jimmy. First, we make the margaritas. Then we drink the margaritas. Then we make more, and we drink those too.”

“And when we run out?”

“Then we go shopping”

Jimmy let out a low whistle. The drinks were strong, and there was a generous amount of slush left in the blender. “And we’re gonna drink all of that?”

“Need to get you good and liquored up so you’ll tell me everything I want to know.”

Jimmy didn’t know how good of an idea that was. “You could just ask me. I mean, I can’t promise you I’ll answer everything.”