“Hold that thought,” Sofia said then yelled Romero’s order for the usual breakfast burrito he always had. “Okay. Go on.” She stood across from him on the other side of the bar ready to hang on to his every word again.

Romero smirked, his eyes going from Sofia’s to Sal’s. “She ended her day at DJ’s for a few drinks. I can’t see what kind of drinks she bought but she was only there for an hour and she dropped over fifty bucks. Unless she was drinking some expensive ass non-alcoholic drinks this pregnant woman got a pretty significant buzz last night.”

“I told you! I bet you anything nothing happened that night.” Sofia leaned in and lowered her voice. “Let’s be real here. If you were really that wasted that you don’t even remember anything how likely is it that you’d actually be able to … you know, perform?”

Melissa’s words the morning after, suddenly slammed into Sal. You were amazing. Sofia had a point. How amazing could he have been? Even the few times in the past that he remembered being a little loaded it had somewhat impaired his performance. Not that he hadn’t finished the job but it’d been far from amazing. As pushy as Melissa had been he just never thought that she, that anyone would go to these lengths. Maybe his sister was on to something. “What’s going on with those surveillance tapes?” Allowing an infinitesimal bit of hope creep in, Sal would now be hanging on Romero’s every word, too.

Romero frowned, shaking his head. “I’ve struck out twice now but I have one more guy looking into it. He’s a little more expensive but I think he’s worth it. The problem is,” he paused when the server brought out his burrito and placed it in front of him. “Thanks, man.”

Sofia poured him a soda.

“You see, without a court order,” he continued. “The only way to get a copy of the tape is by breaking into their computer system. These casinos have top notch security. Not only that, they change their security codes all the time. This guy I have looking into it now actually got in, but halfway through searching it knocked him out and the security code was reset. The good thing is this guy is a f**king freak when it comes to his work. He’s taking this as a personal challenge. He won’t stop now until he gets it.”

“I’ll pay whatever it takes.” The wheels were spinning in Sal’s head now. Was it really possible that Melissa had planned the whole damn thing? The panties on the floor came to mind. They were the first thing he saw when he sat up that morning and that was when he was still in a complete hung over daze. How could Melissa have missed them right there in the middle of the room? Then something else came to him. He turned to Sofia. “Do we even serve a drink called Liquid Cocaine?”

Romero nearly spit out the food he was eating. Sal watched him grab for a napkin and wipe his mouth. “What?”

Romero glanced at Sofia, seemed as if he was about to say something, then shook his head. “I’ve never heard of the drink. But it sounds lethal. Is that what you were drinking that night?”

“Yeah, and they were being sent over by Melissa and the group of girls she was with—the bachelorette party. ”

“Oh my God, Sal!” Sofia said completely exasperated. “She totally had this planned. How did you not see it?”

“Sof, she was in my room the next morning and I didn’t remember a damn thing.” He did feel pretty stupid now. “What was I supposed to think? I was in such a panic about the whole thing I never stopped to consider she’d go through all that trouble.”

“I told you she was evil.” She picked up her phone and started typing something.

“What are you doing?” Sal asked.

“Googling Liquid Cocaine. That doesn’t even sound legal.”

Romero chuckled again.

Sal’s irritation levels had spiked. “What the hell is so funny?”

“I’ll tell you later,” Romero said. “Anyway, out of curiosity I did check out why she made quite a few visits to see a quack a few months ago. This chick is on some heavy meds. I’m surprised she was drinking at all. Most of the shit she’s on you do not mix with alcohol.”

Sal stared at him. “What kind of meds?”

“Xanax and lithium for starters.” Romero shrugged. “I didn’t read through her whole file; it’s a f**king book. Those are the two main whacko meds I remember but there’s more. The other ones just didn’t jump out at me like those two.”

“Well, that explains a lot.” Sofia said, putting her phone down. “And the drink is legal but just a couple are supposed to knock you on your behind. How many did you have?”

He told them about losing count and the fact that the lethal concoctions came after a parade of tequila shots.

“Dude, I’ve been wasted plenty of times and let me tell you,” Romero laughed. “there is no way anything happened that night. You’d have to be a super hero to get any kind of rise. Even a big fat blue pill wouldn’t have helped with getting a wood after all you drank.”

Sal shot him a look and glanced at Sofia. She laughed. “It’s okay Sal, I’m twenty-two now, remember. If my ears didn’t even bleed back when I was your baby sister and you and the other two thought they would if I was exposed to this kind of talk, they certainly won’t now.”

Sal didn’t say all he normally would about her still being his baby sister, only because now his adrenaline was pumping through him so fast he could hardly think straight.