Tony?

Connie got back in her car and started the 30 minute drive to the neighboring town of Fitzey. As she strapped on her seatbelt, she flipped through the stations to find one that would at least attempt to help soothe her nerves. K-98.9, soft rock and smooth jazz, all day, all night, all the time. The first song on the radio was one of her favorites. She hummed along, and calmed down a little. As that song came to an end, and the opening chords of the following song sounded from the speakers, a memory came into her mind of when she had heard this song last, the weekend before:

They had been at dinner, celebrating Rance's promotion to executive manager of his company. All of his hard work for the past year was starting to pay off. As they drank the Guarana they'd ordered over a candle-lit centerpiece, a disheveled looking gentleman walked up. His hair was a bit askew, and his tie was undone along with the top 2 or 3 buttons of his white, collared shirt. He had not shaved that day, as was apparent from the shadow on his cheeks, and from his breath and demeanor, he was slightly drunk.

"Hey er-Rance. Enjoying your new "hoity-toity" paying job?"

"Well, hello Tony. What can I do for you?"

Tony glared hard into Rance's face. "You can go to -"

Rance interrupted him, "Can I get you some water?"

Tony growled, and shook his head hard, that dark, angry look never leaving his eyes, and walked out the door, only to have the owner of the restaurant let out a dismayed exclamation and run after him.

"Who was that?" Connie queried.

"Just a work buddy," Rance answered, nonchalantly, and the conversation turned easily back towards more pleasant things.

But now that she thought about it, she couldn't forget the look in Tony's eyes as he'd stormed out of the restaurant, and with the state of things, she wondered if Rance's disappearance and disturbing phone-call could have anything to do with that awful glare.