Chapter 45: Beer Can Shakeup

Once Roxanne convinced Danny to get onboard with her plan, she called Ruby. She needed someone attractive to distract Baxter. Roxanne assured Ruby she would meet him in a public place so he couldn’t try anything like he did with Roxanne. Still, she worried Baxter wouldn’t fall for their scheme.
Roxanne needed to give Baxter a good reason to unload his stash of cans in order for her idea to work. Based on what Danny had told her, Baxter would pretty much do anything for money – and a pretty face. Somehow, Roxanne thought, they needed a way to get Baxter to the warehouse where he kept the stolen beer and follow him there.
But first, she wanted to toy with him a little.
She had Ruby call Baxter, pretending to be a beer distributor. Ruby told him she happened to run across a new beer in a clover leaf can that she was eager to sell to her clients. When Baxter asked where she found it, Ruby expertly brushed off his question and instead focused on charming Baxter just enough that he agreed to meet the following day
On a cloudy afternoon, Roxanne, Tom, and Danny stood outside the country club, waiting for Ruby to secure them access to the grounds. Tom held a case of Owen’s clover leaf beer.
A few days before, when Roxanne had divulged her plot to Tom after securing her supporting cast, he had been skeptical, but after making Roxanne promise she wouldn’t put herself or the baby in danger, he agreed to her strategy.
Once they received the all-clear from Ruby, they scampered around the clubhouse to the doors that led into the restaurant from the golf course. Tom placed the case of cans at their feet as Ruby installed herself at a table inside.
They figured Baxter would enter from the inside due to his scheduled meeting with Ruby. Roxanne hid behind a bush outside so she would have a good sightline to their table. The case of beers she found in Owen’s office would come in handy in order to carry out their ploy, but only if Ruby could be convincing.
At the scheduled time, Baxter sauntered up to Ruby and shook her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Ruby said, extending her hand in return.
“And you, too,” Baxter smiled wide, his eyes feasting on Ruby’s figure for a moment before sitting down. He ordered two drinks, smiled and chuckled with Ruby, while she smiled back and flicked her hair.
“Here’s my card.” Ruby handed a fake business card to Baxter. Thanks to Tom, who had one of his employees produce a fake business card and contract, Ruby’s ruse would look legitimate.
Baxter picked it up and held it in his hand, then leaned forward on the table. He seemed more interested in Ruby than the business deal, and didn’t pay much attention to the card.
“What’s a pretty woman like you doing in beer distribution?” Baxter asked.
Ruby giggled. “I like to meet all kinds of people. And I’m good at it.”
“I bet you are,” Baxter said and leaned back, still eyeing her.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I wrote up a contract already. You see, I hear you aren’t the only one with access to the beer I want, so if you want to make this official, sign here.” Her face released into a demure grin, and she pushed the contract across the table.
From what Roxanne could tell, Ruby looked to be doing well, alternating between more serious business discussion and casual flirting. At one point, she even grazed Baxter’s hand, which Roxanne could tell sent Baxter in a tizzy. He seemed so taken with Ruby and the opportunity to make more money off his stolen cache of beer cans, he didn’t notice Danny walk in sipping from one of the beer cans Roxanne had found in Owen’s office.
Meanwhile, Tom and Roxanne started to hand out free beers bearing the clover leaf logo from Owen’s reserved stash to all the golfers and country club patrons who entered the room. In the next couple of minutes, while Baxter was talking to Ruby, nearly a dozen men and women walked into the bar area with a clover leaf can.
At one point, Roxanne saw Baxter look quizzically at one of the cans before turning back to Ruby. Roxanne could see he was starting to squirm in his seat, not knowing where the cans were coming from.
Just when he started to get a little too flirty with Ruby, placing his hand atop hers, Tom walked in carrying the clover leaf beer. Baxter recognized him immediately and stared. Tom sat down at the table next to Baxter and waved.
Roxanne was used to seeing Tom stilted and stoic, but in that moment, Tom relaxed in his seat, his back curved to the chair, an impish grin on his face.
Baxter, on the other hand, grew stiff and concerned, his jaw tightening as he scanned the room. At nearly every table, someone was sipping from a clover leaf beer. Baxter was inundated. Like a horror movie, the one thing Baxter coveted, multiplied before his eyes.
He tried to make eye contact with Ruby, but he kept looking around at all the cans. His uncertainty grew as Ruby questioned him.
“Is anything wrong?” she asked in her sweet southern accent.
“No, it’s…” Baxter blinked and wiped his eyes, unsure what to say or do.
Finally, Roxanne walked in carrying an unopened can, her gravid state making each step heavy and deliberate as she approached Baxter, shaking her can. When she reached the table, she slammed down the beer and cracked it open, spraying the liquid on Baxter’s face and chest.
“That was for Owen,” she said.
Baxter looked stunned. His eyes blinked from the liquid as he wiped some droplets off his cheek. He shook his hands to rid them of the excess fluid. Roxanne could tell he didn’t know how to respond.
A moment later, Baxter stood up, towering over Roxanne. He cocked the beer in his hand as if he was about to throw it at her. His eyes bored into her, but she held her ground, staring back. Tom jumped to his feet.
“Hey, Baxter,” a crony of Baxter’s approached from behind and slapped him on the back, his other hand holding a clover leaf beer. “This is pretty good.” He raised the can a little higher. “You should try it.” He wobbled a little, revealing his drunken state and unawareness of the contentious situation.
Baxter curled his lip in disgust.
“Who are these ladies?” the friend asked, raising his eyebrows at Roxanne and Ruby.
“She was just leaving,” Baxter snarled, nodding at Roxanne.
The tension grew as their standoff started to attract attention from some of the other patrons. Roxanne glanced around, pleased to see dozens of people with clover leaf cans surrounding them.
Not wanting to cause any more of a scene, Roxanne turned on her heel and walked away. Being pregnant, she knew Baxter wouldn’t try to attack her, not with so many people in the room drinking from the same cans where Baxter couldn’t tell who was a friend and who was an enemy.
Satisfied that she’d at least unsettled him, Roxanne and her crew prepared for the second part of her plan. Operation Beer Can Shakeup was a success, next came the hard part – catching Baxter with the goods.