By the time the middle-aged bartender finally got to me, “Born to be Wild” was playing again. “Haven’t seen you here before.” He swiped the space in front of me with a rag that had seen a lifetime of duty. I’m not a psychologist, but one look told me this guy probably thought drinking hemlock was just one short step below working here.

I ordered a beer on tap. I wasn’t planning to drink it anyway. “First time here,” I said. “I’m looking for somebody. Kim.”

I had a photo of Wendy ready, and I laid it on the not-quite-clean counter. “Do you happen to know her?”

“Why?”

That wasn’t quite as good as “no way,” but I was encouraged. “I told her I’d meet her here.”

“Pretty crowded.” And with that, he took off.

A minute later my beer was in front of me, but before I could ask him anything else, he’d scooped up my five-dollar bill and left again.

The woman beside me turned. She had smooth skin the color of chestnuts. “Isn’t he a sweetie?”

“I bet he’s on his way to pick a fight with somebody, so he can put an end to all this.”

She laughed. “Picking a fight’s easy here. So you’re looking for somebody?”

I slid Wendy’s photo toward her. “Are you here often? I told Kim I’d meet her tonight, but I’m either early or late.”

“You never been here before?”

“Kim’s thing, not mine.”

She lifted the photo and held it closer. I made a guess she was nearsighted and no fan of glasses. She handed it back. “She looks kind of familiar.”

I told my heart to stop skipping. “I don’t know how often she comes.”

“It’s not the best place to look for guys. I’ve already got one, so I’m safe.” She nodded behind her. “Shooting pool. He makes enough in an hour here to take me somewhere nicer on Saturday.”

“American enterprise. Gotta love it.”

We chatted awhile and eventually she showed “Kim’s” photo to the tweedy guy, who seemed to know everybody. As it turned out he owned a national chain of cycle shops, and nobody here was going to mess with him.

My new friend translated whatever tweedy guy mumbled after looking at the photo. “He said he’s seen her here, but not tonight.”

I didn’t know what to feel. After all, I was here to find answers. But I had hoped that nobody would recognize my sister.

Immersed in thought I hadn’t realized my seatmate had finished, but now I saw she was waiting for a response to something she’d said. “I missed that last part.” I moved a little closer, as if the noise around us was the problem.

“He said that guy who just came in might be able to help.” She swiveled and pointed to her right.

The news was getting worse, along with the crowd. Craig Leone himself was pushing his way through to take a newly vacant seat not far away.