Chapter 17: Steven Reider
1:39 P.M.
Green Street
The Beef Bar & Grille
I met Steven Reider exactly where he wanted to meet me, at the Beef Bar & Grille on Green Street in downtown Vanmer. He was seated in a booth with a beer in front of him. A half-eaten endive salad was pushed to the right side of the beer. Reider was dressed in a too-tight canary yellow T-shirt, and a pair of blue shorts. He nodded and said, “Have a seat, Knight.”
I had a seat and looked around the bar. Marilyn Monroe oil paintings by local artists were showcased on the white walls. Rainbow lights hung down from the ceiling in twisted loops. A jukebox played Maroon 5 songs, one after the next. The bar was L-shaped and clustered with empty stools. Three lunching couples—two straight and one gay—sat among us in the re
