Chapter 8
For the next few days, Lonnie went by the bakery a few times a day. He always had an excuse for getting cupcakes and had taken it upon himself to get a dozen to take with him into The Watchtower when he would go for training.
He had hoped Alexis would have called or texted him, but she hadn’t. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t make himself available in person.
Lonnie tried to research Alexis and see if he could find out anything about her life.
As far as he could tell, it was straightforward.
It almost seemed too simple to be real. And if there was one thing he had learned while working in the security business, it was that she was definitely afraid of something.
The way her head whipped up quickly whenever someone came into the shop and the clear relief on her face was enough of a tell.
As much as he wanted to believe the relief was for seeing him, he knew it wasn’t the case.
She was relieved with every single person who came in…
that whoever she was afraid of hadn’t found her yet.
Even though he didn’t know anything about her life, he kept an eye out. He was confident he’d be able to spot any danger heading her way. While walking to the bakery, he memorized everything in the area. If anything was out of place, he wanted to pick it out.
He looked around the street before stepping inside the bakery. Again, Alexis’s head whipped up, but relaxed when she saw him.
“Hi, Lonnie,” she said with a small smile. “Here for more cupcakes?”
Lonnie nodded. “I am. I think everyone expects them, so I can’t let them down.”
Alexis giggled. “No, I suppose you can’t.” She walked to the counter and pulled out a box. “At the risk of being presumptuous, I already made up a box for you.”
The warmth that spread through Lonnie surprised him. He didn’t think her assuming he would come to the bakery would make him so happy, but maybe she looked forward to seeing him as much as he looked forward to seeing her.
“That was incredibly kind of you.”
“Do you want to see what I picked in case you’d like something different?”
Lonnie shook his head. “Nope. I trust you.”
She watched him in silence for a moment before she blushed and looked down. “Should I get another cupcake ready for you later? I’m testing a new recipe. Curious to see what you think.”
He smiled. “I’m planning to come by. You can test any recipe on me.”
“Great.”
They stared at each other for another moment before the bell above the door jingled. And just as he expected, Alexis’s face went from fear to relief when she saw the person. He didn’t like seeing her scared, and he needed to get to the bottom of it.
After Lonnie left the shop, he headed to the headquarters. He dropped the box of cupcakes on a table and snagged one for himself. With every cupcake he ate, he told himself he needed to burn it off. It motivated him to push himself harder during training.
“Cupcakes again?” Clint asked with a groan.
“Don’t deny your secret love affair with them,” Lonnie said.
“That’s the problem. I love them too much.”
“We all love them too much,” Amy said. She opened the box and pulled out a vanilla cupcake. Then she looked at Lonnie before taking a bite. “You’ve got it bad.”
He shrugged. “Yep. I do.”
Clint raised an eyebrow before choosing a chocolate cupcake. “No hesitation there.”
Lonnie shrugged again. “Why hesitate when I know I like her?”
“You have a point,” Clint said.
Lonnie scrubbed his chin. “Hey, I wanted to ask you… Do you know much about Alexis?”
Amy shook her head. “Aside from her owning the cupcake shop and you being smitten with her? No.”
“That’s about all I know too,” Clint said. “Why do you ask?”
“Ever since that video was posted of the fight at the club, she’s been acting terrified. I was just wondering whether she was hiding from someone. She’s not on any socials. I can’t find her anywhere, but when I search her, it seems like she has a squeaky-clean past,” Lonnie said.
“How squeaky clean?” Amy asked.
“Suspiciously clean.”
“Have you tried asking Cass? He has lived here longer than us,” Clint said.
“Ask me what?” Cass walked into the room before looking at the cupcakes and shaking his head. “Just ask her out if you like her so much.”
Clint and Amy laughed.
Lonnie shook his head. “I don’t need dating advice.”
“So what do you need to know?” Cass asked.
“What do you know about Alexis?” Lonnie asked.
Cass looked at all of them before tipping his head. “Let’s talk.”
Lonnie followed him, but Clint and Amy stayed behind. Based on the look he had, he only intended only for Lonnie to follow, and the others knew it.
They stepped into a private room, and Cass shut the door. “What do you want to know?”
Lonnie explained the same things to Cass that he had told Clint and Amy. Cass nodded along and scrubbed his face.
“I don’t know much. All I know is that a guy I’m familiar with brought her here,” Cass said.
“What do you mean?” Lonnie asked.
“I mean, she was brought to this town and left here.”
“And what does this guy do?”
Cass rubbed his fingers over his chin. “He works for the U.S. Marshals.”
Lonnie frowned. The Marshals.
If they were in town bringing her here…
Lonnie’s eyes widened. “Do you think she’s in witness protection?”
It all would make sense. She feared someone; that much had been clear. It would also explain her incredibly basic background. None of it was real. It was put in place with her new identity, and Lonnie would bet Alexis wasn’t even her real name.
“I don’t know. But all signs point to yes,” Cass said.
“That explains a lot,” Lonnie said softly.
“Did something happen?”
“The last several days I’ve gone into her shop, she’s been jumpy. She’s worried, and it all started when that video was posted.”
“She’s in it?” Cass asked.
“Briefly. But yes.”
“I don’t know for sure, but if she is in witness protection, it’s for good reason.”
Lonnie nodded. “I’m going to keep an eye on her.”
“I’ll do the same.”
“Thank you. I appreciate it.” Lonnie held out his fist, and Cass bumped it with his.
“Anytime.”
Lonnie left the room and went into the tactical gym, where Amy and Clint were now throwing punches at each other.
He had a lot to think about. He now understood why she hadn’t called.
If she told him she was in witness protection, she would break a huge rule that could put her in jeopardy.
But he wanted to protect her, and he had to find a way to let her know she could trust him.
Fortunately, this was the perfect place to work out a plan.
He pulled on a pair of boxing gloves and went over to a punching bag, where he planned to spend the afternoon.