Chapter 5
The only thing I want from the streets are tacos.
— Atlas’s secret thoughts
ATLAS
“ What ?” I asked, voice incredulous at Sage’s words.
“ You heard me.” Sage gritted her teeth. “ My sister is in town, and she’s working at that bakery that y’all love.”
Pie Hard .
Maven’s place.
Then a sick sort of understanding started to fill my gut.
That’s why the woman had looked so familiar.
Because she was Sage’s sister.
Fuck .
“ Why is she here?” I asked, trying to hide the disappointment I felt.
I’d heard all about Pepper Solomon .
And what I heard, I didn’t like.
That’s when I felt my belly sink to somewhere below my knees.
I didn’t like tears. I especially didn’t like tears from someone I cared about.
And Sage was full on crying now. “ She came to rub it in my face that my mother passed away, and they didn’t tell me, and I missed her funeral.”
That fuckin’ bitch .
“ What ?” I asked, voice aghast at her words.
“ How fucking hard was it to make a phone call?” she sniffled.
I pulled her into my arms, patting her on the back.
I wouldn’t say that Sage and I were best friends, by any means. But I cared about her. I was worried for her safety.
We hung out once every couple of weeks, and she updated me on her life plans. Today was the day we’d scheduled; it just so happened to coincide well with her sister’s blows.
“ I agree,” I said. “ One phone call, and you could’ve been there in two hours.”
From what Sage had told me, she’d grown up with her family in Kilgore , Texas , which was about a two-hour drive from Dallas .
It would’ve taken nothing for her to get to the funeral.
Hell , I would’ve taken her.
“ I know,” she swiped at her eyes with the back of her hand. “ I can’t believe they’d do this.”
I couldn’t, either.
What kind of sick people were they?
Our lunch smoothed out after the initial shock of hearing about her mother’s passing.
She’d given me an update on her, that she’d gotten into the police academy and would start that with the other recruits next week.
She’d also told me about a new guy she was seeing, and how she thought he might be the one.
I told her about my brothers and my parents, about how the house I was building was coming along, and what my plans were for the rest of the week.
After I left lunch with her, I’d intended to go home.
Really , I had.
I’d been up all night working a SWAT call involving a motorist that had severe road rage and had decided to take the man hauling an RV hostage for cutting him off.
That had taken up the bulk of my night, then I’d had to write reports because my boss, Scott , had decided that reports were beneath him.
Since I was on SWAT only part-time, I was pretty much Scott’s personal bitch.
What he didn’t want to do, I did.
Like making sure that all of the men and women on SWAT had their education and hours up to date. I also coordinated everyone’s schedules, figured out who was on call and who wasn’t. Who had too many hours and couldn’t come in. It was a thankless, never-ending job that I needed a break from.
And going to bed for a solid eight hours to forget about it all sounded pleasant.
But something forced me to go by the bakery that Sage had talked about.
The bakery itself was great.
I loved the owner, Maven Brumfield .
She was the daughter of our chief of police, whom I didn’t really like all that much.
I was glad to see that the father and the daughter were nothing alike, or I wouldn’t have been able to go there as much as I did.
When I got inside, it was to see Pepper standing next to Maven , laughing her ass off.
As if she hadn’t just dealt her sister a blow days ago.
Both women’s eyes came toward me, and both smiled huge.
I scowled at the offensive woman and said, “ So you’re Sage’s sister.”
And the smile that was on Pepper’s face fell away as if it’d never been.
On her beautiful face was now a look of apprehension.
One that confused me.
To change moods that quickly spoke of guilt to me.
“ You know Sage ?” Maven’s lips curled.
“ You do, too,” I said. “ I’ve brought her in here multiple times.”
Maven’s eyes went to Pepper , then back to me. “ I see.”
I felt like I wasn’t understanding what exactly was going on, but it didn’t matter.
I was glad I’d found out who she was before I’d pursued anything with her.
That would’ve been awkward as hell.
“ Can I , uh… get you something?” Pepper asked.
I ignored her and directed my order toward Maven .
“ A couple of peach scones,” I said. “ They’re Sage’s favorite.”
Pepper snorted. “ Sage can’t stand peach. She says it reminds her of a vagina when she eats it.”
My brows rose. “ That’s what she orders every time she comes in here.”
“ That’s probably because it’s your favorite, too,” Maven muttered underneath her breath.
I doubted it.
If I hated something, I certainly wouldn’t eat it just because someone else liked it.
I crossed my arms over my chest and said, “ She likes them.”
Pepper shrugged. “ Whatever .”
Maven patted Pepper on the back and went back into the kitchen, leaving the two of us alone.
I couldn’t stop myself from asking, “ Where’d you get that scar?”
I shouldn’t care.
Honestly , the information that Sage had shared about her sister… it was eye opening and sickening.
But still… I cared.
I needed to know.
“ Which version would you like?” she asked.
“ The truth,” I shot back, knowing I wasn’t going to like what she was about to say.
“ I don’t think you can handle the truth, officer,” she said as she boxed up my peach scones. “ Not when you’re looking at me with hatred in your eyes for some imaginary transgression that my sister made up off the top of her head just so she could use you.”
I couldn’t stop myself from reaching forward and ringing the bell three times.
Goddammit .
I’d tried so hard not to do that, but it was a compulsion.
One I’d never been able to stop myself from doing.
Any kind of bell—whether it be a doorbell, a bike bell, or even the one sitting on the counter in front of me— I had to ring it.
I could usually hold off when it wasn’t important, but sometimes I just couldn’t.
This being one of those times.
I was assuming that was because of the woman in front of me.
She made me nervous.
And angry.
Pepper didn’t react to the bell.
In fact, she was so unbothered by it that I might as well not even have done it.
“ Have a good day,” she said sweetly.
Too sweetly.
I caught the box up and handed her my card.
She refused it, saying, “ No , it’s on me.”
I didn’t want it to be on her.
Reaching into my wallet, I pulled out a twenty and tossed it onto the counter. “ You’re not buying me anything. I wouldn’t take a thing from you after the shit I’ve heard and seen.”
“ Seen ?” she asked.
“ Seen ,” I confirmed.
“ You haven’t seen shit from me,” she snapped.
“ I’ve seen you not show up when your sister was kidnapped and nearly murdered by a serial killer,” I shot back.
An incredulous sound came out of her beautiful mouth. “ You’re hoodwinked.”
“ Hoodwinked ?” I raised a brow at her.
“ Deceived . Tricked . Deluded . Mislead . Misinformed . Duped .” She enunciated each word.
“ I know what it means,” I drawled.
“ Well , then if you know what it means, maybe you should think about why I said it,” she suggested. “ Have a good day, officer.”
I left without another word, but my mind was reeling.
The drive home took less than ten minutes.
I ate both peach scones.
I’d never planned on sharing.
I just wanted to see what she’d do and say if I said it.
As for her reaction… I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it.