Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
S he was again debating with herself if she should close the restaurant to cross the street to the sheriff’s office when she heard the bell ring over the door.
She was beginning to hate the sound.
Afraid the goon had come back, she was tempted to sneak out the back door. The goon might have been ugly, but he seemed smart enough to know he hadn’t given her enough time to round up two hundred thousand dollars in the ten minutes since he had left.
Gathering the remnants of her courage, she slipped a knife into her pocket before leaving the kitchen.
She released the breath she had been unconsciously holding when she saw a teenager sitting at the counter.
“Hi,” she greeted him warmly, nearly crying when the young man gave her a shy smile in return.
“Hi.”
“You just get out of school?” she asked, seeing a backpack placed next to him on the chair.
“Yes, ma’am. My uncle picked me up. He had to finish some work before taking me home. He told me I can wait here until he gets off.”
“Can I get you something?”
“Yes, ma’am. I’d like a cheeseburger and some fries.”
Sophie’s smile broadened. “I can do that. What would you like to drink?”
“A glass of milk, ma’am.”
“How about you call me Sophie, and the milk will be on the house?”
“Thank you, ma’am …” the boy broke off with a blush.
Sophie couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll let you get by with it this time, if you tell me your name.”
“Logan Porter.”
Sophie held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Logan.”
“It’s nice to meet you, too.”
“I’ll get your milk then put your hamburger on.”
Reaching inside the small fridge under the condiments section, she took out the milk to pour him a large glass, then placed it down in front of him before she left him alone to return to the kitchen to put the hamburger on. Placing the fries in the basket, she waited until the hamburger was almost done before dropping the fries.
I could get the hang of this , she congratulated herself. As long as I only have one customer at a time , she thought wryly. Unfortunately, she wouldn’t be able to pay many bills.
Dropping the fries, she readied the bun and, once it was done, placed it on the plate before pulling the fries.
When she carried the plate to the counter, she saw Logan had been drawing something in a notebook. She was able to catch a peek before it was flipped closed.
“I wish I could draw like that.” Scooting the ketchup closer to him, she admitted, “I’m lucky to draw a square with a ruler.”
“It’s just doodling.” He shrugged, staring down at his plate.
“Seemed very detailed for doodling,” she remarked, looking toward the door and seeing a sheriff’s deputy come swaggering inside.
The deputy appeared to look sixty with his shock of white hair until he drew closer to sit down next to Logan. Studying him up close, she subtracted about fifteen years from his age.
“Hello, may I help you?”
Logan spoke up. “This is my uncle Greer.”
“Greer Porter.” The deputy took his eyes off Logan’s plate long enough to introduce himself.
“Nice to meet you, Deputy Porter.”
“Greer will do.”
“Sophie,” she introduced herself.
“You Marty’s kin?”
“I was his daughter.”
“You know your old man was an asswipe?”
“Pretty much.”
“Nothing pretty about that bastard.”
Sophie was shocked at how he talked in front of the teenager.
“I can’t disagree with you.”
The deputy raised his eyebrows upward. “You can’t?”
“No, nor do I want to. I hadn’t seen my father for years before his death.”
“Lucky you. He made the town miserable just for wanting to eat one of his burgers. You cook as good as he did?”
“No,” she admitted.
Greer reached for the half-eaten burger on Logan’s plate and took a generous bite. “Give me a couple of those bad boys and a large fry.”
“What would you like to drink?”
“I’ll take a milk. Might as well leave the jug—I drink a lot.”
Bringing the gallon of milk to the counter with a glass, she refilled Logan’s before filling Greer’s.
She excused herself when she saw Greer finishing Logan’s burger and went back to the kitchen. It didn’t take long before she was back, placing the plates down on the counter.
“I didn’t order three.”
“It’s for Logan, to replace the one you ate.”
“I didn’t order it; does that mean it’s on the house?”
“Yes, if you can help me with a little problem I’m having.”
The sheriff deputy squirted a glob of ketchup onto his plate. “Lady, did Logan tell you, you can bribe me with food?”
“I didn’t—”
“Hush, boy.” Greer scowled at his nephew before he turned his gaze back to her. “It takes more than one burger to bribe me.”
“The burger wasn’t meant as a bribe. I was just going to ask for some advice.”
“Oh …” Greer’s expression became dejected. “What kind of advice?”
“A man come in here about an hour ago and told me my father owed him two hundred thousand dollars, and he wanted his money. Should I make a police report?”
Greer’s gaze turned cunning as he took a bite. “Is the burger on the house?”
“Yes.”
“Then yes, you should make the report. Do it tonight. Don’t wait until morning.”
Sophie started to feel scared again at the deputy’s serious tone. “You think I should be worried enough to make the report today?”
“Nah, I just don’t want to have to do the paperwork myself. Joel is a lazy bastard; it’ll give him something to do.”
She had heard of the expression dumbstruck but had never experienced it before.
Watching as the deputy ate the burger, unconcerned, while she was terrified of the man who wanted his money coming back left her speechless.
Logan, who had taken the extra burger and was eating it, placed it back down on the plate. “Uncle Greer, I think she’s afraid. Maybe you should take the paperwork or tell Knox.”
“She has nothing to be afraid of unless she has two hundred thousand in the safe out back.” Greer picked up two fries. “Do you?”
Sophie stared at him in dismay. “Of course not.”
“Then you should be good,” he said, eating his fries. “Whoever he is will at least wait till morning to get the money. By then, you’ll have made the report.”
“I couldn’t come up with that kind of money if he gave me fifty years.”
“Then you have a problem.” Greer started on his other burger. “Which I can help you with in the morning, or you close up when I’m done eating and mosey across the street.”
Gaping at him, she couldn’t believe this guy was a deputy. “Are you serious?”
“Listen up. I’ve been at work since six this morning. I’m tired, and when I get home, I’m going home to a house filled with youngins and their mamas expecting me to keep the little ones entertained so they can make dinner then help the older ones with their homework. If I stay late to do your paperwork, it’s going to upset the balance, and I have to go home to angry women who are going to bust my chops for working late.” Continuing to eat his food, he gave her a repentant stare.
“ Women ?” How had this guy found two women to live with him?
“My wife, Holly, and my brother Dustin’s wife, Jessie. We share a house. Wasn’t the best decision I’ve ever made.”
Logan made a face. “It was your idea.”
“Yeah, well, hindsight is foresight. I blame you on that score.”
Sophie stared at them quizzingly. “How do you blame him? He’s just a kid.”
“He’s fourteen—he’s a man.”
Sophie stared at the young man whom she had taken to be much younger. From Logan’s red cheekbones, he must have seen how surprised she was to learn his age.
“We Porters don’t show our true age,” Greer said, snatching the rest of Logan’s burger. “I keep telling the boy he needs to eat more protein.”
She was surprised Logan was able to get any food around Greer.
Refilling his glass, Greer stared around the restaurant. “Business is slow for this time of day, huh?”
“Mostly, people just come to the door and look in,” she told him. “My dad must have scared off most of his business. His lawyer told me he deliberately drove people away.”
Greer made a snorting sound. “They’re probably just taking a gander at you to see if you’re still breathing. Two people were killed in here. I’d say that dampens their appetite.”
Her stomach churned at his revelation. “Who died in here?”
“Marty and Nickel.”
“God.” Sophie came around to take a seat at the counter. “My dad died here?”
“Yeah. The lawyer didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
“Where at?” Raising a hand, she forced the bile down. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
“Logan, get her a glass of soda. It’ll calm her stomach.”
Logan jumped up at his uncle’s order. “Here you go.” He handed her a drink.
“Thanks.”
Sipping the soda, she had to look away from Greer as he ate his fries.
“Who was the other man?” she asked hoarsely.
“A Last Rider named Nickel. He was a pretty good guy. They had found out Marty was using their business to transport counterfeit money. The Last Riders confronted their workers in the restaurant, and the workers pulled their guns and killed Nickel. One killed Marty when he escaped out the back door.”
“His lawyer didn’t tell me any of this.”
“Yeah, he should have. I say the man who came here to ask for his money must have given them some for the funny money or the plates.”
Sophie raised a trembling hand to her forehead. “How am I supposed to get out of this mess?” she said more to herself than Greer.
“What did he look like?”
She described the man to him.
“Sounds like an ugly son of a bitch.”
“He gave me the creeps.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for him. If he comes back, turn the open sign upside down, and I’ll come over.”
“What if you’re not on duty?”
Greer gave her a speculative gaze. “You hiring?”
“I’m going to be lucky to stay in business for another week.”
“The customers will come back when they hear your burgers are as good as Marty’s and they don’t have to eat them out of a bag in the parking lot. You can’t cook and take customer orders at the same time.”
“You’re right. I have a little money I got from tips that I could use to pay a waitress to work a few hours a day.”
“Why a waitress? Why not a waiter? Logan needs a part-time job. He’s wanting money to save up for a truck for when he gets old enough.”
Logan turned to look at his uncle in surprise. “Dad said he was going to buy me one for my birthday.”
“Dustin was going to buy a used truck. He sees you working, he might let you get a new one if you kick in some money.”
Logan turned toward her. “I’m a hard worker, and I can work anytime. I’m about to get a break from school for summer.”
“He ain’t lying. Logan’s a good boy. Besides that, whoever came here to ask for money won’t lay a hand on you when he’s here.”
Sophie shook her head. “I don’t want to take a chance that Logan could get hurt.”
Greer laughed. “No one in town is stupid enough to touch a hair on Logan’s head.”
Her eyes widened at Greer laughing. “Why not?”
“Because the motherfucker would be dead.”