Chapter 2
“One?” Shelly asked the man at the door.
“A booth in the back, if you have it.”
“Sure, hon.” She strolled past me, bubblegum perfume lingering in the air.
I hadn’t moved since he’d walked in.
…hand on my cheek as if to kiss me…him lying dead on the ground…
I shivered.
He tipped his head as he neared me, gaze meeting mine. For a moment I fell into the deep warmth of his eyes, and it felt like home.
Then he blinked, and I was free.
The sounds of the diner returned, Elvis on the speakers pleading to be my teddy bear as I breathed in the heat and smells of fried potato and garlic.
“Ma’am? Yoo-hoo! My bill?” a woman called out.
Right. The job. I should be doing my job.
I snapped into action, gave her the bill, then helped her get her three little kids ready to leave. The stickers I pulled out of my apron for the kids made them squeal with joy.
After that, things really picked up, and I was so busy, I didn’t even notice when Delaney and Jean left.
“I’m closing it down. And he can’t stop me from selling this time,” Kenny Stratton told Gail Malloy, who sat across from him, sipping a cola. “I’m done. With it…with all of it.”
Kenny puffed out his chest, trying to look big. He had long ago canon-balled into the deep end of middle age, and his narrow, curved shoulders and thinning hair were already signaling defeat. He owned Wires and Widgets, a pawn shop that doubled as an electronics and vacuum cleaner repair.
Gail was fighting middle age by sealing her face behind layers of make-up. She worked at the car wash but dressed for the job she wanted—which appeared to be the star of a migraine medication commercial.
“What if he says no?” she asked.
“He won’t like what happens to him.” Kenny leaned toward her and lowered his voice. “I know too much about him.”
“We know too much about him,” she corrected. “He’s desperate for cash. How much do you think we can get out of the inventory?”
“The inventory’s worthless.” He sat back and wiped a napkin over his patchy mustache. “Most of it anyway. Once I dump that, I’ll sell the building. I own it. Half of it.”
“A third.” She poked her straw up and down in her glass, making the ice rattle. “We put my name on the contract too, remember? And Hugo’s still a partner.”
Kenny made a dismissive sound.
Futures flashed:
Apple pie, one piece, two plates
Coffee refill
Bill
Hugo might be desperate for cash, but that shared dessert told me Kenny was almost flat broke too. And cheap.
“Can I get you folks anything else?” I asked. “We bake our pies fresh every day.”
Kenny quickly cut off Gail’s reply. “We’ll share a slice of apple. Is the ice cream extra?”
“Nope, comes with it.”
“But I don’t like ice cream,” Gail whined.
We both looked at her in shock.
“How can you not like ice cream?” he asked.
“It’s too cold.”
He laughed, but the glare she threw his way made him cork it real fast.
“All right then,” I said. “One apple pie with ice cream on the side.”
“Two plates.” Kenny pointed at his coffee. “And heat this up.”
I nodded and was off.
I’d been sneaking glances at the man in the back booth. He’d ordered the chowder bowl (good choice) and a side of corn bread (also good). He’d been slowly making his way through both as he scrolled on his phone.
Every once in a while, he’d look up and stare off into the middle space, pressing his palm flat on the table and flexing his fingers, which was a weird little habit. But even weirder was how often his attention returned to Aggie.
I wondered why he kept looking at her.
I wondered why she’d run out of the room the moment he had stepped in.
Shelly swung past his table and gave him a fresh Arnold Palmer.
He didn’t seem to track her like he was tracking Aggie.
It wasn’t a little future thing, but I had a funny feeling about him. Some of it was that (nice) instant attraction at first sight, but some of it was, well, not fear, but caution.
I had a good nose for magic and mayhem but when I looked at him, I couldn’t tell if he was magic or not. I couldn’t tell if he was dangerous or safe. I couldn’t tell what kind of trouble he might be.
Which only made me more curious about him.
I slid up to Aggie as she was wiping down a table.
“Hey, friend. Can I ask you a question?”
She jerked and looked back at me. “How are you so quiet?”
“I’m not that quiet, it’s just noisy in here. Do you know that man in the back booth?”
“No. Why?”
“He’s been staring at you. And if you ask me, he’s…” I fanned myself with my order pad, “…hot.”
She dropped her fists to her hips. “Piper. Did you talk to him? Did he say something about me? What’s going on?”
“I haven’t talked to him, Shelly’s working that table. Hey,” I said, “are you okay? What’s going on?”
“Look.” She touched my elbow and guided me over to a quieter spot mostly out of his line of vision.
“He’s my…ex-boss. I used to work at his antique store, buying and pricing the rare items to take to auctions.
It was good. Really good for a while. But then he just got so overbearing.
Came up with ridiculous rules that never made sense.
I think he might have been selling things on the black market. ”
“Uh-oh,” I said. “That’s not good.”
“No, it wasn’t. But he must have figured out I knew. Every time I looked up, he was there, following me.”
“He was stalking you?” Time to put the brakes on my first impressions. If he was a stalker, there was nothing attractive about him at all.
He wasn’t good trouble. He was bad trouble.
“Do you think he followed you here?”
“Maybe, but maybe not. He travels a lot for his work—always looking to score another big antique to auction. This could just be a coincidence.” She chanced a glance over her shoulder. “I think it is. A coincidence.”
I didn’t believe in coincidence. There were too many gods and supernaturals who liked to mess with fate, time, and chance, for me to believe in coincidences like that.
“But hey,” she said, “you know everyone who comes through here. Is he a regular? Have you seen him before?”
I resisted the urge to look at him. I knew what he looked like. He was the dangerous sort of scruffy handsome I found hard to resist.
He’s also a stalker, I thought.
“I’ve never seen him.”
“Are you sure?”
“Oh, I’d remember him.”
“Good. Okay, so promise me you won’t talk to him. He’s not worth it. If we both ignore him, he’ll leave and that will be that.”
“I’ll tell Buzz about him. Or—better idea—we can call the police. They can make sure he moves along.”
“No police,” she said quickly. “I’m not in danger. I’m probably just overreacting. He’s just another customer, let’s treat him like one.”
“But if he does anything,” I insisted, “if you need me for anything, I’m here for you.”
“Thank you, Piper. You’re so easy.”
“Easy?”
“To like, of course.” She flashed me a smile.
“Hey, you. Waitress,” Kenny called, waving his credit card at me. “Where’s our check? I don’t have all day.”
“Shoot,” I said. “Gotta go.”
I hustled to Kenny. “Let me get that. I’ll be back in a second.” I took his card and rang him up.
He and Gail were already standing, Gail glancing impatiently out the window. “Can we get out of here? Hugo wants to talk.”
Kenny snatched the card out of my hand and started toward the door.
“Ladies first.”
He hadn’t left a tip which, yeah, it didn’t take a seer to see that coming.
Still, a little future flickered:
Kenny angry. And a teddy bear?
I chuckled and gathered up their dishes.
Some of the little futures were ridiculous. I was glad that not all of the futures I saw came true.
The day went by quickly. By the time I took over half of Shelly’s tables, and Aggie took the other half (I was pulling a double shift, Aggie was pulling one and a half shifts), it was dark, and Stalker ex-Bossman was gone.
A future flash showed me Gail coming back, alone, for a late dinner, so I cleared a booth for her.
Yep. She stumbled in about five minutes later, eyes red from crying. I got her settled.
“Can I get you a nice cup of tea?”
She nodded and used the napkin to wipe her eyes. “Yes, and a slice of the apple pie.”
“Dessert before dinner. Good choice.”
“He can’t tell me what to do. He’s leaving? Then he’s going to pay for it.”
“Kenny?” I asked.
She blinked and seemed surprised I’d heard her. “No. No…my almost-ex. It’s nothing. He’s nothing.”
“That’s the spirit! Want a bowl of whipped cream on the side of that pie?”
“Plus extra whip on top.”
“Coming right up.” I left her with a menu even though I knew she was going to order a cup of soup she wasn’t going to eat and another slice of pie which she would.
“What’s that about?” Aggie asked when we both ended up at the coffee station.
“Mad at her ex. You okay?”
“What do you mean?”
“Just you know, the whole stalker-boss thing.”
“He’s a big fat nothing. I never want to think of him again.”
I laughed. “Great attitude. Well, look at that. Kenny’s back. Wonder if he’s going to sit with Gail.”
“Why do we care?”
I realized she wasn’t up on the gossip that he and Gail were getting together even though Gail was still married to Hugo. My best friend Jules kept me in the loop on stuff like that, but I never felt like I should share other people’s business.
“Oh, you know,” I said. “They were here for lunch earlier. He’s not much of a tipper. I’ll take him.”
I met Kenny at the front and gave him a smile. “One tonight?”
“Yes. Alone.” He had that glassy-eyed, sweaty look that made me think he’d had a drink or two and shouldn’t be driving.
“Right over here. I’ll get you coffee to start.”
Kenny ordered the biggest steak and potatoes we had on the menu and ignored Gail, who (as I’d expected) ordered more pie and whipped cream and ignored him right back.
Looked like the lovers were having a squabble.
When things finally slowed down, Buzz leaned out of the kitchen. “Hey, Pipes. How’s it looking?”
“Slow. You want to knock off for a few minutes? I can cover for the next fifteen or so no problem.”
He rubbed at his eyes. “Where’s Aggie?”
“Can’t find her. I think she went to get one last break before her shift ends. Have you eaten?”
“I have not.” He yawned.
I walked into the kitchen, pulled out a chunk of cheese, tomato, some of the nice roast beef he’d slow-roasted, and the rye bread we’d gotten in fresh this morning. I built a big sandwich for him and wrapped it in paper.
“Where’s the good knife?” I asked. We had more than one good knife, but Buzz and I had agreed we both had one favorite because it never lost its edge.
“Sink?”
I glanced in the sink. No knife.
“Nope. Uncut is going to have to do.” I handed the sandwich to him. “Food. Eat. Air. Breathe. Go. Now. Bye!”
He took the sandwich and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll just be out for a minute.”
“Take fifteen, they’re small.”
He grinned and tromped out the back.
The front door opened and Jean Reed walked in, wearing jeans, jacket, and practical boots. She paused even though almost every table was empty. She wasn’t smiling.
“Hey, Jean,” I said. “Go ahead and sit anywhere you’d like.”
Kenny had left a half hour ago to sit out in his car and mope, but Gail had stayed behind nursing glasses of soda and texting on her phone. She wasn’t at her table at the moment. I guessed she was visiting the lady’s room now, due to all those sodas.
“Thanks.” Jean chose the table nearest the door.
“You pulling a late shift?” I set a glass of water on the table.
“No, I’m off duty now. You were right though.”
“Hey, that’s amazing! What was I right about?”
“There was a fire. A storage unit went up in smoke a couple hours ago.”
“Oh no. Is everyone all right?”
“Yes. It was an empty unit, and no one was there.”
“Wow. Do they know what caused it yet?”
“No, but I have a bad feeling about it. About the whole thing.”
“Doom-twinge?”
She nodded. “I can’t tell what’s wrong though—I mean other than there was a fire—which you already warned us about. I just…it feels like something else is going to happen. Something bad. Something soon.”
A loud clatter and crash made me turn. Four teens had knocked over two glasses of soda, and everyone was laughing and hopping away from the table like it was made of lava.
“I got it! Hang on, hold on!” I rushed over and threw every cloth and napkin I had at the mess, righted the drinks, checked the desserts and fries (which had miraculously escaped harm) and the teens themselves (two of which had soggy shirts.)
“Let me get you a few more napkins.”
I got the kids sorted and refilled their drinks. Out of the corner of my eye, I noted Gail had thrown money on her table and stormed out the door like she was late to yell at someone. (I was gonna guess that someone might be her ex.)
I turned back to Jean’s table.
She wasn’t there.
She hadn’t even touched her drink.
Aggie strode down the hall from the back, her hands pink and damp. She paused to take in the pile of soggy napkins I hadn’t thrown in the garbage yet, then looked at her table of teens.
“What did I miss?”
“Spillageddon.”
“Sorry. I was in the bathroom. My shift’s over though. Are you going to be okay with all this?”
I chuckled. “This isn’t my first fiasco rodeo. It’s cool.”
Aggie gave me an appreciative smile and I rambled off to clean Jean’s table. Jean had left behind a half-shredded napkin.
I scooped it up and glanced out the window. Kenny was gone. There were only a few cars in the lot. Jean’s car was parked at the far end of the parking lot away from the light poles.
Was she out there?
Future flash showed she wasn’t coming back for her table, so I wiped it down and reset it.
Buzz whistled his way back to the kitchen and a woman in a flannel shirt and baseball hat who was going to order the soup of the day and make a joke about it being the soup of the night, walked in.
“Go ahead a sit anywhere,” I told her. “I’ll be right with you.”
I put in the order for soup, then pretended to write it down when she asked for it. I also laughed at her joke, because, yeah, it was funny.
Someone, maybe chronically over-worked Buzz, had left a bag of garbage by the back door, so I picked it up and walked out with it.
The gravel area was dark, only the single automatic light above the door casting weak illumination.
I turned toward the garbage dumpster and stopped.
A man lay on the ground.
He was on his stomach, his jacket yanked back as if someone had tried to grab his coat as he fell.
The uneven light turned the pool of blood spreading beneath him an oily black.
He wasn’t moving.
He wasn’t breathing.
He was dead.