Chapter 11
Nina
John and Jay had faces of stone as they approached my table, where my book lay forgotten.
“Can you take Nina out back?” John asked Mary. His voice was emotionless as he and Jay cornered Ralph.
“I was talking to Miss Novak,” Ralph said, squaring his shoulders and lifting his chin.
“Interview’s over,” John said.
I couldn’t understand how this guy, Ralph—I didn’t for one second believe his last name was Smith—wasn’t rattled. John was on my side, and he still made me nervous.
“Come on,” Mary said while collecting my things. She turned to John, “I’ll be right back.” I didn’t think she was worried about leaving John and Jay to deal with Ralph, but leaving the counter unattended wasn’t a good idea in a busy business.
“No rush, backups coming,” Jay said four seconds before the front door opened and Jack walked in.
“Can you man the counter?” John asked.
I always forgot that all Mary’s kids had worked at Grannie’s when they were teenagers. I wondered if being a barista was like riding a bike. It must be.
“On it,” Jack said, eyeing the now squirming Ralph as he walked by. “Hey, Ma.” He kissed her cheek. “Why don’t you take Nina to your office?”
“Doesn’t he need a code?” I asked, hating that Mary might lose business because of me.
“He has one. You remember it, right, Jack?”
He laughed. “Like you tattooed it on my forehead. Now go.”
I felt like I was starring in a play about my life, but no one had given me the script.
“We’re going,” Mary said. Jack’s footsteps echoed as he walked across the floor of the eerily quiet shop as Mary and I turned down the short hall to her office.
Near the hall that led to the back, Mary stopped. “I don’t want to wait for John to give me answers, so I plan on eavesdropping. You want to join me?”
My eyes bulged at the idea of Mary defying John. Did I dare? Desperate to learn more, I decided I did.
Ralph spoke first. “I don’t know who you think you are, but I have an investigation to run.”
“John Sheppard.” He held out his hand. “I co-own Grannie’s, and you are?”
My eyes snapped to Mary, who shook her head back and forth.
“Ralph Smith.”
Jay’s cough sounded like a laugh, even across the room.
“Got a business card I could see?” John asked.
John accepted it and immediately handed it to Jay, who nodded.
What was going on? Half the conversation was happening without words, and I was clueless.
John stared. Ralph glared. Jay watched, looking more crouching tiger than human as he snapped a photo of the card before shoving it into his pocket.
“Mr. Smith.”
“Please, John, call me Ralph.”
“It’s Mr. Sheppard, Mr. Smith.”
If that’d happened on a show I was watching, I would’ve shouted “Mic Drop!” at the TV. But I bit my lip to keep myself quiet.
“What is your business with Miss Novak?”
The bell above the door chimed as a woman walked in, pushing a baby stroller. She was chatting away on her phone and barely noticed the tension as she made her way to the counter.
She ordered her drink. Jack made the iced beverage like a pro, and she left the same way she’d come in. Clueless.
“It’s of a personal nature, not that it’s any of your business,” Mr. Smith answered.
“Perhaps, but in the future if you want to speak to Nina, you call me first.”
John held out a business card.
Mr. Smith hesitated before taking it. “I’ll be back.”
He sounded less ominous than the futuristic robot, but his words still sent a chill down my spine.
No one except Ralph moved as he walked out. As soon as the door closed, John said, “You can come out now.”
“Busted,” Mary said, laughing. She put her arm around me as we walked back to the dining room.
John turned and asked, “Nina, have you ever seen that guy before?”
“No.” Before I could stop myself, I started babbling like a nervous Nelly. “I have no idea what he’s talking about or why he asked about my family. My parents are dead. And I never met my birth parents. I don’t even know their names.”
When I finally stopped to take a breath, John said, “It’ll be okay. We’ll check out his company and run facial recognition to learn what we can.”
John probably meant to put my mind at ease, but my hands started shaking uncontrollably as he explained.
“Here, sit,” Mary helped me into a nearby booth. One away from the window.
“Jay, who do we have available tonight?”
“Blaszek and Maxwell.”
“Don’t you mean Maxwell-Sheppard?” Jack asked.
“Not at work,” Jay flipped his brother a finger.
“Jaden!”
“Sorry, Ma.”
“Nina, I’d like to have Cate escort you home tonight, if that’s okay.”
I didn’t know what SSI charged for a bodyguard, but I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that I couldn’t afford it.
“That’s okay. My grandmother has a doctor’s appointment after work and that’ll take a while,” I said, leaving out the real reason. Who in their right mind wants to admit they’re broke?
John and Mary shared a look I couldn’t read. I’d noticed the non-verbal communication before, but hadn’t found it annoying until now.
“Nina,” Mary said, “would you reconsider, as a favor to me? I’d hate myself if anything happened to my favorite assistant manager.”
Her only assistant manager.
I whispered my confession, “I can’t afford SSI.”
“That’s not a problem. If my husband can claim ownership of my shop, then I can claim ownership of his PI business, and I say the service is on the house.”
John laughed. “I’m sure your sons won’t argue.”
“I won’t,” Jay said.
“Me neither,” Jack said. “But I can’t speak for Jamie; he’s the rule follower of the bunch.”
I couldn’t win, not with four Sheppards ganging up on me. I almost laughed; the idea of them being a gang was ludicrous. I’d never met a family so determined to protect and save everyone in their sphere of influence.
Being on the receiving end of their protective streak was unnerving.
Not in the same way Ralph Smith’s attention unnerved me, but still.
“I promise you, Cate won’t mind going to the doctor’s office with you,” Jay added.
“Okay,” I conceded, but only because I couldn’t let them down. “If you’re sure it won’t be a problem.”
“Thank you,” Mary said, giving me a side hug. “I’ll sleep better knowing you’re safe.”
Once again, the words said to comfort me had the opposite effect.
Am I in danger? How was I important to Ralph? What did he think I knew?
Does he know something about my parents?