Chapter 2 #2
While Thomas was doing his best to say the right thing, I could read between the lines.
He had a thing for Madeline. As much as I might’ve liked him, I knew pursuing anything further would just end up with me regretting it.
I was trying to think of the best way to let him know that the two of us dating wouldn’t be a good idea when a man walked up to our table.
He had dirty blond hair, beady green eyes, and a police badge was proudly perched on his hip. A crooked, smug smile crossed his face as he said, “Well, if it ain’t the almighty, Detective Long.”
I had no idea who the man was, but it was clear from Thomas’s expression that he wasn’t pleased to see him. “Mathews. Thought you were on duty tonight.”
“I am. Just stopped in to grab myself a bite to eat.” There was something about Mathews that rubbed me the wrong way.
It probably had to do with the unexplained tension that was radiating off of Thomas as he stared back at him.
Or maybe it was the fact that he was wearing a polo shirt at least one size too small in hopes of making his bulging muscles look even more pronounced.
Whatever it was, I had a bad feeling about him, especially when he turned his attention to me. “Got yourself a real pretty lady.”
“Isn’t it time for you to get back at it?”
“I’ve got some time.” His eyes remained focused on me as he asked, “You got a name, sweetheart?”
“Mathews,” Thomas warned. “It’s time for you to go.”
“Damn, Long. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to get rid of me.” Mathews reached down and picked up Thomas’s glass of sweet tea, taking a long drink before placing it back down on the table. “I’ll let you two get back to it. Have a good one.”
Mathews glanced at me, gave me an inappropriate wink, and then he walked out of the restaurant without his takeout. Once he was out of sight, I looked over at Thomas. His back was still rigid and his expression stern, but he tried to feign a smile as he said, “Sorry about the intrusion.”
“It wasn’t exactly something you could help.”
“No, unfortunately, it wasn’t.”
He called the waitress over and ordered another drink.
We continued eating, but our friendly banter had turned stilted and awkward.
I could only assume that it had something to do with Mathews’ rude exchange, but I didn’t bother asking.
I wasn’t planning on seeing him again anyway.
It didn’t mean I didn’t care that the guy was having a bad day, though.
When I noticed him nervously fiddling with his watch, I looked down at his wrist and briefly studied the silver facing with the worn-out leather band. “I really like your watch.”
“Thanks.” He extended his hand, revealing the weathered band and an oversized clock face that looked to be at least fifty years old. A proud smile crossed his face when he said, “It was my dad’s. He was an officer too. Got killed in the line of duty.”
“Oh, Thomas. I’m really sorry to hear that.”
“No need to be sorry. It was ages ago.” He pulled his hand back and studied the watch a moment. “He was a good man and an even better cop. I’ve always tried to follow in his footsteps, but it’s not as easy as I thought it’d be.”
“It rarely is.”
He glanced down at his watch once more, then said, “It’s getting kind of late. I better let you get home.”
“Okay.”
Since it was dark and I’d parked in the back of the restaurant, Thomas walked me out to my car. It was kind of crowded when I’d first arrived, so I thought it would be fine to park where I had. Now that it was just the two of us, I realized that it probably wasn’t the best idea.
It was eerily quiet with just a few other cars parked behind mine, and unbeknownst to me, the streetlight was out, which made our farewell moment that much more awkward.
When we got to my car, Thomas smiled and said, “I wish I’d come by to pick you up so you wouldn’t have had to drive home so late. ”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
“Well, I don’t like it, but I guess there’s not much I can do about it now.” He smiled. “It really was nice meeting you.”
“Thanks, Thomas. It was nice meeting you too.” As I reached into my purse, I told him, “Thanks again for dinner. I honestly enjoyed it.”
“Maybe we could do it again sometime.”
“Yeah, maybe.” I should’ve told him right then that I wasn’t interested, but I was ready to just get out of there. “We’ll talk about it.”
Before he could say anything more, several men stepped out of the shadows and quickly surrounded us. When Thomas went to reach for his weapon, one of the men aimed his revolver at my head and said, “Don’t even think about it.”
“Easy, man,” Thomas replied calmly. He kept his voice low and steady. “Just tell me what you want.”
“Too late for that.” Panic surged through me as I looked around at the different men.
My adrenaline kicked in with such force I thought I might vomit on the spot.
In the small town where I’d grown up, the only crime we had was a local drunk who caused a little ruckus from time to time, but that was nothing in comparison to this.
There were six men, all covered in tattoos and wearing dark clothing like they were a part of some gang, and the fact they were all carrying weapons made it pretty clear they were there to cause trouble.
Realizing our lives were in danger, I turned back to look at the restaurant, hoping that someone might come to our rescue.
Unfortunately, there was no one in sight. Damn.
The man who’d first spoken to Thomas stepped over to me and grabbed me by the hair, placing the barrel of his gun beneath my chin. “You already done fucked up, and now, you gonna pay for that shit.”