Chapter 29
Twenty-Nine
Santiago
“Fuck, yes! Finally,” I mutter as a plethora of names begin rolling down my screen. “Firewall is officially broken. Now to cross reference—”
The door to the back office of The Shop opens and a curly redhead sticks their head in. I cringe before the guy opens his mouth, knowing what’s coming.
“Hey Santi, there are like a billion customers here today,” Charlie squeaks out. “I need some help. Mind giving me a hand?”
Fuck, that voice.
It’s like his balls not only didn’t drop, but his vocal cords have been exchanged for a dog squeak toy.
Man, why did I hire this kid?
Oh yeah, because I thought his weird, squeaky voice was funny at the time.
It’s not so funny after listening to it for a year.
“Ah, what? Oh.” Work, I forgot about that. “Yeah, I’ll be right out.”
“Thanks, boss!” Charlie squeaks out before ducking back out of the office.
Quickly, I shoot a text to the others, letting them know I’ve made some progress this afternoon with figuring out who sent these drones. When I’m done, I shove my phone back into my pocket and head up front.
Charlie’s right.
It is busy today.
Given that it’s Friday, I guess that makes sense. People are getting ready to do chores and projects around their houses this weekend. Still, it does feel busier than usual. It’s not until an hour or so later that I realize why.
“Excited for the Fall Festival next Friday?” Ryan asks as I check him out.
I freeze, surprised. “Oh, actually, I totally forgot about it.”
The fire chief chuckles. “You forgot? I swear, Santi, you get more excited about this festival than anyone else in this town.”
“Huh… things have just been busy around here, I guess,” I mutter.
Caddawalk’s Fall Festival is something I typically look forward to.
It used to be one of the few places Rhett wouldn’t mind going.
He typically just stuck around the Gnarly Pines booth to help referee the wood chopping competition but sometimes I managed to lure him away to try some new food or check out the band or even play a game or two.
This year, I don’t think it’s wise for him or Blair to go.
My heart sinks.
I guess there’s always next year.
“Yeah? Well, hopefully things slow down for you all,” Ryan says, not noticing my mood plummeting. “Tell Ledger I say hi, will you? He seems to be MIA a lot these days—I’m starting to miss the old bastard.”
I nod. “Will do. Take care.”
Ryan waves as he turns and leaves with his bag of nails and screws. Forcing myself to plaster on a smile, I brace myself to greet the next customer.
When the man steps up, I swear the temperature in The Shop plummets and the air becomes thinner. While there’s nothing outwardly threatening about him, there’s this weird, instinctual urge to shrink away from this guy.
Suppressing a shiver, I meet the man’s sharp gaze and greet him like I do everyone else.
“G’afternoon!” I flash him my best smile even as his dark, cold eyes drift over me. “Find everything you need today?”
The man smiles as his gaze meets mine once more. While there’s nothing particularly off about it, I suddenly have the urge to shiver again.
“Yeah, I did. The employee out there on the floor was exceedingly helpful.”
“Good to hear. Charlie’s a great guy. Handy too, so he knows what he’s talking about when giving advice about what tools and things you might need for a project,” I agree. “Speaking of which, what project are you tackling this weekend?”
He chuckles.
It’s a normal sound but damn it if there’s not some sort of undercurrent beneath it. The hairs on the back of my neck lift as my heart begins to hammer in my chest.
“It’s a special project. One that I’m glad I’ll be able to finish—it’s taken too long as it is.”
Fuck, there’s something up about this asshole I don’t like.
Time to get him the hell out of here.
“Right…” I nod, not quite sure what else there is to say to that. “Well, I don’t want to keep you here then. Can I ring you up?”
The man nods before turning and pulling out a nail gun, a package of nails, duct tape, rope, and an air compressor from his small cart.
“Deck… work?” I guess curiously as I start scanning each item but uncertain about a few of the items.
The man says nothing. Instead, he simply watches me with rapt interest as I finish ringing him up. He pays in cash, no wallet in sight, and shoves the change into his back pocket.
“You know, while I have your attention, Santiago,” he drawls as he places his shopping bags into his cart. “I have a question for you.”
“Okay, shoot.”
He raps his knuckles lightly against the countertop. “I overheard the customer in front of me say that Ledger’s been MIA. Got any idea where he might be? I’d love to chat with him the next time he’s around.”
His question is innocent enough. Everyone knows Ledger around Caddawalk, especially if they frequent Gnarly Pines. People ask to chat with him all the time; about how he’s doing, is he around to talk about sponsorships, or to shoot the shit.
The thing is… the man isn’t from Caddawalk.
I’m pretty familiar with most faces around here and even if I wasn’t, the people around here have a small-town vibe. This man is a stranger and he doesn’t belong here. I’m not sure where he’s from but it’s sure as shit not Caddawalk and I have a feeling he hasn’t just moved into the area.
My instincts scream danger as I stare back at the man across the counter.
The smile clinging to my face turns brittle.
If danger’s come knocking, I’m more than happy to knock fucking back.
The man’s smile never falters, nor does his gaze leave my face. He’s watching my reaction, waiting for something. A reaction maybe?
“You know,” I start. “I’m not sure what he’s up to today. What I can do is pass along a message, how’s that?”
For the first time since he stepped up, the man looks away. His eyes flicker to the security camera, eerily confident of where it is.
“Naw, that’s fine. I’ll stop by again.” He racks his knuckles against the counter. “Take care, Santiago.”
The grin he flashes me before grabbing his stuff and turning away isn’t sinister and yet…
Goosebumps race down my arms. Another customer steps up and starts unloading their things from their cart onto the counter but my eyes stay trained on the man’s back until he slips out the door and out of sight.
As I turn to the next person in line, I realize that I’m not wearing a name tag.
Holy fuck.
Who the hell was that?
“Ledger, come in,” I snap over the radio as I finish locking up The Shop for the evening.
It took me way too long to finish up with the customers.
The line had been never-ending and if I wasn’t ringing up people, I was helping carry wood out to trucks, or grabbing stock out of the back. There hadn’t been time to warn the others until now.
I fumble with the keys until I manage to shove them into the lock and twist.
Immediately, I pull the keys free from the back door of The Shop and look around me for any sign of trouble. If someone is out there watching me, I would know. We have trail cameras pointed at the back of The Shop. Still, I can’t help but look around, anyway.
As I hurry around to the front of the building, I get feedback over the walkie talkie.
“What’s up, Santi?” Ledger asks.
“We had a visitor today.”
I want to say more but Ledger’s in Rhett’s zone today and Wes is in his.
With so many employees around, I need to remain vague.
Opening the driver’s door of the truck, I hop in and toss my laptop into the passenger seat.
Luckily, I don’t need to say more. Ledger’s seemed to have picked up on my urgency.
“Meet me up at the cabin,” Ledger growls.
“Already on my way.”
There’s more feedback, then Wes responds, “Need me to join you?”
“No, stay where you are until I get more information,” Ledger replies.
My tires spin as I reverse out of the parking lot and head up the winding gravel drive to the cabin. Ledger’s already waiting in the backyard for me, tense and expecting. Rhett and Blair are there too, looking just as stressed as I feel.
“I didn’t get a name, number or anything, but he was asking for you,” I tell Ledger as I hurry over to them after I’m done parking.
“What time did he show up?” Ledger demands.
“What did he look like?” Blair asks.
“Did you get his license plate number?” Rhett chimes in.
“He came in around two. He was a tall black guy, with nice shoulders, and eyes that felt like they could suck out my soul. And no,” I answer quickly.
Ledger nudges his head toward the picnic table. “Let’s pull up the security feed.”
The four of us head over to the large table. Sitting down, I open my laptop and slip into Gnarly Pine’s security feeds. It takes a second to flip through the short videos but then I find the one I’m looking for.
“Here it is,” I announce.
Behind me, the others gather close. Turning the laptop around, I press play and let them see the interaction between me and this stranger. The video feed lags a little but the picture is clear, and I shiver as the man steps forward as the fire chief grabs his bag and leaves me at the counter.
The minute the man’s face becomes visible, Ledger takes a step back with a sharp inhale. Then he’s bellowing.
“FUCK! What is he doing here?”
Both Rhett and I jump, surprised by the reaction.
“What?” Rhett demands anxiously. His hand instinctually goes to the gun on his hip. “Who is that?”
“Satan, probably,” I mutter.
“That,” Ledger snarls as he wipes his hand down his face. “Is—”
“My dad!” Blair squeals with delight.
My stomach bottoms out in surprise.
Then twists with fear.
Looking up, I find Blair beaming from ear to ear. She looks from the screen to me, her eyes bright with excitement.
Gaping at her, I ask weakly, “That scary ass motherfucker is your dad?”
Blair waves off my concern and giggles. “He’s not scary!”
“Tell that to the goosebumps that rose up in his presence, carino.” I shake my head. “He knew who I was.”
“Everyone knows who you are around here,” Rhett points out.