Chapter 13 #2
“She does seem a bit on edge, especially now there’s more customers.
Could be she’s been out of the game awhile and doesn’t want to mess up.
” He looked thoughtful, his brows crunched together.
“I’d say it’s been a year or longer since I’ve seen her.
But I don’t come in every day, do I? Not anymore. ”
“Your cholesterol would be through the roof,” Gabe acknowledged.
Nicole was frightened, Gabe was certain of it.
Their lunch arrived, delivered by another waitstaff person since Nicole was still busy at the bar.
While Gabe took several bites of his delicious grilled cheese sandwich—Elton’s homemade ones were better, but he didn’t need to build up the old man’s ego more than it already was—he looked out the picture window and at the view of the canal.
A rabbit scooted out from some bushes fifty feet from the deck and immediately seemed to regret its decision, pausing and sniffing the air, its ears rotating as it listened for predators.
“That’s what she reminds me of,” Gabe said after swallowing a mouthful of clam chowder. “A scared rabbit.”
The wild rabbit turned and fled back into the cover of the shrubbery, and Gabe returned his attention to the bar area.
Nicole was shaking her head at one of the men who had come in after the bikers.
The guy had dark hair and a narrow face that reminded Gabe of a fox.
He reached out and tried to grab Nicole’s upper arm, but she jerked it out of his grasp.
“I don’t like this,” Gabe said, setting his spoon down and stuffing another bite of his sandwich into his mouth.
They weren’t close enough to hear what was being said, but Nicole was obviously upset.
She was shaking and pale, no longer attempting to smile.
The bartender finally realized something was going on and stepped over to interfere.
Whatever he said made Fox Man shoot him a dangerous look, but Foxy dropped his hand and moved away from the server.
The bell for ready orders dinged from the kitchen and Nicole darted away.
“Let’s get out of here,” Gabe said, abandoning the rest of his lunch. He dropped three twenties on the table and rose to his feet. He had a feeling the situation was about to get more complicated.
Before Elton could protest, Gabe was moving, hurrying through the dining area to the exit. If he was right and Nicole was bailing on her shift, he probably had only a few seconds.
There was no one out in the lot, just a line of motorcycles, two pickup trucks—one being Nicole’s—and several sedans.
Surreptitiously, Gabe moseyed in the direction of her truck and looked inside.
What he might find, he didn’t have a clue, but it wouldn’t hurt to look.
He told himself he wanted to be there to help if Foxy or his pal came outside to hassle Nicole.
A child’s car seat was not what he expected—or, at least, the base of a car seat, buckled in the back of the extended cab.
There was nothing wrong with the seat or even having a child, of course there wasn’t.
Maybe Foxy was the baby daddy—god, he hated that phrase—but instinct said no. Foxy was something else.
“Huh.” Aside from the seat base, there was a large carry bag with colorful teddy bears on it and a wad of fast-food wrappers on the floor behind the driver’s seat. Maybe the exchange had been between ex-partners. but Gabe still didn’t think so.
The door that Nicole had disappeared into earlier flew open, and Gabe turned, expecting trouble. What he saw was their waitperson backing out as she spoke to whoever was on the other side.
“I’m sorry. I have to go.” She was speaking fast but sounded genuinely apologetic. “I can’t stay. I don’t know why I thought I could do this.” The last bit seemed more of a mutter to herself.
Gabe took several steps backward so it would look like he’d been admiring the bikes and not casing Nicole’s pickup. A scowling Elton finally emerged from the bar entrance, his eyebrows creating a nearly straight line across his forehead.
“Hey, old man, sorry. I just wanted to check out the bikes. Ready to go?”
“Gimme one damn second, Speed Racer.”
“How do you even know about Speed Racer?”
Nicole didn’t seem to pay any attention to them. Unlocking her truck, she got behind the wheel and started the engine. Gravel spat from under her tires as she sped off, heading in the direction of Westfort.
The two guys pushed outside, looking up and then down the highway, but the truck was out of sight, and they swore. They hadn’t gotten the memo that Nicole was exiting stage left.
“I’m old, not dead.” Elton said tartly. “Did you get whatever it was you scurried out here for?”
“I just wanted to make sure that asshole who grabbed her in there didn’t try anything else. Does she have a kid? There’s a child’s car seat in the back seat of the truck.”
Elton shot him a surprised glance. “No kid as far as I knew, or a boyfriend. Not that a person needs to have a partner to have a child.”
Thank the gods for that, Chance. You were enough.
A buzz informed Gabe that he’d received a text, hopefully the one from Spurring that he’d been waiting for. Dragging his phone out, he scanned the message and then shoved the device back into his jacket pocket.
Unlocking the truck, Gabe motioned for Elton to quicken his pace.
“Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”
To his credit, Elton hurried as well as he could. Once he was settled in, Gabe started up the car, and the engine rumbled to life. Gabe navigated the Ford out of the parking lot, heading the same direction as their waitress had, taking the turn onto the highway a tad too fast.
“Is this an abduction?” Elton snarked.
“No, but Emmett Spurring says he’ll be at the gun batteries at the park in twenty minutes. I’m not gonna risk him getting spooked and leaving early.”
Gabe pressed his foot against the gas pedal, urging the Ford up to speed. With luck, it wouldn’t take more than twenty minutes to get there.
“Perhaps we should call the sheriff, let the LEOs do their job?”
“His text says to come alone. I’m breaking the rules by bringing you along. And anyway, I’m not stopping the police from doing their job. I’m just following a lead the Good Lord gave me. Maybe let Knute know Spurring texted and that I’m on my way.”
“We’re,” Elton said firmly, and he said it again. “We’re.”