Chapter 61
Her shift passed slowly at Jeannie’s, a steady trickle of customers bringing the outside heat haze in with them.
There were a few faces she recognized, regulars having slowly been imprinted on her mind, their faces and usual orders becoming one in her memory, but no one she knew well enough to talk to, and it seemed no one was really in the mood for talking anyway.
As the heat hung heavy in gray clouds, the atmosphere in town seemed similar.
More than one person brought a torn-down poster in with them, crumpled up for the trash, with various mutterings about letting the dead rest and moving on, but she didn’t hear anyone wondering why questions were still being asked.
There was also a wariness in the shifting side glances between the men who ordered their food to go or slid into a booth or took a stool at the counter.
Maybe it was Anna’s imagination, but she would have bet the rest of her savings that she wasn’t the only one in town who thought there might still be a killer among them.
She’d hoped that Todd or the sheriff might come in, but they didn’t, and maybe that was for the best. She doubted they wanted any more of her thoughts on, or questions about, the case.
They’d hardly take her seriously now after what Lucas said and her own blood that wasn’t there in the basement.
They’d lose their shit if they ever heard her theory that maybe the house and Grandma were being haunted by Lila and Bonnie.
She needed more than Victoria’s gossip to try to persuade them that whatever happened to Lila, maybe they should at least figure out who Bonnie’s boyfriend was.
As her shift was finishing, Miles emerged from the kitchen with a loaded sandwich and fries, ignoring Jeannie’s sharp look.
Jeannie didn’t think it was right or good manners for them to eat out front with the customers, but Miles’s answer was always that none of their clientele gave a Frenchman’s fart, and then his crudeness would make her flounce away. Today, though, she said nothing.
“Good to see you, Jed.” Miles sat on a stool at the counter beside a greasy-looking man in a tired suit who’d been nursing a coffee for thirty minutes or so. “Hey, Anna, get Jed a slice of pie before you go. Jed and I go all the way back to high school.”
“Sure do.” The other man nodded and smiled, his teeth crooked and nicotine-stained.
“I try to stop in when I’m passing this way.
See how the old dog is doing.” As Anna plated a large slice of peach pie, she smiled back but knew right away that she didn’t like Jed.
Even before the thing, she wouldn’t have liked him.
It was the way he looked at her. Like she was a piece of meat he was amused by but looked down on.
He was a man who didn’t like women. Not really.
Not beyond tits and ass. A traveling salesman, if there was really such a thing these days.
No wonder Jeannie had stayed at the other end of the counter and not made a fuss of him.
This was Miles’s friend and nothing to do with her.
Anna put the plate down and immediately started taking off her apron. She wasn’t staying any longer than she had to.
“Hey, I see there are still posters up about those girls who got killed.” Jed forked a mouthful of pie while he talked to Miles. “I thought that was done.”
“Small towns. There’s always talk. Always rumors.”
“Probably brought it on themselves. You seen the things girls nowadays wear in bars, like men have no red blood in them? Then it’s our fault if it turns out they ain’t even legal.”
Miles snorted as he bit into his sandwich, mayo dribbling down his chin.
It wasn’t a pleasant sound and it made Anna feel sick.
She’d never seen this side of Miles before.
Maybe it only came out around men like Jed, when it was allowed.
Men like Miles were weak. That made them more dangerous.
Unpredictable. Men like Miles acted like an ally but then would be led by the pack and become the worst of them. The kind to say It wasn’t my fault.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” she muttered, and hurried toward the door, not even waving a goodbye to Jeannie as she nearly ran out into the stifling air. These men. Always these men. She’d learned the hard way. Lila and Bonnie had learned the final way.
She was about to kick the scooter off, eager to get away, when she saw a man standing outside The Shamrock, staring at her.
If looks could kill, she thought as she realized who it was.
Melissa’s dad, who didn’t like his daughter having friends.
He rocked back on his heels slightly. Drunk.
It wasn’t even three. He took a step toward her, and that was all the encouragement she needed to get the scooter going.
She’d had enough. She waited until she was nearly clear of town before she paused and looked back.
There was no one following her. She got her phone out and sent a message to Melissa.
Hope you’re okay today. Thinking of you on Lila’s anniversary.
Also, thought you should know I just saw your dad outside The Shamrock. I think he’s drinking:-(
Melissa replied straightaway. Thanks for letting me know, and yeah, I’m okay. I’ll go down and check on Dad when I’m done here.
Poor Melissa. It was so shit. She was pretty much running that farm by herself. Men, Anna thought again as she headed onto the road home. They should all burn in hell.