Chapter 4 Calder #2
The tension broke, a low chuckle rumbling from my chest. “Retrieving business,” I corrected lightly. “And no, I think that retrieval was a one-time deal.”
“An exception to your rules?”
My gaze collided with her bright-green one, and all lightness evaporated, dispersed by the bolt of heat that went straight to my groin.
“Yeah,” came my hoarse agreement as I turned into the Antlers Diner. “An exception.”
Like everything else about her . . . and what she did to me.
The parking lot was dotted with only a few cars, the lunch crowd mostly cleared out as expected. After swinging the Toyota into a spot near the entrance, I killed the engine and turned to Lara.
“I know the owners, Ron and Teddy, so let me handle the questions.” I sounded sterner than I’d intended, but it was for the best. For business. Better to set the tone now than when we were inside and emotions could take hold.
Lara’s eyes pinched ever so slightly, but I got out of the car before she could argue.
I didn’t let family members or friends or whoever had hired me come along on the case; the risks and overall hinderances were too numerous to count. So bringing Lara here was definitely an exception—another one—to my rule, but I told myself it was a calculated one.
In spite of her fears, there was no evidence to suggest something bad had happened to Rachel.
So if a few questions to the right people could put this search to rest, then I could have Colby come get me and Lara could leave without needing to return to the ranch.
Without planting her memory in any more corners of my life.
As it was, it would take another decade—or longer—to erase the feel of her softness pressed to my chest.
I reached the entrance, eyeing the old security camera above the door that swung open to a familiar chime. I’d stopped at countless diners all over the country, and I swore that bell was the same in every one. Maybe that chime was legally required to put diner in your name.
“Thanks,” Lara murmured as I held the door and then followed her inside.
On instinct, I took a quick scan of the room.
Rule #27: Know your exits before you need them and any threats before they become one.
The building had three exits—the main entrance and two rear doors—plus basement access through the kitchen with BILCO doors on the right side of the building. And in an emergency, any of the front windows could also be broken and climbed through.
On the ceiling, the security cameras collected dust on their covers, the system still the original from when they opened. I did a second sweep of the space, charting every person inside despite doubting any immediate threat; feelings were rarely a good indication of fact.
An older gentleman sat at the very end of the counter, sipping coffee and watching TV.
In the perimeter booths, an elderly couple enjoyed a late lunch, and a family of four, on vacation, had their park maps spread over the table in the booth next to them.
The middle-aged waitress, her blond hair like a pouf of cotton candy on her head, pointed to a spot on the map, likely giving them a recommendation.
I went to check the kitchen next, but my attention snagged on Lara’s profile, her head tilted up and her jaw slack as she looked around.
How was it that over a decade later, I still couldn’t stop myself from staring?
I gave my head a small shake and walked around her to the counter just as a familiar face came through the swinging door.
“Calder.” Ron greeted me with a gap-toothed smile, wiping his hands on the towel slung over his shoulder before extending one over the counter. “Good to see you. It’s been a while.”
“Good to see you, too. How’s Teddy?” I shook his hand firmly and then angled my back to the wall.
“Oh, good. Keeping busy—keeping me busy running around.” Ron cocked his head toward his better half, whom I’d already tagged in the kitchen.
Ron and Teddy were restaurateurs from California who’d taken an early retirement, moved out here, and then came out of retirement to open up a quality local diner. The Antlers, however, looked anything but local once you stepped inside.
The place was covered from floorboard to ceiling with every piece of gaudy antler decor you could find.
Chandeliers. Sconces. Table lamps. Wall decor.
Wallpaper. It was all antlers, everywhere.
However, while they stretched the definition of local, Ron and Teddy had succeeded in their quest for quality.
The food here was pretty damn good, and it was a favorite takeout spot for Colton and Creighton.
Neither of them liked to cook, and in Cassius’s house, you ate what was made for you or you fended for yourself.
“Who’s this you’ve got with you? Finally settling down?”
Shit. I stiffened. “No, nothing like—”
“I’m Lara Crane.” My no-longer-silent partner stepped to my side, flashing a wide smile. “I’m a friend of Calder’s.”
Friend was quite an overstatement of what we were and an understatement of what the lower parts of me wanted to be.
“Lara. So nice to meet you. Can I get you both something to drink? To eat?” Ron instantly went into host mode.
“I wish we were here for pleasure.” I spoke too quickly, grimacing at my word choice.
“Unfortunately, we’re looking for Lara’s sister.
She hasn’t been able to get a hold of her for a few weeks, and we’re just trying to make sure she’s okay.
When Lara last spoke to her, she was here eating lunch, so I was wondering if I could ask you and your staff some questions. ”
“Oh, jeez. That’s terrible.” Ron’s expression sobered. “Of course. Anything you need.”
Reaching for my cell, I caught a slight ripple of tension that went through Lara, her worried gaze quickly turning away. Maybe I should’ve asked her to wait in the car.
Yeah, she never would’ve agreed to that.
“Rachel was here on the fourth with this man.” I opened the photo of Brandon and showed it to him.
Ron pulled his bright-red glasses from his head onto his nose, took my phone, and squinted. “The fourth, you said?”
I nodded.
“What day . . .” He trailed off and turned to the calendar on the wall behind him. Looking over the rim of his readers, he scanned the dates. “The fourth was a Friday. I had a feeling . . . Marlene!” he hollered across the restaurant.
The waitress who was chatting with the family in the booth looked up, and he waved her over.
“Thursdays and Fridays, we have Marlene working the tables so I can help Teddy in the kitchen. If anyone saw him, it was probably her—Marlene.” He put his hand on her shoulder and pointed to me with the hand still holding my phone.
“This is Calder Stone. His family lives up the way a bit, and he’s looking for a friend of his. ”
“Nice to meet you, Marlene.”
She beamed. “Pleasure to meet you, darlin’.”
“Do you remember this man?” Ron pushed the phone in front of her face. “He would’ve been in about three weeks—”
“Oh, I remember him,” she cut in, all the warmth with which she’d greeted me pushed out with a loud huff and barricaded away by the defensive fold of her arms. If that hadn’t made her opinion of Brandon clear, the scowl on her face spelled out, in all capitals, her dislike.
“He’s the one I told you about. Sent back his eggs three times during the lunch rush, all so I’d have to take it off his bill—and then didn’t even leave a tip. ”
Great.
“I do remember you mentioning,” Ron muttered, handing back my phone with a shake of his head.
Trading my phone for my notebook from my pocket, I flipped the worn cover open to the marked page.
Usually these notebooks averaged a five-case fill rate, depending on how involved they were and how many notes I took.
For everyone’s sake, I hoped Rachel’s situation wouldn’t be more than a footnote on a single sheet.
“Did he pay with a credit card?”
“Yes.”
“Ron, could you—”
“Pull the charge from that day?” he finished eagerly. “Sure thing.” He disappeared into the kitchen, a man on a mission.
Giving Marlene a smile, I clicked my pen. “Do you remember the woman he was with?”
The waitress pinched her red lips. “I do. Sweet-looking thing. Had the same green eyes as your friend here, and I remember because they looked just like my little niece’s, and I told her that when she was sitting at the table.”
Lara instantly drifted closer to my side, drawn to the recollection of her sister, and my muscles braced like they would for a fight—for a threat. Maybe that was what she was. Not an exception to my rules, but a threat to my sanity.
“Do you remember overhearing where they were going or what their plans were?” I pressed the pen to the paper, digging the black ink into a dot.
“Oh, no.” Her head moved side to side so furiously, I was surprised we didn’t hear something crack.
“After he sent the eggs back the third time, I kept my distance and my quiet. Once my mouth opens, there’s a good chance this baby won’t stop, and the things I wanted to say to that man .
. . Phew.” She fanned herself with her hand, getting worked up over the memory.
“And the woman he was with, she didn’t mention anything?”
Marlene’s anger deflated in an instant, the very definition of someone who was controlled by their emotions. Fuming fury one moment and then abject pity the next.
“Oh, no. She was so sweet. Pulled me aside and kept apologizing for him sending the eggs back.” As Marlene spoke, I clicked off my pen, growing less and less confident in the fruitfulness of this conversation.
“She even tried to give me some cash for a tip from her purse, but I told her to keep it. Almost told her to use it to get herself a new man, but she had to rush outside because he was getting loud with the police in the parking lot.”
I stilled. Maybe this was going somewhere after all.