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“Going so soon?” Ava called as I made it to the door. I turned back to her and Robert, covered in food.
“Just going down to the bar. I’ll be around,” I said and turned to walk out.
I made it to the bar with my body crying out for a coffee. Normally by now I would have had a couple of cups in me, so I walked past the smoldering wreckage to the coffee shop on the opposite corner. There was outdoor seating there where I could look out over the bar anyway. I mean I might as well be putting some caffeine in me while I did.
When I settled into the chair, I prepared myself for a while of just people-watching. I figured I could sit there all afternoon, watching for anyone who seemed too interested in the fire. Anyone who seemed too disinterested, too. It was as suspicious to gawk and pry around the wreckage as it was for someone to completely avoid their eyes and walk away whistling.
I had been sitting there long enough for my cup to have been empty for at least ten minutes when the chairs on either side of me slid out.
“Tyler, Matt, what are you doing here?” I asked as my brothers sat on the sides of me.
“Same thing as you,” Matt said. “People-watching.”
“Person-watching,” Tyler piped in. “Just one.”
“So, you bought fully in on this conspiracy theory, didn’t you?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t say that. We don’t have any iota of who is behind it yet, but you have to admit, what Jordan is saying makes sense, Tom. Danny Jefferies has been known to disparage us to his clientele, and some of our regulars said they saw him ripping ads for theme nights off windows and telephone poles around town. He hates us,” Tyler explained.
“I just have a hard time believing it, but if you two both think I should take a look at him, I will. It’s just a far cry from the harmless old man I met when I bought this bar,” I said.
“He’s not that old,” Matt said. “And that was a good bit ago anyway. He’s only gotten worse the more successful we got.”
“Alright, you wore me down. I’ll keep an eye out for him, too,” I said. Tyler nodded down the road behind Matt, and we both turned to look.
“Might not have to wait too long to find out,” he said.
Sure enough, Danny Jefferies came ambling up the sidewalk, his eyes turned toward the smoking building and a grin stretching across his face. As he reached us, he turned as if he was going to head to his own bar.
“Shame about your bar,” he said, pausing and looking me directly in the eye. “Just a damn shame.”
There was something in that voice that set me off. I was even angrier as he walked away, openly laughing.
“That rat bastard,” Tyler said under his breath. “That no-good rat bastard.”
“Okay,” I said, putting my coffee cup down and getting the attention of both of the brothers.
“Okay, what?” Tyler asked.
“Okay, now I’m suspicious,” I said.
“The son of a bitch,” Matt said. I could see the anger welling up in him, “if he did this…”
“He will go to jail,” I said, cutting off that dangerous train of thought right there. “But we need proof first.”6AmandaThe notes Tom gave us for the meeting were complicated. I had been going over them for the last couple of hours making sure I fully understood them, jotting down other notes and highlighting certain parts so I could keep track of the pace.
This was the first time Landon and I would handle a meeting without him. It was a little intimidating, but I knew we could do it. Besides, he was depending on us. With everything he was dealing with back home, it was important he feel confident things were managed here. The last thing he needed was to be there trying to deal with all of that while also worrying about the business.
Landon had been working with Tom since the beginning of the company. He would be able to hold down the fort until Tom was back. I had just finished the notes and was about to go through them one more time when my phone rang.
“Hi, Tom,” I said when I saw his name on the screen. “How is everything?”
“Morning, Amanda. Things are still pretty much the same, but we have something we’re trying to follow up on,” he said. “That’s actually why I called. I just realized I left my laptop there.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
It was surprising to think that he could have had such an oversight. As disorganized as he might have been when it came to his schedule, he always made sure he had what he needed to do his work. Due to the fact that he traveled so frequently, he had gotten packing down to a science and could be ready to go an extremely short notice.
