We were all smiles and high vibes in this establishment.
“What’s going on, Em?” Ivy asked me before I could even say hello. Her round green eyes stared over the glass countertop at me while she toyed with a few pieces of blond hair that stuck out of the bottom of her ponytail.
“Oh, hey ladies!” I tried to push off the question as I shuffled the papers out of the way and stood up straighter, throwing my hair over my shoulder, plastering the smile on my face even thicker—if that were possible.
“Oh absolutely not, Ember. Drop the shit. What’s going on?” Aspen asked before I could even let out another breath. Her forehead was creased with worry, and I wanted to make a joke about her developing wrinkles, but we both knew it wasn’t true. Aspen would be a tall, stunning brunette, longer than any of us would look this good.
I felt my gaze bounce between the two of them before I deflated and sat on the stool behind me, leaning my elbows on the counter and sitting my head in my hands. “Someone hacked into my personal bank account and now they’re trying to get into the bakery’s and I’m just…stressed out. I’m sorry, it’s just been a lot, and the bank hasn’t been any help whatsoever.” I let out a deep and slow breath. “Anyway, enough of my whining. Coffee before your shift tonight?” I asked with another forced smile. Aspen and Ivy were both waitresses at the restaurant a few blocks over, The Roadhouse, and getting coffee before their busy shifts was a routine between the three of us.
They both nodded and paid for the coffees before sitting down to wait. But it was only a moment before Aspen jumped back to her feet and approached the counter again, chewing on her bottom lip, her nerves clear.
“Ember?” she asked, and I turned back towards her. “Listen, I absolutely understand not wanting anyone all into your personal life, trust me. But, Rowan’s brother is actually into computers and security stuff…he, um, helped me with some security issues recently. Would you let me send him over? Just to see if he can help at least figure out who’s stealing your money?”
I didn’t know Rowan all that well, just the couple times I’d seen him in here with Aspen or his sister Payton. Theo was the brother I’d gone to school with, but we never talked. He’d been a bit of a wild child, and I tended to stay to myself.Last I’d heard, he’d joined the army and was off, probably being even more of a wild child, so I really wasn’t sure which brother she’d be sending over. But truly at this point? I needed the help.
I was twisting the bottom of my braid between my fingers before I finally relented and nodded. “Yeah, I’d appreciate it, Aspen, thank you,” I whispered.
I handed her both the coffees and gave her another brief but sad smile that I knew wasn’t convincing in the least.
But at this point, what did it matter who knew I was fucking drowning right now in a ball of stress? Maybe someone else knowing besides CC could help.
Sure as fuck couldn’t get much worse.
It turnedout I was wrong. So very, very,very,fucking wrong.
It got worse.
I stood there, after getting a phone call from a debt collector, a few hours later, looking into my loan for over a hundred thousand dollars. That was when I decided to call the police.
Were they any help? Didn’t feel like it.
Sheriff Levi looked concerned, but he also grew up with my piece of shit father. So he probably thought it was secretly all me, and the apple didn’t fall far from the tree, or some inane bullshit like that.
“Well Ms. Brady, do you know when this started?” the sheriff asked. I could’ve sworn I’d answered this question at least three times now, but who knew.
“No, Sheriff, I don’t. Like I said, my bank called when they noticed weird activity, my accountant pulled my creditreport and looked into it around the same time I started receiving debt collection calls for debts I don’t and have never had.”
I watched as he nodded his head slowly, as though he was taking in everything I was saying but wasn’t buying any of it. It took all of my might not to start throwing around threats at the local head of law enforcement.
That would be a lovely help to my self-image around town.
“Well, have them send everything over to us, and I’ll have my guys pull everything to make sure it matches up. But just so you know, identity theft cases are hard to solve unless it ends up being from someone you know or they’ve done this before,” he said with a shrug.
I slowly nodded my head in acknowledgment, unsure of what else to do.
When he finally left, I closed up for the night, taking a few moments to send him a copy of what I had before I headed upstairs to my apartment. All that was left to do was cuddle with my grumpy cat while wishing today could have gone any differently.
9
COCKY FUCKER
Wyatt
My phone buzzed,and I read the text from my twin brother that truly told me one thing, I was needed over at the barn. So I put on a hoodie and my boots, hopped on my bike, and before I knew it, I was walking into quite the show in under three minutes.
The last week had been a whirlwind.
I’d had the phenomenal night in the woods with Ms. Poison Ivy, only to meet up with Julian to let him knowbrieflyand professionally how it’d gone. Then, when I’d finished my meeting with Julian, I’d gotten a call from my brother about his girlfriend going missing. We immediately knew it was her piece of shit abusive ex, and thankfully, my brother was a bit possessive and had a tracking device…on her. Well,inher, but that wasn’t the point.
