“I can't stand seeing you like this.” She sighed dramatically when she reached me. “Do you want me to put a bomb in his car and blow him up?”
I swatted her arm. “Stop thinking about killing all the time.”
“It's one of my best qualities.”
“Come on. Let's go to the back room.”
She wrapped her arm around mine, and together, we headed through the shop. I was moving like a baby calf taking its first steps. My legs were shaking, and I felt I could collapse at any moment.
How embarrassing!
There was no reason for this man, who didn’t even know me, to have this kind of effect on me. I didn't relax until we reached the breakroom. The moment we entered, I shut the door and locked it.
“Why are you locking the door?” Ivy asked. “Do you think he's going to double back and try to break in?”
Before I could answer, she yanked open the drawer beneath the sink and pulled out a nine-millimeter. She checked the clip.
“Put the gun back in the drawer,” I told her, dropping into a chair.
Ignoring me, Ivy paced in front of the cabinet.
“I can’t believe he had the nerve to come into our store,” she complained. “Do you think he knows something?”
“No, I don’t thi...”
“He has to know something.”
“Ivy...”
“But he didn't look like he knew anything.” She stopped pacing. “Maybe he doesn't know anything for sure, but suspects something.”
“Ivy...”
“Ugh!” she groaned. “We should just kill him before the stress from all of this kills us.”
“Sit down, Ivy,” I said calmly, tapping the table.
“I can't sit down.” She pointed toward the front of the store. “I had my hand on the gun under the register the entire time he was in the shop.”
My eyes widened. “You did what?”
“I was nervous as hell, and you know I hate being nervous. It makes me trigger happy.”
“Were you that nervous about Rome?”
“Fuck Rome! I was nervous about shooting an innocent bystander. Monique. If I killed him, then I’d have to kill her. Then, the news would get out that killers owned the popular floral shop, and we’d lose the store.”
“What...” I started, but she kept going.
“That would upset my mom and my sister. You know how those two are. Hearing that I was on the run and we’d lost the shop in Biloxi would cause them to go on a killing spree. Then they’d get investigated, and the authorities would learn that they worked at the Blossoms and Vines floral shop in New Orleans. That would cause all our other branches to be investigated and closed down because customers would be afraid of us.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose as Ivy continued her wild train of thought.
“Then the Petals all over the world would be without their branches, and The Circuit would be forced to close down, and everything would be ruined. All because I killed an innocent bystander in our shop.”
By the time she finished, she was breathing heavily. I shook my head, hating that I understood her logic.
“Okay,” I said slowly. “First of all, he didn't seem to recognize us. And no one died today. So, sit down. We need to talk.”
