Page 10 of A Seer and Present Danger

Looked like the lovers were having a squabble.

When things finally slowed down, Buzz leaned out of the kitchen. “Hey, Pipes. How’s it looking?”

“Slow. You want to knock off for a few minutes? I can cover for the next fifteen or so no problem.”

He rubbed at his eyes. “Where’s Aggie?”

“Can’t find her. I think she went to get one last break before her shift ends. Have you eaten?”

“I have not.” He yawned.

I walked into the kitchen, pulled out a chunk of cheese, tomato, some of the nice roast beef he’d slow-roasted, and the rye bread we’d gotten in fresh this morning. I built a big sandwich for him and wrapped it in paper.

“Where’s the good knife?” I asked. We had more than one good knife, but Buzz and I had agreed we both had one favorite because it never lost its edge.

“Sink?”

I glanced in the sink. No knife.

“Nope. Uncut is going to have to do.” I handed the sandwich to him. “Food. Eat. Air. Breathe. Go. Now. Bye!”

He took the sandwich and pulled his phone out of his pocket. “I’ll just be out for a minute.”

“Take fifteen, they’re small.”

He grinned and tromped out the back.

The front door opened and Jean Reed walked in, wearing jeans, jacket, and practical boots. She paused even though almost every table was empty. She wasn’t smiling.

“Hey, Jean,” I said. “Go ahead and sit anywhere you’d like.”

Kenny had left a half hour ago to sit out in his car and mope, but Gail had stayed behind nursing glasses of soda and texting on her phone. She wasn’t at her table at the moment. I guessed she was visiting the lady’s room now, due to all those sodas.

“Thanks.” Jean chose the table nearest the door.

“You pulling a late shift?” I set a glass of water on the table.

“No, I’m off duty now. You were right though.”

“Hey, that’s amazing! What was I right about?”

“There was a fire. A storage unit went up in smoke a couple hours ago.”

“Oh no. Is everyone all right?”

“Yes. It was an empty unit, and no one was there.”

“Wow. Do they know what caused it yet?”

“No, but I have a bad feeling about it. About the whole thing.”

“Doom-twinge?”

She nodded. “I can’t tell what’s wrong though—I mean other than there was a fire—which you already warned us about. I just…it feels like something else is going to happen. Something bad. Something soon.”

A loud clatter and crash made me turn. Four teens had knocked over two glasses of soda, and everyone was laughing and hopping away from the table like it was made of lava.

“I got it! Hang on, hold on!” I rushed over and threw every cloth and napkin I had at the mess, righted the drinks, checked the desserts and fries (which had miraculously escaped harm) and the teens themselves (two of which had soggy shirts.)