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As I went from table to table, balancing trays, serving plates and coffee, and trying hard to focus, I couldn’t help but think about what had gone down the other night. Chance had acted so strangely, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he’d gone up to shower to take care of the hard-on he’d had during dinner.
The look on his face was so cold after; I wondered if he felt insecure and embarrassed. There was also the other obvious elephant in the room, which he’d never made any mention about.
Chance had lost a leg, and I couldn’t help but wonder if that was from his military days. I’d been around his house long enough to see the patriotic themes in his décor and the pictures of him in uniform, toting guns and looking like one tough SOB.
Whatever happened had to have happened in battle, and it was even clearer as to why he wanted to help Star. I’d spotted another picture in the stairwell on the way up to his room, one of him and his brother, who had also been in uniform. I hadn’t asked him, but I wondered if the brother had been lost in battle as well, and I suddenly felt a pang of guilt for thinking my own problems were bigger.
I’d cut Star’s tutoring session short when I’d gotten a strange call, and whoever it was, they had me peeking over my shoulder all day and keeping a close eye on the parking lot. Surely, Nick couldn’t find me there in the small town. I’d taken every precaution, and didn’t see any way he could find me, but then again, he was a police officer, who was training to be a detective and had connection all the way up the FBI. He was dangerous and capable of lots of things.
“Excuse me, miss. This isn’t what I ordered. I wanted three pancakes, and this is waffles.” The man was trying to be polite, but the man with him didn’t seem too impressed.
“We’ve got places to be. I suggest you pull your head out of your ass and make it right. This coffee isn’t fresh either.” The man had a big space where his front tooth should be, and he whistled about every other syllable.
“Danny, you know that coffee’s fresh. I just made it myself.” Liza gave the man a harsh look and then passed me the waffles. “Now, you two behave, and we’ll get your pancakes in two shakes of a lamb’s tale.” Liza followed me to the back and hurried over to the griddle to pour up a couple of pancakes. Mack was too busy with other things to correct my mistakes.
I let out a deep sigh. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong with me.” I had too much on my mind, and all of it started or ended with Chance.
“You need to focus, girl. We’ll get behind, and Harold will be pissed if we have to throw out any food. She placed the waffles in a to-go box and placed them aside. “I’ll pick those up for Brady on the way home. He loves waffles.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shook her head and then flipped the pancakes over. “Don’t worry about it. He and Danny come in here all the time on their break, and I can’t tell you how many times Danny tries to get free coffee.” She rolled her eyes, and after a moment, she placed the pancakes on a platter and pushed them toward me.
I hurried them out, and when I returned, my phone vibrated in my blouse. I reached inside my bra and turned it on. It was the same number as the night before, so I slipped around the counter to the back door and stepped out to take it.
“Hello?” I disguised my voice as best I could by adding a bit of grit. I waited for someone to tell me they had the wrong number, but then there was a strange sound, and I hung it up quickly.
When I walked back inside, Liza smiled. “Was that lover boy?”
“I’m not sure who it was. I got another strange call just like it last night.”
“You need to be careful answering that. There could be a trace on the phone.”
“I got rid of the number, though.”
Mack turned around, and the old man leaned in close. “There’s a GPS on your phone, you know. I’d bet anything that sorry ex of yours is using the pings to locate you.” He turned around and went back to his burgers, and Liza and I exchanged a surprised look. I wasn’t sure why we were so surprised. He was bound to have heard all of our problems since we constantly whispered in his presence.
“How do you know anything about that?” Liza was bold enough to ask; bolder than me.
