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I kept staring at the man as he talked, unable to get the thoughts of what Logan might be doing out of my head. Probably sleeping, like a normal person.
“I know, dude. It’s messed up. The weird thing is that it’s so unlike Rodriquez to just not show up. He’s pretty on it.” The shorter, buzzed-cut guy checked his cell phone again. “Hey, man, do you know where they went Saturday? The chief is asking.”
Stop staring at the guy. He is going to notice.
Crossing my arms behind my back, I tried memorize the pattern of the floor tile. Of course, I had left my phone at home and had nothing else to pretend to look at.
“Uh, yeah. Actually, they invited me. It’s a trail an hour or two west of here. They dropped a pin, asking if anyone wanted to join,” he said casually, swiping down his screen.
My head darted up, involuntarily.
Both men noticed my startled glance in their direction.
“Um, I think he’s ready to take your order,” I said, motioning to the counter.
They both ambled forward a step and waited for the small woman to finish putting her credit card in her wallet.
I squeezed my palms together, crushing my fingers with violence. I waited for them to place their order. The smell of sugar and roasting coffee filtered through the air.
“Here it is. El Tiburón Ridge. Ever heard of it?” The tall guy turned his screen toward the shorter buzzed-cut man.
It took all of my control to not grab the man’s phone. It was the same path I was on yesterday.
“No, but we should let the leadership know.” The shorter guy shrugged and reached for his coffee.
I lurched for the edge of the counter. Drops of sweat dripped down the front of my bra. I narrowed in on the large chocolate-filled pastries in the back case, now causing me nausea instead of comfort.
Creatures exist? Creatures can’t exist. I’m an insane person… or I’m onto something.
Pursing my lips, I wheezed in a slight inhale.
“Coffee, Charlie?” The short owner in front of me waved a large cup in front of my face.
“Yesss,” I sputtered. “Light roast. And, um, I’ll take five chocolate croissants.”
“Five, Char, really?” he asked over his shoulder, facing the case.
“Yeah, I have a feeling it’s going to be a long day,” I said. I bent my head to avoid his stare, only slightly ashamed of my chocolate obsession.
He grinned. “Okay, you got it!”
I placed the credit card in his hand and pasted on a tight smile.
Oh, buddy, if only you knew this was self-control. With this amount of stress, I am rapidly going to make my way to number one customer before the end of the week.
I snatched the bag and oversized cup from the counter and made my way onto the sidewalk.
The scorching hot coffee burned my tongue.
What really happened to those men?
Not showing up for duty was a big freaking deal in the military, like never live it down and maybe go to prison type of bad. And there were two of them. If I could fight the thing off, then two grown men with training could definitely do a better job than me.
Biting into a chocolate croissant, I crossed the next street. I finished the first pastry and fished into the bag for a second.
I wondered if Logan saw anyone else off-trail other than me. If he did, then maybe they just got lost on the path like me and were perfectly fine. That could be possible, but not likely. Swigging again, I took a left toward the pier.
I picked up my pace down the pathway, not caring where my feet led me. I still had the rest of the day to finish my research for school. Where the sidewalk winded, large orange barricades stood, blocking the path.
