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He chortled at the term old man, but those sweet eyes softened as he sighed.
“I won’t lie, I enjoy seeing you, Lily. But I hope one day you never have to come through that door to make ends meet,” he smiled gently.
“Yeah, maybe one day,” I murmured. Maybe I did have a real friend. Someone who looked out for me in a way.
Cause I’d miss him if it came down to it. Guess I’d grown soft and let him grow on me.
Figures.
Creeper grunted and then growled, and I peered over my shoulder at him, frowning as a man pushed through the door with his own hood up.
Someone else needing to offload some hot goods?
Creeper growled as the man passed him, and then he fell into step behind him as the man strode our way quickly.
I flicked my eyes to Bug, who was making his eerie chittering sound now and pacing faster, his eyes focused on the man coming our way.
Something was wrong. Even I could feel it now.
I knew before I even saw the gun.
“Hand over the money,” the man snapped as he raised the pistol. He didn’t seem to care that I was still standing there.
“Please,” Lionel begged, holding his hands up non-threateningly as he shot me a look that begged me not to do anything rash. His hands were shaking, and my heart squeezed for him, even while it was hammering like crazy. It felt like it was going to trust through my ribcage as my eyes moved back to the weapon.
How was this going to play out? My mind was going over the scenarios, many involving spilt blood, while my body remained frozen. Him shooting Lionel dead, me screaming and that pistol being turned on me, or the man threatening me to get Lionel to move faster.
My breath caught as fear rippled up my spine. This was one of those moments where you knew things could change at a moment’s notice. Where death teetered in the balance.
I blinked as I focused on what was going on rather than the horrid slideshow in my head of scenarios and ugly thoughts. I needed to stay calm, handle this situation. Not die.
Creeper was still growling behind the man, his eyes burning bright. It was strange, hearing the sound but seeing no mouth. None of them had mouths.
Why I was even thinking about that right now was beyond me.
“Don’t make me shoot you, old man,” the man barked. He noticed the Rolex still on the counter, and he smirked as he snatched it up and shoved it into his pocket.
Bastard.
He was African American. God, he gave them a bad name, doing this shit. I glanced over him, at the ugly grey hoodie that he was using to hide himself from the cameras, at his ripped jeans and worn shoes. I felt sorry for him, that he had to resort to such lengths for money. It was obvious he needed it, whether to fuel an addiction or just survive, I had no idea.
But threatening someone’s life, someone as kind to me as Lionel, that was wrong.
“Okay,” Lionel gasped as the man thrust the pistol closer. His shaking hands attempted to open the register, and the man took the moment to glance at me.
“You best do nothing, girl. Or I’ll shoot you too,” he growled, his voice low and gruff. I gritted my teeth as I met those dark eyes of his. Fear and panic were flickering in them I realized. Two emotions that made this situation even more dangerous. People did stupid things when they were scared. Why was he scared? Not that that mattered right now. Probably owed someone.
Creeper’s growling intensified, and I just swallowed, refusing to budge as I dared a glance at Lionel.
“The safe too!” the man demanded, waving the pistol at the safe behind the counter.
“I… I don’t know the combination,” Lionel whimpered as he finally opened the register.
And it jammed.
“Bullshit. You’re trying to waste my time, old man! How about I show you what happens to people who fuck with me?” the man snarled, raising the pistol threateningly to be level with Lionel’s head
Lionel shuddered as he raised his hands, his whole body trembling as fury burned past my fear at the situation. Not Lionel, he didn’t deserve this.
