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Wren
Ijumpedintothe truck and slammed the door shut, my heart hammering against my ribs. My chest was tight as I gulped for air, trying to calm myself down. It hadn’t been him. I knew it couldn’t have been Cain but…seeing him here, even if it was just my mind playing tricks on me, was too much. My skin felt itchy. I rubbed my sweaty palms on my thighs as I tried to forget the feeling of his blood all over my hands.
I knew it couldn’t have been Cain because I’d killed him. I’d felt his blood on me. I’d watched him stop breathing. Sharp stabs of pain radiated in my chest. I tried to calm myself and had little success.
My phone suddenly rang, piercing the silence of the truck cab. I still wasn’t used to having a cell phone and the noise startled me, snapping me out of the near panic attack. I pulled my phone from my pocket and answered.
“Wren?”
The voice on the other end was familiar.
I drew in a ragged breath. “Wanda?”
“Hey, hon.”
Something about her tone sounded off.
I glanced at the time, wondering whether I had forgotten about a shift, but it wasn’t anywhere near time for a shift change.
“What’s up?” I asked, still not sounding like myself but Wanda didn’t notice.
“Oh, you know, the usual.” She gave a light, awkward laugh. “Anyways, I was wondering if you were busy within the next couple hours? There’s something I wanted to talk to you about.”
My brows knit. That was strange; she’d never asked me anything like this before. “Is everything all right?”
There was a brief pause. “We can talk about it when you get here, if that’s all right.”
I shifted in my seat. “Sure. I’m actually downtown right now. I can be there in a few minutes.”
“Sounds good. See you then.”
I disconnected the call, staring at my screen for a few moments. Part of me was thankful for the sudden distraction from my meltdown, but my gut clenched uncomfortably. I tossed my phone into the passenger seat, threw the truck into reverse, and headed toward the Riverfront Grill and whatever it was my boss needed to talk about with me so desperately.
I walked through the front door of the grill, meeting the dark eyes of Tony at the hostess podium. His thick brows raised as he looked at me.
“Hey.” He blinked. “I thought you were off today?”
I nodded. “I am. Wanda called and wanted to talk with me about something.”
He frowned. “Oh.”
I glanced around the restaurant that looked dead for the middle of the afternoon. “Are you hosting today?” I asked, not seeing his dish tub.
He nodded. “Just trying it out for today. It’s good to be flexible.”
He didn’t sound very excited, but I gave him a smile. “It’s always good to have options.”
He shrugged, tapping his pen on the podium. He seemed to be doing some kind of crossword puzzle. It really was dead.
“Well, I should go find Wanda.”
I started to walk by him, and he gave me a wave. “See ya.”
Wanda was in the office doing some paperwork. A place I often didn’t find her because she was usually in some other part of the restaurant doing whatever grunt work needed done. I knocked on the side of the doorframe because the door was already wide open. She jumped, twisting in the office chair to look at me.
The smile that she usually had didn’t grace her lips, which had my stomach souring even more. Her thin brows pulled together.
“Wren, come in please. Have a seat.” She gestured to the spare dining chair that always sat against the wall next to the desk.
