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“You will find the driver,” Trey said.
Dornan nodded. “I’ll personally handle it. There won’t be any more mistakes.”
“For all your sakes, I hope there isn’t.”
Trey started to the door with one of his men sidling up next to him. He walked closer than usual, which meant he had the intel Trey needed.
“Just got a text. We got the driver.”
Trey smirked, shaking his head. He wasn’t surprised.
“Not a word to Dornan. We’re going to make him work a little.”
He subtly nodded and hung back two paces behind Trey as they walked out the door.
Chapter Two
“You’ve got to be kidding me?”
Dahlia grasped tightly to the railing inside the bus as it came to a stop. She squinted, leaning closer to the window. It was as if the heavens had opened up. Downpour was an understatement. Why? It had been cloudy all day, but not a single drop until she’d gotten on the bus. She glanced down at her umbrella. It would provide some shelter, but she still had to make it two blocks to the Bowery. It figured. She’d finally gotten an interview, and it was being sabotaged.
When the doors opened, she staggered to the front of the bus and stopped, peering through the opening. Ah hell!
It was raining even harder now. Seconds earlier, she hadn’t thought it was possible.
“You going out in that?”
Dahlia glanced down at Muriel, the driver. They were on a first-name basis. Two years ago, Dahlia’s car had died. In the middle of Main Street. On a Friday. In rush hour traffic. That pretty much summed up the past seven hundred and thirty days in a nutshell. At the time, the repairs were too costly, and she’d scrapped it at the junkyard. She’d intended on purchasing another when she got her finances in order. Still waiting.
It wasn’t so bad. Communal transportation where she was free to sleep, read, or watch videos while being chauffeured home for less than two dollars. It was certainly cost-effective, especially in her position. But there were days, such as this one, where a slight inconvenience became an all-out issue.
“A minute out there, you’ll look like a sewer rat.”
Yep. Shit!
“I don’t have much of a choice.” Dahlia sighed.
Without a car, Dahlia’s only options were walking and public transportation. Most days, she didn’t mind the exercise, but the club was three miles away from her house, and the weather forecast had not been in her favor. She stepped forward, but Muriel immediately closed the doors.
“Tell you what, stay on. I got two more stops, then I’ll loop back around. Hopefully, it lightens up by then.” Muriel shook her head. “It can’t get much worse.”
It probably could, and with her luck, Dahlia was sure it would. Even with that said, it was a nice offer, and unfortunately, not one Dahlia could accept.
“I can’t. I have a job interview in ten minutes.”
“How far is it?”
“Two blocks down.”
Muriel leaned forward past Dahlia, glancing down the street. It was impossible to see through the heavy rain, but the driver tried.
“They’ve got GPS on me. I take an uncharted route, they’ll nail my ass, and as you know…” Muriel’s lips twisted, and she rolled her eyes. “I’m already on probation.”
Dahlia flattened her lips to conceal her smile. She hadn’t been on the bus when the altercation happened, but she’d heard all about it. Muriel was sweet, a grandmother to seven, and two years away from retiring with a pension. She had a lot to lose if she got fired. But it hadn’t stopped her from standing her ground with an unruly passenger. It’s hard to fire a hero. That was what most people saw Muriel as, including Dahlia. When there were whispers that she might lose her job, a lot of people rallied for her. Muriel was able to keep her job, but it came with conditions.
“How’s anger management?”
Muriel arched her brow. “It’s bullshit is what it is. But I worked too long to lose my money. So I’ll go and do what I gotta do.”
