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“Maybe. Hopefully.” J was giving her a look crossed between concern and disappointment. She didn’t like it. “Listen, I gotta go. You good?”
She lazily waved a hand. “You’ll know the second I know, I promise. Get outta here and get your girl.”
“Don’t forget about D.C., alright?” She rolled her eyes and nodded. “You’re the best.”
“Like I don’t already know it,” J yelled the words as Teddi stepped out and shut the door.
Jumping inside her vehicle, she turned the engine over hard and hit the gas.
Chapter 21
Vera
I miss you.
The leather seat creaked as Vera leaned back, scanning the diner breakfast menu. The empty chair across the table made a weird pinch in her chest.
I miss you.
Every few moments a patron would take their turn staring at her. They reminded her of ghosts. Thin and pale, like they never stepped out under the sun. Their eyes were wary over their shoulders, filled with distrust. She recognized a few of them from her last visit to the only restaurant in town. Al, who she hadn't seen since checking into the motel, barely gave her the time of day when he rushed to pay his bill as she walked in. Crooning voices played through the ceiling speaker, crackling intermittently. The diner was awake but the air was strained. Everyone in it was waiting to exhale when the newcomer was gone.
“More coffee, honey?” A waitress in a white turtleneck and a long skirt asked, pen hovering over a worn-in notepad. At least fifty, she was beautiful, her greying black hair pulled back in a bun leaving her dark skin to shine. Her lipstick matched the scarlet seats.
“Please.”
I miss you.
She had just wanted a kiss. To taste her, to punish her hard nipple for pressing against her wet naked back as they stared at the note. Maybe she wanted more, she didn’t know but she couldn’t find regret for the sensation of Teddi’s hands in her hair or her tongue on her skin. Shaking her head, she tried to quiet all the reasons it was a reckless idea.
It had only been twenty minutes since she left town and there was a strange loss of weight at her side. Which was insane, she realized as she sipped her coffee, because she was used to working alone. Didn’t mind it, even. Undercover for days at a time, that’s how it was. Other times she was part of larger teams, building local cases, and chasing leads. But in the last year, it had been her under the heavy thumb of The Unveiling, of that vile, wretched cult, all alone. The weight of Teddi's absence was unexpectedly tangible. Teddi was absent from her life for ten years. And yet, like a faint murmur beneath a wave of voices, she recognized how good it felt to know she’d be back soon. She’d be back.
The front door swung open, the bell at the top chiming.
“Sheriff.” Murmured acknowledgments echoed across the diner. The man himself nodded his chin as he passed them by, peering over the room of citizens as if they were his congregation, bestowing his benevolence with just his gaze.
He was dressed in uniform. Probably not the one he was wearing when he ordered his deputies to illegally dispose of a dead body hours before but the same tan, black trim and leather boots nonetheless. The space between the pearl snaps was straining slightly, the gaping material like blinking eyes down his barrel chest. Tipping his hat as he walked, he planted himself right in front of her.
“You look like you had a rough night." He smirked down at her, his waist belt inches from her face. "Lots of critters over near the motel. I’ve told Al to clean it up but I think they love it out in the middle of nowhere. Anything can happen. You gotta be careful.”
Frustration swelled inside her, twelve feet high. Flames licked across her chest as her skin grew warm. She wanted to tell him she knew what happened at night in his town. She knew what he did with his missing citizens. To stand above him and watch that slimy smug look on his face fall away into shock. Fear. Powerlessness.
“Who’s that?” She lifted her chin at the deputy standing watch at the door instead.
“Deputy Butler. Still a bit wet behind the ears.”
The illusive Deputy Butler avoided looking their way as he tried to hold up the wall. At twenty-two he had yet to fill out. About five-ten and lean, a puddle of dark straight hair on his head while an attempt at a mustache decorated his upper lip. His eyes bounced around the room but never met her own. His uniform was a size too big and the bottom of his pants needed to be hemmed. He was too young. Out of place and in over his head if Sheriff Malis was his guiding hand.
“Looks like he’s ready to run for the hills. Or, forest, I should say.”
He scoffed, eyeing her up and down in a way that made Vera need a shower. His gaze was like fingers. Sticky, wet fingers traveled over the curves of her body like public property. “Where is your little friend?” He scanned the room.
“Why don’t you take a seat, Sheriff.”
A chair appeared behind him from the next table. The occupant’s obvious eavesdropping was left unchecked as he spun it, legs spread wide around the back.He dropped a manila envelope on the table.
“Right. Well, I know you need to be getting back to your lives but as I understand it you’re set on looking into your cousin’s case." He pushed the envelope towards her, the metal of the clasp scratching on the laminate. “From one law enforcement professional to another, this is a courtesy.” He nodded like it was a secret sign as if they shared the same blood because of their badges.
She eyed the folder suspiciously. “What is this?”
