LYDIA

 

“Tiramisu… I think you’ve really got something here.”

Gina dug her fork into the slice and took a bite. She closed her eyes and groaned softly. The amount of pleasure she took in eating was almost comical.

“How many pieces have you had?” I asked.

“This is my third one. But, my slices are really small. So it’s more like two actually.”

“You know the ingredients don’t come cheap. You should be saving it for the customers. I don’t think Amy would appreciate you eating all of her product.”

“I know, I know. This’ll be my last slice. I have to know what it tastes like so I can explain it to the customers. They can only get so much from Italian dessert.”

“All right,” I said. “No more after that. The whole point of offering new items is to attract new customers.”

“Yeah, yeah…”

I giggled at Gina while she indulged in the slice of dessert.

It was another average day in the bakery. I’d gotten used to my surroundings. The place could have used a remodeling but the regulars who came in here didn’t care about the decor. I figured it was just as much quaint as it was anything else.

As I reorganized the pastry display, the bell rang on the door. I looked up and saw Officer Rose walking in.

“Officer Rose,” I said. “It’s good to see you again!”

“Hello, Lydia. Gina.”

He nodded to her. She raised her eyebrows at him as a hello, distracted by her phone and the dessert she was eating.

The young officer walked up to the counter, an awkward smile on his face. He somehow looked even younger than the last time I saw him.

“Ben,” he said.

“What?” I replied.

“Ben. Call me Ben.”

“Oh! Right. Sorry about that. I forgot.”

“It’s okay. I figure it’s a small town and I’m getting to know everybody. I want all of the citizens in Ivory to feel comfortable talking to law enforcement. We’re working for people like you.”

“Yeah… I get it…”

He kept smiling awkwardly at me. I stared at him, my eyes wide as I waited for him to say something.

“Say, what’s that she’s eating?” he said as he glanced at Gina.

“That? It’s tiramisu. Would you like a piece?”

“Oh, tiramisu! That’s great!”

“You’ve had it before?”

“Sure. Not here in Ivory but I’ve had it. It was really good. Is yours any better?”

“It wouldn’t hurt to try.”

“All right then! I’ll take a slice! And a cup of coffee while you’re at it!”

“Sure thing.”

Ben had the enthusiasm of a schoolboy. He even looked like one, too. I couldn’t help but notice how neatly his hair was combed on his head, just like always. Even his uniform didn’t have any wrinkles in it.

I prepped a slice for him then poured him a cup of coffee.

“There you go,” I said.

“Thanks…”

He put the money down on the counter.

“Have a good day,” I said.

“Say, Lydia.”

“Yes?”

“I was planning on eating it here.”

“Sure thing. There’s plenty of tables to choose from.”

I sarcastically pointed at all of the empty tables and chairs in the bakery. Ben laughed nervously.

“There was something else,” he said. “I wanted to talk to you.”

“You wanted to talk… to me?”

“Yeah. If you don’t mind. I promise you this’ll only take a second.”

“Um… Sure. Just give me a moment.”

I furrowed my brow in confusion, wondering what Ben could possibly want to talk to me about. Ben moved to a table in the corner of the bakery.

I plopped down in my seat. Ben took a bite of the tiramisu and savored it the same way that Gina did, his eyes closed and his lips smacking.

“Oh, yeah,” he said. “That’s good. Just like I remember it.”

“I’m glad you like it. You should come by here more often.”

“Really?” he exclaimed.

He coughed to clear his throat after realizing how excited he’d gotten.

“I mean… Yeah. That sounds like a good idea. As long as you keep serving this, I’m sure I’ll be around.”

“We won’t have it around too often. It’s kind of a hassle to get all of the ingredients for it. But Amy gave me the okay to keep making it.”

“Okay then,” he said with a nod. “I’ll make it a point to come by here as often as I can.”

I watched him eat his dessert, waiting for him to say whatever it was he had to say to me.

“So…” I said. “There was something you wanted to talk to me about.”

“Oh, right. That. Um… How do I put this?”

He took a sip of his coffee and cleared his throat again.

“Let me see…”

“This sounds kind of serious,” I said.

“It might be.”

“Really?”

My ears perked up. I couldn’t imagine what Ben was going to say but my mind was racing.

“The Sheriff’s Deparment has been doing some surveillance,” he said. “As you know, they brought in a lot of personnel to track people, mainly the motorcycle clubs. There’s been an increase in activity.”

“I remember.”

“Some of our people picked up some footage of you at the clubhouse of one of the motorcycle clubs.”

My heart skipped a beat. It was frightening to think that someone was watching me even though I hadn’t done anything.

“It’s all right,” he said as he put his hands up. “We’re not following you.”

“How can I be sure?”

“You’re not really a person of interest. As I said, we’re just monitoring the clubs and you just happened to be there.”

“Okay,” I sighed. “I was at one of the clubhouses. There were a lot of people there. A lot of them weren’t even members.”

“I know. It’s not really a concern for you. Unless…”

“Unless?”

“You’re not close to anybody in the club, are you?”

I laughed softly, shaking my head at the question.

“I don’t think my personal life is any of your business,” I said.

“No. Of course not. But I did say that the motorcycle clubs in this town are up to something.”

“Last time I checked, there were a lot of clubs in this town. They can’t all be something.”

“True. We don’t know for sure until they do something. That’s why we have to monitor all of them.”

He finished the rest of his dessert and washed it down with a big gulp of coffee.

“I’m not telling you what you should or shouldn’t do, I just figured I would give you a heads up since you were seen in the area.”

Ben started to get up from his seat but I grabbed his wrist.

“Wait,” I said. “Hold on a second.”

Something immediately came to my mind.

“Can I ask you something?” I said.

“Sure. What is it?”

He sat back down.

“They’re up to something,” I said. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Lydia… I don’t think I’m supposed to let you in on the details of a police investigation.”

“I won’t tell anybody. I just want to know. You said it yourself. I might be getting myself into trouble if I’m around them. You’ll only be helping me.”

Ben shifted his eyes toward Gina. She was on the other side of the bakery, distracted by whatever it was she was looking at on her phone. He sighed and leaned forward.

“Some of the clubs are getting involved with moving weight,” he whispered.

“Moving weight? Do you mean—”

“Drugs. Because clubs have access to transportation, their bikes, it makes it easy for them to transport it from one city to the next.”

“Why would anybody transport drugs from a city like Ivory? It’s a small town. It would be easy to get caught.”

“They’re not transporting the drugs from Ivory, they’re transporting them through Ivory. The drugs are moved between cities. Ivory is just a stopping point. The clubs can make some big money by working with some of the bigger distributors.”

I leaned back in my seat after hearing what he had to say. I looked into Ben’s eyes, wondering if I should have believed him.

Who was I kidding? What reason did he have to lie to me?

I sighed a deep breath and closed my eyes, my blood pressure suddenly rising.

“It’s all right,” he said. “Nothing has happened. And there’s no telling if the club you’re dealing with is even involved in it. I just wanted to let you know, for your own safety. These clubs are always friendly but they can be just as dangerous as well.”

“Yeah… Thanks…”

Ben stood up from his seat and straightened his uniform out.

“Thanks for that,” he said. “It was delicious. Maybe I’ll stop by tomorrow.”

“Hopefully Gina will save some for you.”

“Have a good day, Lydia.”

He bowed his head to me and left the bakery. The bell on the door rang in my ears. I stared at the wall, thinking about everything Ben just said to me.

I knew Sean. I’d been around him just as much as anybody since I first got to Ivory. But I didn’t know everything.

I didn’t know how he spent his days. I didn’t know what he did with all of his free time. I didn’t know what was truly going on inside of his head.

“Hey.”

I looked up and saw Gina suddenly standing right there in front of me.

“You all right? You don’t look so good.”

I blinked my eyes and collected myself.

“I’m fine,” I said as I shook my head.

“What did he say to you? It sounded serious.”

“It’s not serious,” I said, laughing to hide whatever it was I was feeling. “He was just telling me to be careful.”

“Ivory can be a dangerous town sometimes. But he’s a cop. Those guys are always worried about one thing or another.”

“Yeah, that’s true.”

“Say, you got any plans tonight?”

“Tonight? Actually, I was heading out tonight.”

“With Brash?”

“Yeah. We were gonna hang out at his clubhouse.”

“The Grindhouse? Please tell me you’re taking me with you!”

Gina’s giddiness was infectious enough to make me forget about the conversation I just had with Ben.

“All right,” I said, giggling at my coworker. “Try not to get too crazy tonight.”

“Hey! Who do you think you’re talking to?”

“I know exactly who I’m talking to.”

“I wonder if I can bag me one of those bikers tonight. Banging a Black Reaper. I still have to check that off my to-do list…”

While Gina contemplated who she was going to sleep with tonight, I headed to the back of the bakery. There was still some work left to be done before I could have my fun with Sean tonight.