Nicknames

 

The next morning, Piper’s alarm went off much earlier than Vin was willing to acknowledge. He felt her get out of bed and go into the bathroom, heard her shower, then move around the kitchen. He wanted to get up and watch over her, but figured that would annoy her. Instead he listened to everything she did, then when he thought she was ready to leave, he called out to her, “Come give me a kiss.”

He heard the giggle, but she walked in and did it. Then he fought the urge to escort her to her car, look everything over, and be her bodyguard at the store. It wasn’t what needed to be done right now.

Whoever this was, was watching, but probably not as closely as Vin thought. It was scary, and unsettling, but no danger had been presented…yet. Best not to change any patterns.

Was the vandalism a sign of escalation? Maybe. But Detective Myers had called him back last night after he’d run a background check on Vin—just like he knew would happen—and said they’d do several drive-bys of the store overnight, and make sure there was one officer in the area when Piper got to work at her normal time. It was more than they’d had yesterday, but not enough to alert anyone.

Once Piper’s car was out of sight, Vin got up and went back to his place, grabbed some tools, and came back over and got to work. He checked the entire apartment over from top to bottom. There didn’t seem to be any bugs or camera, no type of surveillance at all.

He turned her computer on and started to poke around on it. Nothing that he could find to alert him there, either. No one trying to access her that way, no one trying to watch through the camera that she’d had a piece of tape over. He found that funny, but in this case it worked in their favor.

Once he was satisfied with her apartment, he went back to his place, showered and changed, and went to the bakery. He wanted to look around there and ask a few questions.

The young girl behind the counter smiled brightly at him when he walked in. “Hey there, Mr. Sticky Buns.”

“What?” he asked, almost choking on that.

“Sorry. Since you’re seeing Piper, I thought she might have told you that I do that. I kind of give customers nicknames. What can I get you?”

“A coffee, muffin, and some conversation.”

“Coming right up. I’m Sam, by the way, if Piper didn’t tell you. What do you want to talk about?” she asked. He moved around behind the counter out of the way of the few customers that just walked in.

“I’ll wait until you’re done.” There didn’t seem to be too many people in there right at the moment. More were sitting and eating, rather than waiting for orders.

“Okay, you want to know some secrets about Piper?” she asked, rubbing her hands together.

“Nah. Piper told me about what happened yesterday with the dumpster.”

Sam’s face dropped. “Yeah. I felt horrible for her. I know it probably seems silly, but when you grow up in foster care, you don’t have a lot of possessions. When you do have something, you really take care of it. To lose it, have it stolen, or destroyed is heartbreaking.”

“But she only rents the dumpster,” Vin said. He was more concerned about the word rather than the dumpster itself.

“I know. It’s hard to explain. It’s like a violation. She’s worked so hard to get this store. To support herself and stand on her own. Just knowing that someone could get to her like that makes me so mad. It’s like twice now in a short period of time she’s been hit with something that really hurt her.”

“Twice?” he asked.

“Yeah. Smokey dying. Death freaks Piper out. I don’t really know why. Nicole and I always laugh about how we aren’t allowed to kill a fly, but she just feels that everyone needs to have their life lived through a natural cycle.”

“Smokey was old though,” Vin said, remembering the day Piper was crying on her terrace. The first time he held her…kissed her.

“Yeah, he was. We think so. It was hard to tell. Anyway, he was just a stray alley cat. Probably had some sort of disease or something. But Smokey was her pet. She’s never had one of those, either. So she took it more personally. It was something she cared for that gave her comfort. She still goes out back looking for him, I know she does, but she won’t admit it.”

He stored that bit of information away. It seemed too coincidental to him. When the cat died, he’d shrugged it off. But mixed in with everything else that was going on, and how it seemed to affect Piper more than normal, he was going to look into it.

These attacks or whatever they wanted to call them seemed to be directed at Piper the most on a personal level. Things not everyone might have knowledge of.

“So about these nicknames. Tell me more about them. I’m assuming they’re regulars?”

“Yeah. But don’t tell Piper. She gets annoyed with me. I never say them out front where people can hear me. I mean I just did to you, but I said it to your face and it was a compliment really.”

He smiled. “I’ll take it as one, I guess.”

“Hang on. Let me just wait on these two customers.”

Vin watched as she quickly and efficiently got orders, then went out to the seating area and wiped down a few tables, picking up trash and coming back.

“What are you doing?” he asked when she walked over to the back wall and tacked up a piece of paper. He’d never noticed that before but looked it over now. Lots of pictures and words. Smiley faces and cards.

“That’s the wall of appreciation. One day a kid was drawing on a piece of paper.” She stopped and pointed it out. It looked to be a huge cookie next to a glass with the word “awesome” written on it. “He brought it up and gave it to Piper. She was so touched that she pinned it to the wall. Then little by little we’d add to it.”

“Do people leave things often?” he asked, looking it over some more.

“Nah. Maybe once a week. Mostly kids. A few adults when they’re flirting with us three girls. Oh, and the creep.”

“The creep?” he asked.

“Sorry. That was bad of me. Quinton. He always creeps me out how he comes in and just sits around waiting for Piper to come out and talk to him before he leaves. He’s the only one I think I’ve given a really negative nickname to. Like those two women over there,” Sam said, pointing. “They’re the Gabby Sisters. They come in here talking a mile a minute, pause to place their orders, and then go right back at it like I’m invisible. I’m just someone that waits on them, not really a person.”

Vin could see that happening. Oftentimes in life, employees in any type of retail establishment were overlooked and not appreciated. “Is that why she likes the wall? Because people voice their thanks?”

“Yeah, I think so. It is nice in a way. And makes up for those like the Gabby Sisters.”

“Tell me more about Quinton,” he said. Everything he’d looked up showed nothing alarming, but now he had a reason to look closer.

“Not much to say. Piper feels sorry for him. Says he’s lonely. We know that feeling well. She’s kind of a sucker when it comes to people like that. I think he has a crush on her.” She turned and pointed to the wall. “He normally draws a picture of what he eats and puts a heart or a thumbs up on it.”

“How do you know they’re his?” he asked. There were no names on half the pictures on the wall.

“I remember. They’re pretty consistent. He doesn’t do it all the time. Maybe a few times a month when he tries something new.”

“How often does he come in?”

Sam shrugged, then started to walk toward the counter again when another person came in. “A few times a week,” she said before turning to the customer.

Vin had heard enough and didn’t want to bother Sam anymore. He walked through a door that he assumed led to the kitchen, wanting to seek out Piper.

“Vin,” she said, wiping her hands on her apron. “What are you doing here?”

She was smiling, but she looked tired…and troubled. He’d never seen that before. “I came to visit.”

“I just saw you.” He caught her other employee eying him, Nicole, he was assuming, having never seen her before. “This is Vin, Nicole. Be nice. I’m sure Sam has already been teasing him, I’d bet. He’s a bit shy and I don’t want to scare him away.”

He forced out a laugh. He’d never been shy a day in his life. “Nice to meet you,” Nicole said, winking at him.

“Can I get you something to eat?” Piper asked when she caught him looking around the kitchen. How the heck did she bake all of this?

“No, I’m good. I had something out front already. I just wanted to stop back quickly before I run to my office.”

“Must be nice to come and go when you want,” she said.

“You could too,” Nicole told her. “You’re the one that works as much as you do when you don’t need to.”

“It’s my baby,” Piper said. “It’s hard to stay away from your baby.” She turned to him. “Are you working late tonight?”

“No. I should be home around five. Dinner?” he asked.

“I’d love to.”

“I’ll cook,” he said. “Come on over when you’re ready.”

“I’ll see you then.”

He walked back out and saw Quinton sitting there. He wanted to stay but decided he’d better not. Especially when Quinton’s eyes narrowed and Sam nodded her head at him. “See you tomorrow, Sam,” he said, loud enough for Quinton to hear.

“You’ll be back two days in a row? Lucky me.”

Quinton seemed to relax with that statement. Hmm, interesting. Maybe Quinton thought Vin was there for Sam. He didn’t bother to comment one way or another.

He left out the front and then made his way to the back of the building, off to the side to a small patch of grass and looked around until he saw a stone with “Smokey” engraved on it. Piper wasn’t going to be happy, but it had to be done.