Chapter Six
Chase scraped grease off the grill. The General had been filled with the usual morning customers, and a few extra who didn’t stop by as often. He and Jim had made more eggs and bacon than they had all week. He hadn’t had much of a chance to look up from the grill or to think about his neighbor who was due in to work the lunch shift.
She didn’t look like someone who could wait tables. He suspected her fancy clothes were from a life that meant people waited on her – a life she was running from no matter what she told him last night.
Who was this woman and who would she bring near his home? He’d worked very hard to stay out of the way of danger. He’d had enough of it. Silent Water for him was the place he needed to move on from his past, not get tangled up in someone else’s troubles.
The phone on the wall jangled splitting his thoughts wide open. Mandy yanked the receiver. “The General Store. Hang on. Chase, it’s for you.” She dangled the phone from her pink polished fingernails.
“Shepherd.”
“Your resignation isn’t accepted. The team needs you.”
Deke. When was he going to get the point? “Screw off. I’m done.”
“You’re a lousy cook.”
“Bite me.”
Deke laughed. “I still need you for the birthday detail. Easy. Remember?”
“When are you going to get the point?” Deke was trying to help him, but he wasn’t ready to work. Not work that involved pointing a gun at someone. He’d lost everything because of the job. Living in Silent Water was enough for him.
“You don’t belong in that town. How can you stand not having internet access? I know you’re bored as shit out there. You just won’t admit it.”
“I’ve got to run. The breakfast crowd is here.” He beat eggs in a bowl.
“Oh yeah. Who? Two people?”
“See ya.”
“Friday.”
He put the receiver back.
The bell above the door announced another customer. A stocky guy with long, dark hair stepped across the threshold and took the place in. The top half of his hair was tied in a man-bun at the back of his head, the rest hung past in shoulders in straggly waves. His beard and mustache were scruffy, and his eyes were close together. The leather jacket he wore was worn at the shoulders, and the waist. That guy either loved the broken in feel of his coat or he couldn’t afford another one.
The stranger came straight for the counter with his hands in his pockets. He didn’t care for strangers with their hands in their pockets once they were inside. Usually someone clapped their hands together or blew on them. What was he hiding?
The temperatures had barely made it above freezing outside. The guy could be cold, but Chase wasn’t so sure. Man-bun took a seat at the end of the counter and tapped his fingers on the laminate. He continued to soak in the General. The place was full of customers unaware they were being watched.
Jim stood behind him and whispered. “Who’s that?”
“No clue. If you’ve never seen him, maybe he’s lost.”
“Strange place to get lost.” Jim went back to the line of dupes in front of him and started breaking eggs on the grill.
Mandy sashayed around the counter from her spot talking to the customers at table four. She grabbed a pot of coffee, then placed a mug in front of the new stranger. “You ready to order?” Her voice was pocked with gravel. She’d been smoking longer than he’d been walking the earth.
Man-bun shut the menu and returned it to its spot behind the ketchup. “Two eggs over easy, toast, and some hash browns.” He smiled at Mandy, but from where Chase stood he couldn’t see if Mandy flashed her grin reserved for eligible bachelors or kept her face the way of stone.
“Jim, two over easy.” Mandy slapped the bell.
“I hear ya, Mans. You don’t have to keep whacking my bell.”
She tilted her head. “Honey, if I was whacking your bell, you’d know it.” She flipped her hair and sashayed back to her friends at table four.
Jim shook his head, but a hint of a smile tipped his lips up. Chase suspected Jim had a crush on Mandy. When Man-Bun’s eggs were ready, Chase took the plate over himself.
“Do you need anything else?”
“I’m fine. Thanks.” Man-Bun rubbed his hands together. Finally.
“Can I give you directions?”
“On how to eat eggs?” A hint of a Spanish accent dusted his voice. If Chase hadn’t been listening for it, he’d have missed it.
“You’re not from around here. I thought you might be lost. Silent Water isn’t exactly off the main highway.”
“Well, you’re right. I’m not from around here. I drove up from Florida. I’m doing some camping at the bottom of the Dark Mountains before I head into Canada. Relocating for a new job.” The man smiled, but the light didn’t quite penetrate his black, beady eyes.
“Camping in the winter?”
“I enjoy the quiet, and I’m hoping for some cross-country skiing on those trails. Most people don’t go camping in the winter which means I have the trails to myself. Besides, who doesn’t like to play in the snow?”
“Enjoy your trip. And your eggs.”
Man-Bun didn’t look like someone ready for a winter camping trip. That leather jacket would keep him warm about five minutes in the Dark Mountains. Of course, he could have his gear somewhere else. He didn’t say he was going to the mountain right from the General. Could be nothing, but his gut said otherwise. He had lived his life by his gut. Was Man-Bun a possible skell or was he just paranoid?
He stepped outside and let the cold air freeze up his lungs. He was just off his game. Raine Kennedy had his head spinning in circles. When she called last night with fear in her voice, he raced for the front door wanting to help her. He’d nearly fell down the stairs trying to get to her. He wasn’t a hero anymore. In fact, he’d never been one. So, why he was trying to play one last night was beyond him.
She looked so damn sexy in those flannel pajama pants with her hair in waves around her face. If she wanted help from whoever was bothering her, he’d be tempted to give it. He could show her how to use a gun. Something small that wouldn’t have much kick for her like a twenty-two pistol. A gun like that wouldn’t do much damage, but as long as she hit her target, no one got up and ran from a gunshot wound. Except maybe a grisly. She needed to be able to keep Landon safe. He could help with that. He didn’t want anything to happen to her boy.
The familiar beat up Camry pulled into the lot. She was here for her first shift, and his heart picked up speed. She pushed herself out of the car and stopped when she saw him. She had her hair pulled back and a dark green scarf wrapped around her neck. He offered her a small wave. She showed him her palm, but she smiled too. That nothing much smile shot across the lot and poked at his chest. What the hell was happening to him? He hadn’t noticed a woman in years, not since Denise left him, and trampled his heart on the way out the door.
“Ready for work?” His grin tugged at his lips. Stupid.
She stopped right before him. Probably because he was blocking the doorway. Kind of on purpose. “Ready as I’ll ever be. I haven’t waited tables in years.”
She didn’t look like someone who had ever waited tables. “The morning rush is over. You’ll have a couple of hours before things pick up for lunch. You’ll be fine. Where’s Landon?”
“He started school this morning. He wasn’t too happy about that, but I can’t keep him out any longer.”
“I’m sure he’ll make friends.”
She hiked her tote up on her shoulder and shrugged. He wanted to keep her talking just to have a few more minutes with her, but he couldn’t delay her any longer.
He followed her inside, showed her where to store her things, and returned to his spot at the grill. Mandy took Raine and showed her the ropes. A quick glance around told him Man-Bun was gone. He’d barely touched his food.
“What happened to the stranger?” he asked Jim.
“Beats me.”
Mandy came into the kitchen area with Raine. “He left before I could give him the check, but he dropped a twenty on the counter. Way too much for eggs, but I’m not complaining. That’s the best tip I’ve got in weeks.” She turned back to Raine. “Jim likes to keep a clean kitchen. After every breakfast shift we clean the meat and cheese slicer, wash the floor mats…”
He pulled his attention away from the to-do list. Where did the winter camper go in such a hurry? Did he remember a piece of equipment he needed? Was the mountain calling him? Chase would keep an eye out. Maybe even check with the rangers about anyone registered to camp in the park. Law stated campers needed a permit and couldn’t stay longer than fourteen days at once. Unless Man-Bun had plans on bypassing the rules and taking to the trails up the mountain. If he wasn’t a skilled hiker, Man-Bun wouldn’t be Chase’s problem.
“Jim, are you running those security camera videos like I told you to?”
“Yup. I start a new loop each week like you said.”
“After lunch I want to take a look.”
“You think something is going on?”
He didn’t want to scare the guy. He wanted to see what kind of car this stranger was driving. “No. I want to make sure everything is working properly. You don’t want to find out too late a piece of equipment was faulty.”
“If you say so, but we haven’t had any trouble at the General in fifty years. Folks in Silent Water keep to themselves and watch out for their own.” Jim went back to cleaning the grill.
And he went back to watching Raine smile for the customers and shake hands. She wrote down orders and laughed at some of the jokes. She knew how to work a room.
“Better keep your eyes on the grill or you’re liable to burn yourself.” Jim laughed.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. My eyes are exactly where they’re supposed to be.” He busied himself with cutting vegetables.
“She’s very pretty. If I were thirty years younger I’d ask her out.”
It was his turn to laugh. “Whatever you say, old man.”
He stole another glance at Raine. Her jeans hugged her legs showing off firm thighs and a tight, cute backside. What would she say to a date with him? Then he shook the thought away. She was hiding something, and he didn’t want any part of that. He liked his simple life. Isn’t that what he kept telling Deke?
So, why did he keep checking over his shoulder for another glimpse of her? And what was he willing to risk for a taste of those lips?
Mandy slammed the bell. “Chase, pay attention.”
He looked down. He’d cut his finger.
And Jim laughed. “I told you.”
So, he had.