Total pages in book: 68
Estimated words: 66642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66642 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 333(@200wpm)___ 267(@250wpm)___ 222(@300wpm)
“We Porters don’t show our true age,” Greer said, snatching the rest of Logan’s burger. “I keep telling the boy he needs to eat more protein.”
She was surprised Logan was able to get any food around Greer.
Refilling his glass, Greer stared around the restaurant. “Business is slow for this time of day, huh?”
“Mostly, people just come to the door and look in,” she told him. “My dad must have scared off most of his business. His lawyer told me he deliberately drove people away.”
Greer made a snorting sound. “They’re probably just taking a gander at you to see if you’re still breathing. Two people were killed in here. I’d say that dampens their appetite.”
Her stomach churned at his revelation. “Who died in here?”
“Marty and Nickel.”
“God.” Sophie came around to take a seat at the counter. “My dad died here?”
“Yeah. The lawyer didn’t tell you?”
“No.”
“Where at?” Raising a hand, she forced the bile down. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”
“Logan, get her a glass of soda. It’ll calm her stomach.”
Logan jumped up at his uncle’s order. “Here you go.” He handed her a drink.
“Thanks.”
Sipping the soda, she had to look away from Greer as he ate his fries.
“Who was the other man?” she asked hoarsely.
“A Last Rider named Nickel. He was a pretty good guy. They had found out Marty was using their business to transport counterfeit money. The Last Riders confronted their workers in the restaurant, and the workers pulled their guns and killed Nickel. One killed Marty when he escaped out the back door.”
“His lawyer didn’t tell me any of this.”
“Yeah, he should have. I say the man who came here to ask for his money must have given them some for the funny money or the plates.”
Sophie raised a trembling hand to her forehead. “How am I supposed to get out of this mess?” she said more to herself than Greer.
“What did he look like?”
She described the man to him.
“Sounds like an ugly son of a bitch.”
“He gave me the creeps.”
“I’ll keep an eye out for him. If he comes back, turn the open sign upside down, and I’ll come over.”
“What if you’re not on duty?”
Greer gave her a speculative gaze. “You hiring?”
“I’m going to be lucky to stay in business for another week.”
“The customers will come back when they hear your burgers are as good as Marty’s and they don’t have to eat them out of a bag in the parking lot. You can’t cook and take customer orders at the same time.”
“You’re right. I have a little money I got from tips that I could use to pay a waitress to work a few hours a day.”
“Why a waitress? Why not a waiter? Logan needs a part-time job. He’s wanting money to save up for a truck for when he gets old enough.”
Logan turned to look at his uncle in surprise. “Dad said he was going to buy me one for my birthday.”
“Dustin was going to buy a used truck. He sees you working, he might let you get a new one if you kick in some money.”
Logan turned toward her. “I’m a hard worker, and I can work anytime. I’m about to get a break from school for summer.”
“He ain’t lying. Logan’s a good boy. Besides that, whoever came here to ask for money won’t lay a hand on you when he’s here.”
Sophie shook her head. “I don’t want to take a chance that Logan could get hurt.”
Greer laughed. “No one in town is stupid enough to touch a hair on Logan’s head.”
Her eyes widened at Greer laughing. “Why not?”
“Because the motherfucker would be dead.”
Chapter Eleven
Jody checked to make sure his new shirt was still tucked into his jeans.
“You look fine,” Ginny assured him as they walked toward the diner.
“I need to look better than fine. I have a lot of ground to make up for. I need to knock her socks off.”
“You will.”
Jody wasn’t as certain as Ginny was.
Nervous, he opened the door to the diner and saw two customers sitting at a table. At least he was assured she was still giving the restaurant a go.
“Have a seat. I’ll be right with you.”
Ginny and he stared at each other at the female shout coming from the kitchen.
They went to a booth and sat down, Jody sitting on the side where he could see the front of the restaurant.
They didn’t have to wait long before Sophie came in from the back, carrying two plates. After she set the plates down in front of the other two customers, she approached their table. Jody noticed the smile she directed at Ginny didn’t include him.
“Hello, how are you today?”
“Good.” Ginny smiled back at her.
It was obvious Sophie was taken aback.
“You’re Silas’ sister?”
Ginny nodded.
She stared at Ginny a moment longer, it looked as if she thought Ginny was familiar but in the end she couldn’t place her.