* * *
We arrived atMidnight Run!with time to spare. Caleb took his place behind the counter.
“Where’s Jess?” I asked.
“Oh, she doesn’t work on Thursdays,” Caleb said. “Apparently it's the night we get the least amount of customers, so Lewis doesn’t want to have more people on staff than necessary.”
“I see.”
I joined Caleb, taking a seat in one of the chairs behind the counter. If his boss was here right now, he apparently had no interest in interrogating me again tonight.
Good. Let’s keep it that way.
The shift went on as normal. Caleb greeted customers, rang up their items, and suggested products when prompted. It was an easy job, if a mind-numbing one. I found myself becoming distracted by my own thoughts, especially those of my book. I hadn’t mentioned it to anyone, since I kept my work ideas private, but I was currently battling a writer’s block. The plot just wasn’t working the way I wanted it to, making me severely frustrated.
For about an hour, no new customers arrived. Caleb sighed and leaned on the counter. “I’m gonna rearrange some product, since I’m supposed to dosomethingif there’s nobody here.”
“Your boss doesn’t seem to be here,” I commented.
“He’s not in right now,” Caleb said, “but he does check the cameras sometimes to make sure we aren’t goofing off.”
I furrowed my brow. “Okay. Do what you need to do.”
Caleb leapt over the counter and started fixing displays and stock on the shelves. Meanwhile, I delved deeper into my thoughts and tried to untangle the knot in my story.
The bell on the door jingled. Caleb turned to the customer. “Hi, there. Is there anything I - “
He cut off sharply and the store went quiet. The abrupt sound instantly aroused my suspicion. A tense aura gripped everything.
I saw him. A man dressed in all black with his face covered. A man who didn’t want to be recognized for what he was about to do.
Caleb’s eyes widened as fear began to spread across his face.
Time slowed.
The masked man reached for an item on his belt. I didn’t know what it was, but I wasn’t going to give him time to pull it out.
In one lightning-fast motion, I lunged past the counter and pinned the man to the far wall. A shelf of product behind him collapsed. Caleb cried out.
“What do you think you’re doing?” I snarled at the man. Only his eyes were visible behind the mask, and they went crazed with terror now.
“The fuck?” he said, his voice full of fear. “Let go of me, man!”
Instead of complying, my grip on his wrists tightened, hard enough to be painful but not to break anything.
“I will not. What is on your belt?” I demanded.
Behind me, I heard Caleb breathing heavily as he dialed a phone number. “Hello? Please help, there’s a man trying to rob the store at - “
“Whatis on your belt?” I snapped when the man didn’t reply.
When the man still didn’t answer, I acted. Too fast for him to escape, I clutched both his wrists in one hand while grabbing the item with the other.
A pocket knife,I thought.
Anger boiled inside me. I snatched the item and crushed it in my hand. The leftover debris fell to the floor. My hand was unharmed.
The man whimpered. “What the hell?”
