“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Shot in cold blood.”
Usually, in this type of situation, we call it karma at its best. However, there’s a piece of the puzzle missing.
“By whom?”
Tank shoots another glance at the door then back to me. There’s slight movement in his facial muscles. “Appears to be a drug deal gone wrong.”
Shocker.
“The cartel?”
“We don’t know. Could just be random sellers that Grizzly pissed off. But what we do know is… it happened right outside the diner. The one Tequila’s new friend works at.”
Something sinks inside my chest, and I snap my attention to the window, looking for her. When I glance back to Tank, he’s watching me with careful curiosity.
“Danika.” Her name rolls of my tongue.
“You’ve had more interaction with her than any of us, so thought you’d like to know.” If by saving her from being trafficked was interacting then yeah, I suppose.
I nod, lifting myself up off the seat. “I’m on it.”
They’d be stupid to go back there but I’ll hang around for a few days to make sure nothing else goes down where she can get harmed in the process. Besides, I plan on being there anyhow.
Danika
What the hell?
Police cars. News reporters. Curious civilians taking pictures of something, but I can’t tell of what with how many people are crowded around.
With a small gust of frigid wind, the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up. After scanning the area around me, especially the dark part of the beginning of the alleyway, I go to move forward and catch sight of the yellow caution tape. Air is stolen from my lungs as I see a drawn outline of a body on the sidewalk.
Holy shit.
It’s a crime scene.
Someone bumps into me from behind causing me to almost lose my balance.
“Sorry,” they say, jogging past to get a better look.
People can be so gross at times like these.
Lydia comes barreling out of the diner. “Hey! Fuck. I tried calling you, but it kept going straight to voicemail.” Her words are heard but I can’t seem to pry my eyes away from the body outline. “Danika?”
With me tightening a grip on my jacket, I finally turn to Lydia. “Sorry. Yeah, my phone died.” Which is stupid to not have my phone always charged. Another compulsion I’ll obsess over later.
She glances at the crowd of people and the news reporter who appears to be live, talking about what happened, but too far for me to hear. Police are urging people to move back and when someone brushes against my arm, I gasp.
Lydia pays me a careful mind. “Let’s get inside.”
We enter the deserted diner. For this time of night, it is odd we don’t have any customers. Guess it takes a crime scene for a break in the business.
“Crazy shit, right? Of course, our dickhead boss refuses to close for the day. Someone gets shot right the fuck in front of the place and all he cares about is us showing up on time.”
“I hate this part of town.” Thomas shakes his head as he walks up front.
“If I didn’t desperately need the money, my ass would be gone.” Lydia sits down on the bench in front of our lockers. My mind hasn’t been able to focus on anything except what’s going on out there and it’s bringing me into a dark place.
