“Tucker,” Phoebe says, and I hate how frightened she looks. “Hi, guys.”
“Hey,” Rooster says. “Are you okay? And do you have any of those tarts?”
Punching him the arm, Zep glares. “Seriously?”
Better Zep than me. I’d have broken his fucking arm.
“Yeah, I’ll grab you some,” Phoebe says. “Tucker, can I talk to you in the back for a moment?”
Sarah walks into the lobby and lets out a shaky breath. “I’ll get them for him.”
“Thanks.”
We walk into the back, and her change in the normally sunny demeanor worries me. “What’s up, Yellow Crayon?”
“I’m scared for Sarah. And I don’t want to lose her, so I think I’m going to take you up on the offer to get a security system. The highest level you have with the panic button. I’ll figure out how to pay for it.”
Frowning, I stare at her. “Scared for Sarah?”
“Monsters don’t frighten me, but they do her. And I don’t want her to quit because I don’t think she’ll finish school if she does. She has a lot of talent.”
“Monsters don’t scare you?”
“I’ve seen enough to know they’re mostly just masks and scare tactics. Besides, I’ve been through worse than these guys can probably do. She hasn’t. And I need her to feel safe.”
This makes me uneasy. She’s seen monsters. She’s been through worse than whatever she imagines these guys plan on doing, and I doubt her thoughts immediately go to tickle fights. “Phoebe, is there any chance you know who this could be? Who’d be watching you?”
Shaking her head, she shrugs. “I have no idea. Aside from Sarah, Scotty, and you, the only people I talk to on a semi-regular basis are customers. And I doubt any of my customers have ties to anything bad.”
“No ex-boyfriends who might want to harm you? Or bosses? Someone you’ve rubbed the wrong way and would have a vendetta?”
She shakes her head again. “Trust me, the few ex-boyfriends I have wouldn’t come looking for me. For anything. I don’t have much of a job history.”
“What about someone you fired?”
“Sarah’s my first employee.”
“What about the monsters you said you’ve seen and aren’t scared of? Could they be back for you?”
Swallowing, she looks into my eyes, unsettling me. “My monsters are all dead.”
“Are you sure?”
Phoebe nods. “Positive.”
“Okay, well, how about we start with a list of your customers in town? The ones you have standing orders for. Maybe it’s tied to them, and we can get it figured out quickly.”
“I thought you might want that, so I printed them out with the contacts I work with. You probably know them all, though.”
She’s probably right. And I don’t know of anyone in town who has ties to the mob. Maybe the Venom do, but there’d be no reason for them to target Phoebe.
“We’ll figure it out, okay? And I’ll have Scotty install the system tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you.”
I don’t like this change in her, and I know I’m not going to charge her for the system. Not yet. Seeing her like this is too disheartening, and all I want to do is make her feel safe again. Happy. Cheery.
Who the fuck would’ve thought I’d want that?
