14
Five miles to go to the restaurant, and Micha could swear they were crawling. Inch by painful inch. Stomping on Colin’s foot resting on the gas pedal would get them moving faster. Micha had considered it, but he wouldn’t. They’d hydroplaned several times on the wet roads and speeding up could be dangerous. He might want to arrive faster, but he wouldn’t risk not getting there at all.
Colin finally pulled into the lot. “I don’t see Dev’s vehicle.”
Micha scanned the lot. “Only one Fat Eddie’s in town, so it has to be the right place.”
Colin backed the SUV in close to the door, the rain shedding off the vehicle like a waterfall. Wouldn’t stop Micha. He was out of the vehicle in a flash. The rain soaked him before he got a few feet. No worries. He could handle getting wet but not handle Ava getting hurt. So he took time to check out the place before entering.
A deep scan of the surroundings brought up nothing amiss. Through the front wall of windows, he spotted Dev and Ava in a booth near the back. His heart did a happy dance.
He entered the building and resisted shaking like a dog but stood dripping at the counter. Dev had chosen a booth that Micha would’ve selected too. Everyone on the team would have due to the location providing the most privacy, and it was defensible.
A waiter tried to tell him something, but he ignored the young guy and charged down the long aisle. He slid in next to Dev, where he could not only keep an eye on the door but look at Ava, too.
“You made it.” Her words came out on a long breath as she pushed away her empty plate.
She seemed overly relieved to see him.
“Did something happen?” Micha slicked his hair back and grabbed a napkin to wipe the rain from his face.
“No.” She smiled, and the warmth traveled directly to his heart. “Dev has taken great care of me, but I was worried the detective would arrest you two.”
Colin arrived at the table, dripping rain on the floor.
She didn’t seem to notice he was wet and could soak her, but scooted over for him.
He slid in and helped her move her plate and silverware to her new location. “What did you have to eat?”
“Meatloaf, and it was wonderful,” she said but didn’t take her eyes off Micha.
“So was the burger.” Dev tapped his plate only holding a scrap of lettuce. “Highly recommend it.”
A waitress whose name tag said Belinda arrived with her coffee pot. “I’m taking over for Braxton, who’s on break, and it looks like you two could use some warming up. And before you get the wrong idea, I meant the coffee. Not that it would be a hardship to get close to any of you fine-looking fellas. If only I wasn’t old enough to be your mama.”
She laughed and held up the pot.
Micha flipped his mug. “Coffee for me, please, and a burger and fries.”
Colin tipped his cup and smiled up at her. “I’ll have the meatloaf.”
“Not a fit night to be out.” She gestured at the counter. “Even my truckers are hunkering down for the night.”
There was a question in that statement somewhere—wondering why they were out in the storm—but Micha would ignore it. His stomach grumbled.
“Guess I better get your order in pronto.” She chuckled and departed.
“We shouldn’t stay long,” Micha said. “If a cop comes in looking for us, Belinda will remember we were here because of the storm and describe us to them.”
“Odds aren’t good they’ll be searching on this side of town,” Dev said. “They have no reason to believe Ava would be here.”
Micha looked at his teammate. “Yeah, great job on choosing a random location, but this surely isn’t your safe house.”
“We got a motel room just down the road.” Ava flinched. “It was so gross we opted to come here for a while and get something to eat.”
“We can take off from there, then,” Colin said.
“Where we headed?” Micha asked.
