Reese laughed. “That’s what I said. I told him we had our fill of Switzers and didn’t need anymore. Holly thanked me for sayin’ it.”
“Sounds like it’s gonna—”
“Excuse me. I hate to interrupt,” a man said as he approached their table.
Brantley glanced up at the guy and reassessed his initial estimate. He wasn’t sure the guy was a man. Not from a chronological aspect, at least. He looked more like a kid. Probably seventeen, maybe eighteen. His jaw was lined with acne, and he had braces on his teeth.
“Yeah?” Brantley prompted, wanting the kid to get on with it. As it was, Tesha was sitting up, her full attention on the interrupter.
“Do you know Molly?”
“Molly who?”
“Just Molly.”
Brantley frowned and looked at Reese. He turned back to the kid. “No. Can’t say I know a Molly. Sorry.”
The kid grinned like an idiot. Almost like that was the answer he’d been hoping for. “Cool. Thanks.”
Brantley watched as he walked past the other tables toward the front door. It didn’t appear he had anyone with him, nor could Brantley see anyone in the parking lot waiting. But as he reached the door, the guy glanced back over his shoulder and grinned. It was the eerie kind of smile. The kind someone flashed when they thought they knew something you didn’t.
“What the hell was that about?” Brantley asked, looking at Reese.
Reese was peering back over his shoulder, tracking the kid until he left the restaurant. “No idea.”
“Well, with that weirdness behind us, what d’ya say we call it a night?”
Clearly as eager to get out of there as Brantley, Reese motioned for the waitress.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Friday, August 12, 2022
“Hey, congrats, man. I hear you’re headin’ to Dallas next week.”
Slade’s gaze snapped up, his eyes locked on Atticus and Luca talking a few feet away.
“Yeah. Six weeks, I hear.”
“It’s fun,” Jay said, joining the conversation. “Really fun. I dreaded the idea of six weeks away, but it was worth it.”
Feeling eyes on him, Slade looked to his right. Evan was watching him closely. His partner had been doing that for the past few days as they settled in after the trip. Thankfully, Evan hadn’t brought up what Slade had told him, but he figured it was only a matter of time. Especially if Slade didn’t get his act together and stop getting distracted by Atticus.
“You doin’ anything to celebrate this weekend?” Luca prompted. “Before you head out, I mean.”
“I’ve got plans,” Atticus told him. “I’m hanging out with a friend.”
“Anyone I know?”
Since Luca knew practically everyone in Coyote Ridge the same way Slade did, he figured it was a stupid question.
“Carson Briggs,” Atticus told him.
Slade’s chest got instantly tight, and he turned his attention to his computer screen.
“I know Carson,” Luca said. “I was best friends with his brother, Jaxson, in high school. You two seein’ each other or what?”
“I wouldn’t go that far.” Atticus chuckled. “We’re friends.”
