Page 6 of A Seer and Present Danger

His light brown hair was messy like he’d just come from the beach, and even from this distance I could see the warm darkness of his eyes. His mouth was smallish, but when he smiled it was a cupid’s bow that popped dimples.

He wore a trench coat over his button-down white shirt. His tie (blue) was pulled away from his collar, making him look like an unmade bed. A very welcoming unmade bed.

He paused and scanned the diner.

Futures flashed:

Him, arms crossed over his chest, a storm thrashing the sky behind him.

Him, leaning toward me, hand on my cheek, as if to kiss me.

Him, lying dead on the cold, dark ground.

CHAPTER 2

“One?” Shelly asked the man at the door.

“A booth in the back, if you have it.”

“Sure, hon.” She strolled past me, bubblegum perfume lingering in the air.

I hadn’t moved since he’d walked in.

…hand on my cheek as if to kiss me…him lying dead on the ground…

I shivered.

He tipped his head as he neared me, gaze meeting mine. For a moment I fell into the deep warmth of his eyes, and it felt like home.

Then he blinked, and I was free.

The sounds of the diner returned, Elvis on the speakers pleading to be my teddy bear as I breathed in the heat and smells of fried potato and garlic.

“Ma’am? Yoo-hoo! My bill?” a woman called out.

Right. The job. I should be doing my job.

I snapped into action, gave her the bill, then helped her get her three little kids ready to leave. The stickers I pulled out of my apron for the kids made them squeal with joy.

After that, things really picked up, and I was so busy, I didn’t even notice when Delaney and Jean left.

“I’m closing it down. And he can’t stop me from selling this time,” Kenny Stratton told Gail Malloy, who sat across from him, sipping a cola. “I’m done. With it…with all of it.”

Kenny puffed out his chest, trying to look big. He had long ago canon-balled into the deep end of middle age, and his narrow, curved shoulders and thinning hair were already signaling defeat. He owned Wires and Widgets, a pawn shop that doubled as an electronics and vacuum cleaner repair.

Gail was fighting middle age by sealing her face behind layers of make-up. She worked at the car wash but dressed for the job she wanted—which appeared to be the star of a migraine medication commercial.

“What if he says no?” she asked.

“He won’t like what happens to him.” Kenny leaned toward her and lowered his voice. “I know too much about him.”

“We know too much about him,” she corrected. “He’s desperate for cash. How much do you think we can get out of the inventory?”

“The inventory’s worthless.” He sat back and wiped a napkin over his patchy mustache. “Most of it anyway. Once I dump that, I’ll sell the building. I own it. Half of it.”

“A third.” She poked her straw up and down in her glass, making the ice rattle. “We put my name on the contract too, remember? And Hugo’s still a partner.”

Kenny made a dismissive sound.