Page 6 of Hollow Forest

I recoiled.

Ivry snatched her hand back and began clutching it desperately again. “Please, don’t go. If he finds out I told you—”

“I don’t want charity.”

She lifted a shoulder. “Think of it as welcome to the Cove gift then. But please, please take the job.”

How bad could it be? My landlord knew I didn’t have references. He’d let me rent his dump of a cottage, and now he was making sure I had work.

Which would ensure I had rent money for the hovel in the woods.

“What are the strings?” I demanded.

“Granny always said don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” Her grin was demented. “You just show up, serve coffee, and go home. That’s it.”

I leveled her with a hard look.

“I swear it on my nonna’s grave!” she breathed, holding up her hands.

It would be easier to do surveillance if I stayed. Plus, I looked nothing like Dezzy, especially with this stupid blonde hairdo…. “Fine.”

Ivry sighed heavily. She slapped a palm on her heart, and her smile brightened. “Thank fuck.”

I snorted. “I’ll sort this out with Giuseppe later.”

Ivry launched forward and grabbed my shoulders. “Please don’t ever tell him. If you’re a good person, you’ll keep that between us.”

Laughter rang in my head. She thought I was a good person. That was too cute.

“When do I start?” I asked, sweeping a look around the café. It would be pathetic to tell her I was ready right now.

“How about tomorrow? Say ten?” Ivry offered.

“Okay.” It wasn’t an immediate jump into earning money, but it would have to do.

“If you want to pop into the back right now to sign a waiver, I can show you the POS system,” Ivery offered, then gestured to herself. “The dress code is jeans and whatever you feel like for a top, so long as you don’t show off the ladies.”

She winked.

A shiver rattled down my spine. Her sunshine and pep was going to be a problem. My sister had energy like that. Before it was extinguished for eternity.

***

The excess fiber from a supper of beans made my stomach pinch. I rolled over, fighting to stay asleep on the hard, unforgiving floor. A shift in the energy of the room made the indigestion vanish.

Someone was here.

I stared hard at the bedroom door. The open door. No lights were on, but I could just make out the shift of darkness against the night-soaked hall.

Keeping my breathing steady, I inched my fingers toward my head. Right as I gripped the wooden handle of the revolver, the door whispered closed.

The hinges had been oiled.

That flimsy old thing had squeaked like a bird the first night. The small comfort that I would hear anything opening the door was gone as I calculated the change.

Sitting up, I tried to keep my hands from shaking as I stared at the wooden barrier. My heart thumped hard against my ribs. A cold sweat drenched my body.

I had half a mind to chase whomever that was down, hold them at gun point, and call the local deputies to collect.