“How’s it goin’?” the clerk muttered.
“Hey.”
Cheyenne almost froze when she heard that voice. Then she pulled herself together and picked two packs of instant Pad Thai off the shelf. I’ve heard that voice before. Where?
She turned and headed toward the drink coolers. The customer looked harmless enough, wearing jeans and a dark-green t-shirt that bordered on too tight. He was lean but muscular and had to be at least ten years older than her, if not more. Cheyenne had half-expected to see one of the burglars with guns she’d had a little powwow with, but this guy wasn’t one of them. The only thing about him that stood out at all was the small, almost indiscernible tattoo of a gnarled tree on the left side of his neck a few inches above his collarbone. It might have gone on beneath the collar of his shirt, but it wasn’t like Cheyenne was about to ask to see the rest of it.
The guy smiled at her before turning his attention to the assorted variety of beef jerky hanging on the shelf. Cheyenne reached into the cooler and grabbed some kind of iced tea without bothering to look at the flavor. She went to the counter to pay for her dinner, trying not to turn around again to look at the guy with the neck tattoo. I know I’ve heard his voice somewhere.
A crash came from behind her. She turned to observe the guy with the tattoo fumbling with half of the hooks on the shelf as they came free from the backing. Beef jerky and bags of Cheez-Its scattered across the floor.
“Sorry. I was just trying to get one bag—”
“Oh, yeah. Forgot to mention that.” The clerk chuckled and nodded at the mess at the end of the aisle. “I’ll take care of it. The owner placed an order for a new one this morning, but those always take longer than they should to come in. It’s the last thing that needs fixing after last night.”
The other customer stepped away from the fallen snacks and headed toward the counter to get in line behind Cheyenne. “What happened last night?”
“You didn’t hear? Cool. I’ve only told the story about twenty times tonight, and it still doesn’t get old.” The clerk glanced at Cheyenne as she set her purchases down on the counter and winked before grinning at the customer behind her.
Seriously? I should—nope. Think about the deer, Cheyenne. She opened her clenched fist and drummed her fingers on the counter while the clerk took his sweet time telling his awesome story instead of ringing her up.
“Place got robbed last night. Well, almost. Nothing was stolen, but a dude walked in with a gun and tried to get the girl who normally works this shift to open the register. Probably why she thought she couldn’t come in tonight, so I have her to thank for an extra shift.” He hissed out a judgmental laugh and picked up Cheyenne’s tea to ring it up. “Nothing happened to her, so I don’t get why she couldn’t come back to work. Women and their drama, right?”
Cheyenne gritted her teeth and glared at him when he looked at her. I’ll show you drama.
The clerk’s smile faltered, then he shrugged and nodded at the guy behind Cheyenne. “Some crazy in a mask walked in at the perfect time. Some kinda superhero wannabe, maybe. Dunno. I didn’t get to see the camera footage, but the owner told me this weirdo dodged a freaking bullet. Had some kind of, I dunno, electric whip or something.”
“That’s…unbelievable.” The guy behind Cheyenne didn’t sound like he was buying any of it, which she couldn’t blame him for. It almost made her smile.
“Right? Then I guess the guy ran away screaming and sent a couple buddies in here to get the job done for him. More guns. Lots of shooting. Bullet holes everywhere.” The clerk pointed to the corner beside the end of the beer cooler. The security camera had been taped back into place and reinforced with a couple of pieces of cardboard. “Oh, yeah. Guess we’re getting a new camera, too.”
“Hmm.” The guy standing behind Cheyenne sounded unimpressed. “Maybe you should let your coworker tell the story, seeing as she was there, right?”
“Hey, I heard it straight from the owner. He watched the camera footage. So, I can tell the story.” The clerk grabbed Cheyenne’s first package of Pad Thai and waved it around as he spoke. “I’m sure Katie—she was the one working last night—isn’t gonna want to talk about this. It’s a cool story, but she’s…” He sucked his teeth and made a poor attempt at a sympathetic grimace. “She’s one of those real insecure girls, you know? Sits here alone all night six days out of the week and—”
“Dude.” Cheyenne pointed at her dinner and cocked her head. “Just ring me up.”
The clerk blinked at her with wide eyes and wrinkled his nose. “I’m getting to it, okay? Who crapped in your cornflakes?”
Cheyenne cocked her head the same way, her nostrils flaring. “The guy who thinks this gas station is a hair salon.”
The customer behind her snorted, but the clerk just clicked his tongue at her and frowned in disappointment. “Hey, if you don’t wanna hear about it, don’t ask.”
“I didn’t.” Is this guy for real?
The clerk’s dismissive smile looked way too painful on his face, and he finished ringing her up before muttering, “Twelve eighty-seven,” and tossing a hand toward the card reader.
“Awesome.” Cheyenne ran her card, snatched her Pad Thai and tea, and turned to leave.
“Want your— Yeah, she doesn’t want her receipt.” The clerk crumpled up the bit of paper and tossed it into the trash behind the counter.
As Cheyenne turned around to press her back against the door, she found the guy with the neck tattoo smiling at her. It wasn’t just a polite smile coming from a stranger, either. The way he looked at her felt way too
