“Thank you for taking care of that for me.”
“Thank you for letting me help.” He glanced up as Patel knocked on his door. He held up a finger. “I’ve got to go, babe. Love you.”
“I love you, too. Bye.”
“Enter.”
Patel winced, “Cap, Fenton is in the parking lot and heading this way.”
“Wonderful.” He stood and rolled his shoulders. “Tell Lieutenant Theron to hold tight in the interview room with Mouse until the colonel leaves, please.” The unexpected drop-ins by his supervisor’s supervisor were getting old. But he’d grin and bear them until the team no longer reported to the asshole. Not that he had much of a choice.
Chapter 6
“Hey, Boss, call for you on line three,” Lola yelled from the front of the restaurant and Brie barely heard it above the noise of the kitchen that was in full prep for a booked night.
It had been great to visit with Brody, Amber, and Kyle, but now she was right in the middle of prep. She didn’t dare impede the chefs working in an orchestrated dance, but she was great at toting and fetching and keeping workstations cleared. She gave Lola a thumbs-up and moved a completed tray of desserts to the walk-in cooler before she trotted into her office and picked up the phone. “This is Brianna. May I help you?”
“You need to pay.” The voice was low and deep.
Brie stood up straight and swiveled to look into the kitchen, pushing her finger into her other ear so she could make out what the man said because there was no way she heard what she thought she heard. “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you. What did you say?”
“The tire was a wake-up call and a warning.”
Her heart leapt into her throat, and she turned away from the door. “What are you talking about? A warning about what?”
“You need to pay. Wait for instructions.” The line went dead.
“Boss?”
With a yelp, she jumped and clutched her hands to her chest, spinning. “Oh shit, Roger, you scared the crap out of me!”
“Whoa, maybe less caffeine tomorrow?” He arched an eyebrow and nodded to where she had the phone cradled to her chest. “I just got a call from the butcher. He’s had issues with his walk-in cooler. We aren’t getting our order for the next three days.”
“What?” Her hand shook as she set the receiver back in the cradle and straightened her shirt.
“I called around and I can get us our order, but it is going to be more expensive.” Roger dragged his hand through his hair. “Or I can call one of the big warehouse dealers.”
“No, we support our local vendors. How much more?”
“Double.”
“Double?” She sat down on her desk. “Okay, well, it’s only three days. We’ll manage.”
“We can raise the menu prices,” Roger offered.
“No, I can absorb three days. If it goes longer, we’ll address what we need to do. In the meantime, do we have everything ready for tonight?”
“We do. The first reservations come in at five-thirty and then we have tables full until our last seating at nine.”
She nodded and caught a glimpse of Lola as she power-walked through the kitchen. “Lola!”
The woman spun on her toes and headed for her office. “You bellowed?”
“Sorry, I did. The call you just patched through; I didn’t get the name of the man who called. Did you?”
“No, I asked for a name, but they declined to give me one. Instead, they asked for the owner of the establishment.”
“They didn’t ask for me by name?”
“No. Why?” Both Lola and Roger looked at her like she’d lost her mind.
She tried to chuckle, but even to her own ears, the attempt fell flat. “I think they had the wrong number.” God, she hoped they had the wrong number. But they mentioned the truck…
Lola shrugged, “Right, well, if they call back, I won’t put them through unless they give me a name.”
“Wait. No, put them through. I’ll handle it. No need for you to get involved in this.”
Lola cocked her head. “You sure? What did they say? You seem pretty rattled.”
“I’m just jumpy today. Roger is blaming the caffeine, and he is probably right. Now, both of you go back to work, we have a restaurant to run.” She made a waving motion with her hands and shooed them from her office.
She flopped into her chair and stared at the phone. A chill ran across her exposed skin. It was probably those two jerks that cornered her by her truck the other day. Well, they could go to hell. Two scraggly lowlife excuses would not intimidate her. But she would take Ryker’s advice. Popping on the computer, she searched for outdoor security cameras, those with recordings that went to a cloud storage. It took thirty minutes to find the one she thought would work. One click later… boom, ordered and on its way.
She grabbed her cell and sent a text to Ryker.
> New camera for outside ordered.
His reply came back almost immediately.
> You remembered?
She rolled her eyes.
>Ha ha.
The bubbles floated for a moment before his reply came through.
> Two years and you didn’t buy a spare tire.
She laughed and shook her head. She had no defense against that statement.
>Some things just aren’t that important.
>Obviously. Alston called. Your vehicle will be done today by five.
>I’ll Uber and pick it up. I probably should stay at mine tonight.
She also needed to water the plants, dust three weeks of non-use from the surface of everything, and battle whatever was growing in her refrigerator. She’d practically lived at Ryker’s for the last month.
The phone in her hand vibrated and she jumped. Damn, that call had spooked her. She swiped the face and answered the call. “Texting wasn’t doing it for you, sexy?”
“Nah, I’m more of a hands-on type guy.” Ryker’s voice was deep and smokey. It sent a sliver of excitement through her. “Babe, is there a reason you don’t want to stay tonight?”
“Other than I’m paying rent on an apartment I haven’t been to in a couple weeks?”
