Page 41 of The Finder

Garrett didn’t say anything, and Emma lay back down, hoping he would get the hint and leave. He did. He stood up a moment later. “Get some sleep,” he said. He walked towards the door. “And Emma,” he called out.

“Yes?” Emma almost whispered.

“They’d have to get through me to get to you, and that’s never going to happen,” he said with conviction. Without another word, he closed the door.

Emma just stared at the door he had gone through. She had no idea how to respond to that. Luckily, she didn’t have to. It only took her a few minutes to go back to sleep. Thankfully she didn’t have any more bad dreams.

The next day, she got up, showered, and was ready to go by 3:30. She walked down into the living room and sat on the couch. She was tired. Between working at the shop and training with Madison, she was exhausted. She put her head back against the couch for a moment. The next thing she knew, she felt a hand on her knee. “Emma.” She opened her eyes and saw Garrett crouched in front of her. “Do you need to take the day off?” he asked.

Emma glanced up at the clock and squeaked. It was after 4:00. “I’ve got to get going,” she said. Garrett backed up, and she stood quickly. He moved ahead of her to the door. He handed her coat to her before she went outside. Without a word, she put it on. He walked her out to the car. He held the door open and shut it behind her. Max was already behind the wheel. On the way, Emma studied Garrett’s profile, wondering if the man ever slept. He sure seemed wide-awake and alert and perfectly put together in his suit for this early in the morning. For that matter, so did Max. Meanwhile, her hair was in a wet braid, and she was wearing leggings, tennis shoes, and a long-sleeved white t-shirt.

She put her head back against the seat and thought about the day ahead of her. In what seemed like no time at all, they arrived. Garrett opened her door before she could, and he walked with her to the shop. Helen opened the door and let them in while Emma walked back to get an apron and get to work. The store opened, and they were off and running.

It was busier than usual. Around six a.m., a group of four guys came in. They were loud and obnoxious. If it wasn’t so early, Emma would have thought they’d been drinking. But what did she know? Maybe they had been up all night, drinking. She made all their drinks and carried them over to the table. She ignored their endless flirting with her, smiling politely at them. After dropping off their coffees, she went back for cinnamon rolls, coming back with four plates. She dropped them off and turned around to go back to the counter when one of them tripped her, landing her right in another guy’s lap. Mortification swept through her, and she tried to stand but his arm was locked around her. She panicked, and memories of Alec and his friends restraining her flooded her mind. Suddenly, Garrett and Max were there. “Release her,” Garrett said in a deadly voice. The man immediately released Emma, and she stood to her feet. “Go back behind the counter, Emma,” Garrett said quietly. Emma did as he said, her cheeks flaming. Thankfully, Helen was in the back room grabbing supplies, so she hadn’t seen what went down. Emma decided to go join her for a moment until she was steady on her feet again.

A few minutes later, she came out and noticed the table was empty. She picked up a rag and walked out into the dining area and peeked around the corner. Max and Garrett were seated in the back working. Emma went back and made two large black dark roast coffees and put two cinnamon rolls on a plate. She would have taken more, but she didn’t peg Garrett and Max as “sweets” guys.

She walked back towards their table. She felt Garrett’s eyes on her as she walked; she tried to focus on not spilling. She put the coffees and cinnamon rolls down. “Thank you,” she said, looking at Garrett for a moment. Then she turned to walk away. A hand enclosed around her wrist, stopping her.

“Are you okay?” she heard him ask. She looked at him and noticed his eyes were still angry.

“I’m okay,” she said. He searched her eyes and appeared happy with her answer.

He let her hand go, and Emma walked back up front. Several customers came in, and she got back to work. A little while later, Kyle and Levi showed up, and Garrett and Max left. Emma couldn’t help but feel disappointed when Garrett left without saying anything to her.

__________

The next few days passed without Emma hearing from or seeing Garrett. She had no way of knowing if he was out of town or just busy, and she didn’t feel like she could ask. On Friday afternoon, things had finally slowed down; and Emma was getting to finish her shift for the day. Two customers came in, and Emma waited to get their order. When they came close, Emma opened her mouth to ask what she could get for them; but she snapped it shut when she saw the gun pointed at her. “Just come with us willingly and nobody gets hurt,” the man said quietly.

Emma stood perfectly still, her heart slamming in her chest. Emma willed Helen to stay in the back, but she came walking out from the back at that moment. Her eyes widened and she dropped the cups she held in her hands. Her startled eyes met Emma’s. Emma tried to send calming vibes to her with her eyes. She wasn’t sure how they were going to get out of this, but she knew she had to figure something out. What she didn’t take into account were Kyle and Levi. In the midst of her terror, she had completely forgotten about them.

One moment Emma was standing behind the counter, the next she was slammed into the floor. She screamed at the sudden shock of it. The weight lifted off her. “Stay here,” she heard. She caught sight of Kyle as he vaulted back over the counter. Emma sat up and huddled under the counter. Helen was a few feet away from her doing the same thing.

There were sounds of a scuffle. Then there was a loud explosion that Emma knew with certainty was the gun going off. The glass window shattered. Emma put her hands over her ears, blocking out the sounds. She screamed when she felt someone’s hands on her knees. Her eyes popped open, and she saw Kyle in front of her. “Are you okay?” he asked.

Emma just stared at him. Her ears were ringing, and she couldn’t focus. He had blood all over him. Her face paled. “You, you’ve been shot,” she said in horror.

He glanced down. “It’s not my blood. Are you hurt anywhere?” he asked, his eyes skimming over her.

Emma shook her head. “Good. We’ve got to get this cleaned up. Just stay here; you don’t need to see this. You too, Helen,” he said. He looked at Helen. “Are you okay too?” Helen just nodded. He stood up and walked around the counter. A moment later, Emma heard him cuss. She wasn’t sure why. Then she heard the door open.

“Hands in the air where I can see them,” she heard an oddly familiar voice bark out. “Down on your knees.” Horror hit Emma when she realized Kevin was yelling at Kyle and Levi. She quickly stood up and squeaked when three officers’ guns swung in her direction, Kevin’s included.

“Get down, Emma,” Kyle barked at her.

Kevin turned his gun back on the other guys. “What happened?” he demanded.

Scared to death that Kevin was going to shoot and possibly kill Kyle and Levi, Emma grabbed the counter to keep her balance. “They saved me,” she said, breathlessly. “Two guys came into the shop with. One had a gun and told me to come with them. Kevin and Levi stopped them,” she said.

She watched as two of the officers cuffed Levi and Kyle and began escorting them towards the front door. “Wait,” she called out. “What are you doing?” she asked Kevin. “They didn’t do anything. I told you, they saved us.”

“Doesn’t matter. A gun was discharged, and two people are dead. Self-defense or not, I have to take them down to the station,” he said.

Emma looked at the guys helplessly. They had only been protecting her and Helen. Kyle’s eyes met hers. “Emma, Garrett’s on his way. Don't leave until he gets here. Just go in the back room.” He tried to say something else, but the officer yanked him towards the door.

Soon they were gone, and Emma felt desperately afraid again, even though Kevin and a few other officers were still there. Kevin moved towards her. “Why don’t you go in the back room? I’ll wait to get your statement until the guys get here and get this cleaned up.”

“Thank you,” Emma mumbled and headed for the back room. She didn’t get that far. She collapsed down to the floor where she had sat before. She felt numb. Her ears were still ringing, and she felt sick to her stomach.

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