Page 25 of Kill Me Sweetly

“He’s been worried about you.”

Four didn’t speak.

“I don’t know if you understand what happened today?” I kept my voice low so as not to wake JJ. Four looked at me, not speaking.

“Angel removed the tracker, the A…that was in your arm. No one can get you now.”

Still nothing. My eyes flickered to where Four was gripping JJ’s hand tightly.

“JJ cares a lot about you; we all do. I know you probably can’t understand what’s going on, but know that we have your back and we’ll get you help.”

Clearly Four had decided he’d had enough of my shit, because he returned to staring at the ceiling.

“Good night, Four…oh, and one more thing.” He didn’t glance at me but I guaranteed he could hear me. “Don’t hurt JJ. He’s my whole world, and I’d tear everything and anyone apart who did anything to harm him.” With that I left the bedroom, exhaustion weighing heavy on me. I trusted Angel would keep an eye on JJ.

Saintly Sweets was busy and Lizzy and Wesley, the new kid, were working the counter. Lizzy was right; he was a quick study and while he wasn’t one hundred percent on what all the goods were, he was a whiz at the register and fixing coffees.

I’d already interviewed two of the last three applicants, and as they left Lizzy shook her head. I trusted her judgment. She’d chosen the ones she liked but after she listened in on the interviews, she’d see if her gut was right or not.

The bell over the door chimed at the end of the rush. I looked up from where I was finishing inventory while Lizzy and Wesley took their break.

“Can I help you?”

She glanced around, a small smile playing on her face. She had light blond hair done up in a ponytail, cornflower-blue eyes, and was wearing a pink dress with little white flowers on it.

“Good afternoon. Are you Shepard Saint?”

“I am, who’s asking?”

She giggled. “I’m so sorry. I’m Darby Daniels. I have an interview with you today.” She checked her watch. “Did I mess up?”

“Oh, no, sorry.” She was a bit dressed up for the job, but I wouldn’t hold that against her. “My other employees are on break, so I’m out front. Mind if we do the interview here?”

She shrugged. “Makes no difference to me. You’re the boss.”

“Right. So…” I reached under the counter and pulled out her résumé. “Says here you were a barista for two years, and then you worked at Fiona’s Chocolates until about a month ago?”

She beamed. “All true.” She chuckled. “I love coffee and sweets, but Fiona is selling her business in a couple of months and cut some of the staff.”

I was aware the business was being sold. “Have you ever worked in a bakery or a shop like this that wasn’t just coffee?”

“Well, I mean, Fiona’s was sweets and then the coffee shop was coffee, put them together and yes, I’d say I have.”

She was quite charming, and there was a spark of confidence about her. “Good point. Let me just run in the back to grab Lizzy. She’s the supervisor who’s doing all the training. She may have some questions.”

“Sounds good.”

Wes and Lizzy were sitting and eating muffins as I approached.

“Hey, Boss.”

“Got a sec, Lizzy. Darby Daniels is here. I’d like your take on her.”

She jumped up and made her way out to where Darby was checking one of the carousels of books we had throughout the shop. It was sort of like a little library: Got a book, leave a book; need a book, take a book. It was JJ’s idea.

Lizzy walked to Darby, and the two began talking. Lizzy nodded a lot and Darby smiled the whole time. When Darby was gesturing to something in the corner, Lizzy peeked over her shoulder and winked. She was sold on Darby.

Once they were done, Lizzy returned to Wesley and I held out a hand to Darby. “Looks like you passed the Lizzy test. The job’s yours if you want it.”

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