Page 108 of Lunar Crest University

FINLEY

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 21ST, 2023

Celestial Reads is never busy at night, especially during weeknights.

The occasional person who enjoys a cup of nighttime coffee will come in, but other than that, night shifts are for cleaning, taking out the trash, and standing around listening to random 90s music. Oscar is in the back, cleaning up the kitchen, while I sweep the front area, singing along softly to a Phil Collins song I’ve heard four other times already tonight.

There are thirty minutes left in my shift when the door jingles as someone walks into the café, and my head lifts as my robotic, friendly greeting rests on the edge of my tongue. But it never comes out; it gets stuck in my throat as I lock eyes withhim.

Javier.

My grip on the broom handle tightens as chills roll down my spine. Suddenly, it feels like my world has been thrown off its axis, like the ground is crumbling beneath my feet. The wobbling in my knees is a testament to that. My brain scrambles to keep up with what’s going on while I struggle to keep my composure.

Luca should be parked out front, right? So…is the plan happeningnow? What do I do? We never went over in detail how this would go, and now I’m regretting it.

“Finley,” he greets.

I force a smile. “Hello.”

“Do you remember me?”

Swallowing, I say, “How could I forget?”

Play it cool.Breathe in through the nose and out through the mouth. This is never going to work if he suspects I’m freaking out. Luca wanted me to lure him into the alley by walking me home, but there’s no way for me to double-check right now to see if that’s still the plan. As I go to prop up the broom and return to my safe spot behind the counter, I try to peek outside and look for Luca’s car, but Javier’s dark eyes are watching my every move.

“What can I get you?” I ask as calmly as I can.

He smiles at me, the same creepy smile from the last time we met. It leaves a sick taste in my mouth, but I swallow it down.

“Same as last time?” I ask.

Sweat pricks at my forehead as I try to act normal. My eyes quickly dart to the glass door once more, hoping to catch a glimpse of Luca sitting outside, but I don’t see anything. The feeling in my stomach is unlike anything I’ve ever felt before, like a ball of dread and impending doom mixed into one.

“He’s not out there.”

My heart stutters inside of my chest, but I try to play dumb anyway. What other choice do I have? What is my option here?

Smiling faintly, I say, “Who?”

“Luca is a little tied up right now,” Javier says, waving his hand in the air aimlessly. “A fire at his house, maybe? I don’t know the details. Just needed a distraction.”

A fire?

Ice fills my veins, and I can’t stop the look of horror from taking over my face. The thought of Luca being trapped in a house fire and… He could be lying. Maybe he’s lying just to get a reaction out of me. He probably feeds off fear if he’s as crazy as Luca described.

“So, we’ll walk out the front without any interruptions. You and me.”

This isn’t the plan.

We never talked about what to do if something happened or if things went awry. Fuck, why didn’t we talk about that? What is wrong with me? I should’ve pestered him harder about it. I should’ve made him sit and write out a thorough plan with exit strategies. Old me would have made him do that, but now… Now, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because he’s about to take me away, and I don’t know if Luca is alive or dead.

My eyes fill with tears.

“And don’t worry, your boss won’t mind.” He places his hands on the counter, cocking his head at me. “I made sure of it.”

Did he do something to Oscar? There’s no way. I’ve been here the whole time; I would’ve heard if something was going on in the back.

“I don’t understand,” is all I manage to croak out.

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