Page 45 of Shattered

“Jade, my little gumdrop,” Mitzy called out. “You have a visitor.”

Mitzy, Betsy, and Shirley were the heart and soul of Over Easy. Shirley may have owned the place, but the way the other two acted, you’d have thought they were the ones signing our paychecks. The three of them had grown uptogether, which eventually led to a lifetime of memories. Their easy friendship was a thing of beauty.

They also didn’t have a filter.

“Who is it?”

I’d gone into the back to restock the sugar caddies after the breakfast rush had decimated our supply, while Henley kept an eye on the two tables of customers we had left.

“No idea, but he looks shady as shit.”

She said all of this standing in the doorway which led to the dining area, and she said all of this loudly.

“Mitzy,” I groaned.

“What?” she balked. “You get what you get with me, darlin’. Anyone who doesn’t like it can follow the signs to the exit.”

Shaking my head, I picked up the tray of sugars and moved past her through the door. My stomach clenched when I saw the man leaning against the counter next to the cash register. Mitzy was right, he did look shady, but more than that, he creeped me out. Mostly because his eyes seemed to be glued to my chest.

Setting the tray on an empty table, I moved to stand in front of him.

“Can I help you?”

“Jade Trumble?”

I nodded.

“You’ve been served.”

His smarmy grin should have been my first clue, but it wasn’t until he shoved a thick gray envelope at me, did his words register. And when they did, I lost my grip on the envelope, letting it float to the floor.

I’ve been served? What the hell?

The man said nothing else. He took off the second hemade his delivery, leaving me staring at the mysterious package like it was a bomb about to go off.

“Who was that guy, Jade?”

Henley was behind the counter, leaning over the top with a worried expression on her face.

“I have no idea.”

“You should call Koen.”

“And say what?” Fear of what was in the envelope made me snap at her. I instantly regretted it. “Sorry.”

“No worries. Maybe we should see what’s in there first.” She pointed to the envelope.

I bent to retrieve it, my hands shaking so hard it took two tries to pick it up. Peeling back the flap, I pulled out a stack of papers. My vision swam when I saw the documents with an official seal in the corner.

Life was good, which meant I should’ve expected the other shoe to drop.

“I think I need to call Koen.”

10MISSING LINK

Koen

It wasn’t often we used the sirens in our federally issued SUV for personal use; as in it was forbidden. However, when the call came in from Jade,forbiddentook a flying leap off a very short cliff. Keaton agreed with my fuck-it-all attitude, and since he was driving, I flipped the switch. What were they gonna do? Fire us both?

---