Page 7 of Fallen Ink

“That man come back?” Mace said after they’d cleaned up and started working on cleaning the rest of the place.

She shook her head, knowing exactly whom he meant. “No, but I don’t think that one time will be the last time we hear from him. Shep’s been looking into who he could be, but honestly, it’s a dead end right now. He didn’t introduce himself. He just threatened us with weird, vague shit.” It still didn’t feel right to her, and she knew there would be more from that visit soon. She just hated the fact that it was a waiting game until they figured it out.

“I don’t want you alone here at night, Adrienne. Not when we don’t know what that man’s issue was other than being a stuck-up suit with a sneering problem.”

That made her pause, her hands fisting in front of her on the counter. “Excuse me? Did you tell Shep or Ryan that you don’t want them alone?”

Ryan’s client had just left, so he looked up from his notebook before holding up his hands in surrender. “No, he didn’t, and for the love of God, keep me out of it.”

Mace flipped him off, but Adrienne could only glare at her so-called best friend. “Addi.”

“Don’t fucking Addi me. I know you’re overprotective, but remember, I can take care of myself. Plus, this is a brightly lit area, and even if I’m the last one out of the shop, it’s not like I didn’t do that for years at the old place. Don’t get all dude bro on me, Mace. I’m not going to take kindly to that.”

Ryan snorted. “Dude bro?”

She flipped him off since he could be just like Mace and Shep and go all overprotective if they thought one of their women was in danger. Not that Adrienne had ever been in danger when she walked into the parking lot. Like any sane woman walking alone at night, she walked to her car with either her pepper spray in her hand or her keys in her fist. Of course, when she told Mace that, he just glowered harder.

Men.

“I’m just saying…”

“Don’t say anything. I’m not going to wait for a strong man to save me just so I can walk outside, but I’m also not going to be stupid. I know there are people out there who like to prey on women. Hello? I’m a woman, and the fact that I walk to my car like I do and I’ve never been attacked should tell you something. But I’m also not going to live my life afraid of what might happen and end up hurting the business and create issues with everyone else’s hours because of it.”

Mace sighed before leaning against the wall. “I get it. And I know I shouldn’t have even said anything, but that dude creeped me out, and frankly, I don’t trust what he might do.”

Her stomach twisted, but she ignored it. “That man is more likely to sue us for some petty shit we didn’t do, Mace. That is what we should be worrying about.” The idea of just that kept her up late at night—not that she said as much to Mace and Ryan.

“Okay, you two, there’s nothing you can do about it now,” Ryan said, coming between the two of them. “You’re both off the clock anyway, and since you’re leaving at the same time, Mace can get all protective and walk you to your car, Adrienne, and you can glare the whole time, knowing that you’re not changing up your schedule so he can do it.”

“I’m starting to wonder why we hired you,” Adrienne said with a growl before going back to pick up her things. The rain had picked up, and it was freaking cold outside, so she needed her coat.

“Because I’m God’s gift to tattooing, and I take your ribbing easily.”

Mace was the one to laugh aloud at that, and Adrienne couldn’t help but smile. “Whatever you say, Ryan. Whatever you say.”

Mace went to pick up his things as well, and soon, the two of them were walking side by side in the pouring rain out to their cars. They’d parked far away, so she was drenched by the time she got to her door. Their vehicles were next to each other as usual, and she gave him a mock salute as she slid into the driver’s seat.

He grinned and got into his truck, shaking his head the whole time. Yeah, they fought, but they were best friends for a reason. She understood why he worried about her and knew she would be even more vigilant when she walked alone, but there was no way she was going to change everyone’s hours to suit the whims of the overprotective.

She turned her key in the ignition and then cursed as it just clicked. No trying to turn over, no weird sounds, just a click.

“What the fuck?” She tried again, taking deep breaths so she wouldn’t lose her temper and start beating the shit out of her steering wheel. The only thing that would end up broken would be her hand—and whatever was already screwed up under the hood.

“Damn it!” she yelled again as it continued to click with no results.

Someone tapped on her window, and she screamed much like she had in that corn maze, even though she knew it had to be Mace being all overprotective again.

She opened her door after letting out a long sigh, then grabbed her bag and made sure Mace was out of the way before standing up.

“If you ask to check under the hood before I get a chance to, I might knee you in the balls.”

Rain poured down on them, and he just shook his head. “It’s probably the battery, right?”

“What did I say about the hood? No guessing. No trying to fix the problem until I can see what’s going on.”

“Come on, Addi, it’s fucking pouring, and you’re on the way home anyway. Let’s just leave your car here instead of dealing with whatever is wrong with it when neither of us has any skill whatsoever when it comes to engines. We’ll call Roxie’s husband to come and take a look at it tomorrow, and I’ll give you a ride to work in the morning.”

Roxie’s husband, Carter, was a mechanic, and even if it was just the battery—though she wasn’t sure since she knew nothing about cars—the weather sucked enough that she’d end up electrocuting herself rather than jumping her vehicle.

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