Page 68 of Mine to Keep

“Oh wow, this is incredible.”

Nick slapped the table. “I told you.”

I sipped the coffee, humming at the perfection of it. Matched with the cookie, it was a lethal combo.

“I swear, I’m gonna get diabetes just from this alone.”

Nick cackled, clearly enjoying himself. I was beaming one minute and the next, it was as if something cold had been thrown in my face.

Directly over Nick’s shoulder, across the street was a red-and-black bike; I swore it was like the one on the cameras. There wasn’t anyone near it.

“Nick?”

“Hmm?” His smile fell when he peered up at me from his coffee. “What’s wrong?”

I tilted my chin forward. “Behind you, is that the bike you’ve seen on camera?”

Nick grabbed a napkin, bunched it up, and dropped it on the ground. He reached to pick it up off the floor, discreetly glancing out the window.

“Yeah, looks like it. I don’t see anyone, do you?”

I shook my head. “They could be inside the store there.”

“Stay right here.” Nick stood.

“Where are you going?”

“Matt, stay, please.” He turned toward the counter. “Four.”

Four looked at Nick, and like someone hit a switch, he went from happy at Lizzy to serious.

“What?”

“Watch Matt. Nothing happens to him.”

With that, Nick was out the door and making his way across the street.

“What the hell is he doing?”

Lizzy snorted. “Something dumb, I’m sure.” She walked over to the booth. “You in some trouble?”

“Sort of.”

She hummed. “That’s what these Saint boys do.”

“Dumb things?”

She chuckled. “Protect what they love…and dumb things, yes.”

I thought love was a bit much, but I didn’t correct her. Four was sitting at the table closest to the door, watching.

The grip I had on my coffee was threatening the integrity of the porcelain. I didn’t like Nick going in there alone. What if something happened inside and none of us knew? He could get hurt.

A few minutes later he came out and walked to where the bike was. He circled it a few times, then nodded. He removed a piece of paper from one pocket, a receipt maybe, and a pen from his other. He wrote something and then somehow attached it to the bike. When he jogged back over, I sighed.

“Was that the bike? What happened?”

“I went into the shop, didn’t see anyone other than some girls and their mom. I asked the owner if he knew who owned the bike outside. He told me that the bike had been there since the day before. I went to check it out and sure enough, the license plate is the same. Left a note.”

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