Page 95 of On The Rocks

After a minute, she sighed. “My mom used to lock me into the office sometimes when he wasn’t supposed to let me come with her. And to make sure I was safe.”

I peered into the room, which was dark. “Ah, I get it. So, you had to hide in the dark.”

“Yeah. Most of the time, I had my tablet or phone, but...”

“Not now.” I rested my chin on top of her head. “Got it. Did the door close or something?”

“Yeah. I propped it open to get some stupid dragonfruit juice. The stopper must have slipped.”

I glanced down at the floor and the little rubber stopper was kicked away nearly a foot away. Had someone played a prank on her? It was seriously fucked up if they had. I urged her out of the room and back down the hall.

“Wait, I need the juice.”

“The bar is closing down. Kevon did last call fifteen minutes ago.”

“Dammit. How long was I in there?”

“I don’t know. Had to be at least forty minutes. At least that was the last time I saw you.”

She stopped me when we got to the kitchen. “Give me a second.”

I cupped her face and pressed a light kiss on her mouth. “Take all the time you need.”

She rolled her neck on her shoulders and shook out her hands.

“Really got you, huh?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t get the light to go on. If it had been on, I’d have been fine. Pissed...but fine.”

The door burst open, and Kira came in. “Oh, there you are.”

“Sorry. I got locked in the way back storage.”

Kira frowned. “How?”

“Door must have shut behind me. I thought I put the little stopper under the door, but it must have slipped.”

I rubbed her back. “I don’t know. It was kicked pretty far away from the door.”

Lennon peered up at me. “What?”

“Yeah. I don’t know for sure. Seems weird.”

“I’ll kill Justin if he did it thinking he was being a smart ass.” Lennon’s hands were fisted at her sides.

“No. I was out on the patio with him.” I glanced at Kira. “Think he just hired a bouncer.”

Kira rolled her eyes. “Great. Is it a drinking buddy of his?”

“Not exactly.”

“Well, that’s a worry for another day. I gotta get the tills settled up and these people out of here. We’re already a half hour after closing. Any longer and I’ll have the cops lurking in the parking lot.”

Lennon nodded. “Probably too busy at Lucky’s tonight. Though I’m not sure with all the traffic we got tonight.”

“Me neither. I’m not complaining, but I definitely wasn’t ready for this many people. We might have to hire a few more staff for the floor and bar.”

“Cool. We’ll figure it out.”

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