Page 35 of Surviving in Everton

“Well, looks like he’s not home. Are there any restaurants on that list? It is lunchtime. Maybe he met a friend for lunch,” Declan suggests.

“Good idea, let’s go back to the car and check. I didn’t bring the list with us.” I shrug.

We get back to the car and examine the list again. Turns out there are quite a few restaurants he frequents. We might have our work cut out for us. Man, as thankful as I am for all the help West has given us, right now, I’m really wishing he could have given us a time for when he’ll be where.

“Ayden, call West and see if he can help us narrow down where to search next,” I suggest and he pulls out his phone and puts the call on speaker.

“Ayden? What do you need?” West answers the phone.

“Oh, umm… We’re at his apartment, but he’s not here. Is there any way you could help us narrow down the list to decide where to look next?” Ayden asks.

We hear West sigh before he answers. “Yeah, hold on.” We hear clicking then he comes back. “Alright, he’s at fifteen thirty-six Cox Road. He’ll be there for another forty-five minutes, so hurry up,” he declares then hangs up the phone. We’re left staring at each other in confusion.

“What the hell just happened?” Kayden voices all of our thoughts.

“Who the hell cares. We’re on a time limit now. He said he’ll only be there for forty-five minutes and we have no idea where this place is. Get in the fucking car and let’s go,” Nate snaps.

With that, we get in the car and I input the address into my GPS. I follow the directions until we pull up to a little deli about ten minutes later. We get out and look around. When we don’t see him, or notice anything out of the ordinary, we head inside. As soon as we open the door, we see him standing at the counter hitting on the cashier. The poor girl looks like she’d rather be anywhere but here. In fact, she seems very nervous to be around him. Nate must notice that too because he’s about to storm over there and probably do something stupid before the twins stop him. It takes both of them, but they’re able to calm him down slightly.

“If you’re done, we can go over there and save her now, but you’re not going to touch him yet, Nate. Remember the plan,” I insist.

“Fine,” he grinds out between clenched teeth. “Let’s go “talk” to him then,” he says with air quotes.

Have you ever seen a six-foot-two bear of a man do angry air quotes? I have to bite both my lips to stop myself from smiling, let alone laughing my ass off. Instead, I manage to hold myself together and nod my head. Taking charge once again, I lead the way to the counter where the loser is harassing the girl. I signal for the guys to fan out in case he decides to try and run. We come at him from all angles and he doesn’t even notice us. He’s too absorbed in cornering this girl at work to pay attention to his surroundings. That could prove fatal if Nate has any say in it.

“Brad?” I call from about two steps behind him. He snaps his head in my direction and the girl breathes a sigh of relief once his attention is off of her. She flicks her eyes back and forth between all of us. When they settle on me I tilt my head to the left, nearly imperceptibly. She nods quickly and makes a B-line for the kitchen door.

“What do you want?” he sneers at me.

“Just have some questions for you, that's all,” I respond.

He furrows his brow like he doesn’t understand what I’m saying. Which is odd because I’m pretty sure I’m speaking English. “Huh?” he eloquently asks.

“Questions… us… you. We ask the questions. You answer them? Making any sense yet?” I ask with my head tilted to the side, wondering just how dumb this guy is.

“What fucking questions? Who the fuck are you?” he snaps.

“Don’t worry about who the fuck we are,” Nate growls from beside him. He jumps, not having realized Nate was that close. “Answer our fucking questions…honestly,” Nate emphasizes, “and you won’t get an up-close introduction to my fist,” he growls out with said fists clenched and ready to punch whenever I give the okay.

Seems Brad here has some sense of self-preservation because he nods quickly at Nate’s threat. “Okay… I’ll… I’ll answer your questions. Just don’t hurt me,” he stammers out like the pussy he is.

“Word on the street is you might be dealing potions,” I begin and his eyes widen. Hmmm, looks like we may be on the right track with this asshole. “How long?” I demand.

“Not… not long,” he shakes his head in denial, but a blind man would be able to see through that lie.

“Try again. And stop wasting my time, or I”m gonna sic Nate on you,” I threaten.

He swallows and mumbles an unintelligible answer. I tilt my head towards Nate and raise one eyebrow.

“No, no! I’ll talk. I only sell sometimes, and I’ve been doing it since college,” he rushes out.

“And what college did you attend?” Declan retorts.

“McCallister University,” he stammers.

“Who’d you fucking sell to?” Nate demands as he grabs him by the front of his shirt. I groan. So much for not fucking touching him.

“I’d answer him if I were you,” Ayden chirps cheerfully.

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