Page 2 of What's Left of Me

“Hey.” Shep didn’t look up from kneading dough.

“Hey.” I put my bag on the opposite counter and started taking out the cameras.

“Lizzy has a visitor.”

I turned to face Shep. It wasn’t that it was weird that Lizzy was talking to someone—it was the way he’d said it.

“And?”

Shep shrugged. “I don’t know. I was in here, and Lizzy came through the doors a little frantic, asking if she could take a break and for Darby to cover. She had someone here who needed to talk to her.”

I leaned against the counter and cocked my head. “How long has this visitor been here?”

“Twenty minutes.”

“And?”

Shep sighed, plopped the dough into a bowl, and placed a cloth over it. “And, whatever this person is here for, it’s something serious.” He tilted his chin toward the window on the doors separating us from them. “I peek in every so often. The girl she’s with cries a lot, and Lizzy is doing that thing where she bites her lip and hangs her head.”

“The worried thing?”

Shep nodded. “I wanted to go out and ask what’s up, but it felt intrusive.”

I walked over to the window to look. Four was sitting next to Lizzy, his hand in hers as the woman was shaking her head, tears falling from her eyes. I glanced at Four again and he was staring at her, unblinking, but it was the way he was clenching his jaw that told me that whomever this was, they were in trouble.

“You’re right. It’s definitely something.”

“I was going to listen in but, it felt wrong.” Shep moved next to me.

We didn’t fuck around with our home and business. Security was everything, so each table in this shop had a device under it that would let us listen in on patrons’ conversations. It was not something we’d ever done, but it was an option if we needed it.

Lizzy stood suddenly, and Shep and I rushed back to our original places. We didn’t want her to think we were eavesdropping. A second after we’d started appearing busy, she came in. We looked up, and she gazed from me to Shep.

“You okay?” Shep asked her.

“I…I need to talk to you both.”

I met Shep’s eyes. “Uh, sure.”

Shep wiped his hands, and we approached Lizzy. Four was obviously staying with her friend.

“Before I begin, I need you to know I’m aware that this shop isn’t exactly how you make your money. Four’s told me things, mostly because he wanted me to know what he’d been through. So, it’s why I truly believe you all can help.”

“Lizzy.” I reached out and squeezed her arm. Her eyes were glassy, and it was the first time I’d ever seen her look so torn up. “Whatever it is, of course we’ll help you.”

She nodded curtly. “It’s not actually for me. It’s for my friend Hazel.”

“The girl you’ve been talking to?” Shep wondered.

“Okay, so sort of for her, but more for her brother, Phoenix.”

Suddenly, there were many people involved in this thing. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”

Lizzy took a deep breath. “Maybe you two can come out and talk to her. It’s a lot, and I don’t know how I can help her. I can offer a shoulder, a hug, an ear. What she needs is someone to keep her brother safe and alive.”

“Safe and alive from what, Lizzy?” Shep asked.

She winced. “He’s that guy who was rescued. He was on the news. He was held by that serial killer.”

---