Page 104 of Beat around the Bush
“Is Bailey with you?” I asked her.
“Yeah… Lennon, what’s going on?”
I sighed, then took a turn faster than anyone should. “I don’t know where Oakley is or if she’s okay. I’m going to find her.”
“Find her?” Alarm crept into Lettie’s tone. “What do you mean find her?”
“She was closing with Jacey and someone locked Jacey in the back. No one can find Oakley.”
“Oh my God,” she whispered into the phone right as I took the turn into town.
“I’m almost to the store, Lettie. Just stay home and I’ll call you with an update once I have one. She’s fine,” I said, but I wasn’t sure if I was saying it to reassure Lettie or myself.
“Okay. Be safe. Please. I love you,” she said as Bailey asked what was wrong in the background.
“Love you, too, sis. Everything is okay. I have to hang up now.”
“Okay,” she whispered.
I hung up the phone, leaving it on the seat beside me as I sped into the parking lot of Tumbleweed Feed. Taking up three spaces, I yanked my keys out of the ignition and got out of the truck, closing the door behind me.
I looked through the window by the front door to see if anyone was inside, but from what I could see, there wasn’t a soul in the store. If Oakley was in there, she’d have to be in the office or the break room. I tried the handle, but it was locked. Using my key to unlock it, I pushed the door gently in an attempt to not make the bell tinkle.
Softly closing it behind me, I quietly made my way to the stockroom, unlocking the door.
“Jacey?” I called out in a whisper.
“Len!” she whisper-shouted back, jumping up from where she was perched atop a short stack of dog food and running over to me. She threw her arms around me, mumbling her thanks into my shirt.
“Have you heard from Oakley since our call?” I asked her.
She shook her head at the same time a voice piped up from her phone perched on the bags of kibble.
“Is everything okay?” a woman asked.
“It’s the 9-1-1 operator. They’re on the way,” Jacey told me before going back over to her phone. “Everything’s okay. My boss is here now.”
The operator was quiet for a moment, seemingly not happy that there was yet another person here possibly being put in danger.
“I’m going to go find Oakley,” I told Jacey.
“Everyone needs to stay put until police get there. They’ll find your friend,” the woman said.
“Sorry, ma’am, no can do. I have to find my girl. I hope you understand that,” I said before heading out of the stock room.
I kept my steps quiet as I made my way toward the hallway that led to the office. The store was silent until I rounded the corner, then muffled voices floated down the hall. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but it was definitely Oakley and some man.
“Late night?” a voice called from behind me.
I swiveled to find Leo standing in the aisle about ten feet from me. “Leo? What are you doing here?”
He chuckled, the sound digging into every nerve-ending in my body. This wasn’t right.
“Taking care of business. Isn’t that what you’d always say to me when I’d ask what you were doing all those hours in the back office instead of being on the floor?”
My eyes caught on a glint of metal from the waistband of his pants, and with a quick glance, I saw he had a gun tucked there. I took a step away from the hallway, toward Leo. “That’s why I hired extra help, Leo.”
He scoffed. “Please. You only hired her to sleep with her. You know, I thought we were cool, Lennon, and then you had to goand fire me.” He smiled wide, a hysterical laugh bursting out of him. “Over a girl!”
