Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82930 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 415(@200wpm)___ 332(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
When she locked the main doors at the end of the night, her feet were hurting. Tanya had already left. The diner was spotless. Rosalie had also left. Colt had picked her up, and Burto had gone as well. She was doing the last of her checks before heading out.
It was dark outside, but the parking lot had extra lights, and as she walked toward her car, she noticed it looked different. Stepping closer, she glanced down at the tire, and growled.
“What the ever-loving fuck?”
Someone had slashed her tires. She walked around her car and gritted her teeth. All four of her tires were slashed, and what was worse, she didn’t have a clue who would do this. She didn’t have any enemies. It had been a long time since she pissed anyone off.
She pulled out her cell phone and dialed Myth. He was the only person she might have upset by hiring a single mom. It would be completely outrageous if he was pissed off with her because she hired someone who needed the job.
“Petal, what’s wrong?” Myth asked.
“Did you slash my tires?”
“What?”
“Well, did you?”
“No, I didn’t slash your tires. What the fuck are you talking about?”
“I’m at the diner and someone slashed my tires.”
“Please tell me you’re not alone.”
The harshness of his words made her tense up. Myth wasn’t joking. He didn’t slash her tires, and it wasn’t some stupid joke. He sounded serious, and she began to glance around, but outside the parking lot, it was dark.
“Myth, what is going on?”
“I want you to get back in the diner, lock the door, and stay there.”
She began to walk to the diner, hating the feelings swirling inside her gut. This was not good. Fear crawled down her back, and her hands shook as she got to the diner.
She was sure at some point she heard footsteps behind her, but when she looked, no one was there. This is why she hated the fucking dark. This was all bullshit.
Entering the diner, she turned on the lights, which made it impossible to see outside.
“What do you want me to do?” Petal asked.
“I want you to stay there, go in back to the office, and listen, I’m going to call Dirty.”
“Why are you calling him?”
“Because he put himself on diner protection duty, and I haven’t seen him, which means he’s close by.”
She wanted to ask what the hell that meant, but he had already hung up.
She hated this feeling. Something was clearly going down.
Petal got to the office, unlocked the door, and stepped inside. She took a seat, feeling like a fucking coward. This is not who she was, but fighting a shadow in the dark was equally terrifying.
This was not going well. Next time, she would leave when Burto left, or anyone who stayed late.
Someone slashed her tires, but who? There was not a single customer complaint today. No one sent any food back. It was actually a really good day, which was rare.
Why were her tires slashed? Was it someone just vandalizing property? Myth seemed to know there was someone out there.
Her cell phone went off, causing her to jump and let out a little scream.
“Get your shit together, Petal,” she said to herself, answering the call. “Hello.”
“Dirty’s outside waiting for you. He doesn’t have your number,” Myth said.
“Are you going to tell me what is going on?” she asked. She left the office, locked the door, and made her way through. At the door, Dirty stood close enough for her to see.
“I can’t. You need to talk to Warden.”
And like so many other times when Myth didn’t want to be bombarded with questions, he hung up. She wanted to say something snarky or sarcastic, but nothing came to mind. Instead, she shoved her cell phone into her bag. This was the first time she had come face to face with Dirty since that morning when she hit him.
“Hey,” she said.
“Are you all right?” Dirty asked.
“Yeah, I am. It’s just my car. The tires were slashed.”
“Myth told me.”
“Where were you?” she asked.
“I didn’t slash your tires,” Dirty said.
Petal laughed. “I didn’t think you did, I was just wondering.”
Dirty rubbed the back of his head. “I was riding. I hadn’t gone far, but I didn’t want to scare you. I’ve got my bike if you’re ready.”
“I’m ready.”
She secured her bag over her body, quickly doing up the zipper. She was ready. More than ready. She looked at Dirty. A part of her wanted to tell him she would wait for someone else, but she didn’t see the point. There was no reason to argue over the ride home.
It was strange, looking at Dirty had been hard for so long. It had been painful, but this didn’t feel painful.
She locked up the diner, making sure to turn off the lights. Once everything was okay, she followed Dirty out toward his bike. Her car looked so freaking lonely.