Cracked leather booths and rickety aluminum tables filled one side along the windows. The cook rested his elbows on the counter while reading a magazine. The toothpick he was chomping on was whittled down to nothing more than a nub.
“Take any seat,” he called out, not bothering to look up.
I took the seat closest to the exit, keeping my back to the wall. Resting my elbows on the table, I grimaced as a sticky substance coated my skin. My stomach rumbled despite the lingering smell of days-old grease in the air.
An older woman chomping on gum strode over, sloshing a glass of water on the table. “What can I get you?”
“A clean menu?” I muttered under my breath.
Smiling widely, clearly she’d heard me. Grabbing a rag that was bunched up on the counter, she smeared it over the menu, leaving more behind than she took off.
“Better?”
“Coffee,” I said, not sure I should grab anything other than that, no matter how hungry I was.
“Sure.”
She blew a bubble, popping it before she turned and headed over to the counter. When she picked up the brown slush in thepot, I almost told her to forget it, but I was distracted by heavy boots entering just behind me.
A tall man in a trench coat walked past me, sitting two booths down, facing me. His eyes immediately locked on mine, and there was nothing kind about anything in those eyes.
Fuck.
I glanced in my periphery, noting the second man lingering in the doorway.
The second hand on the clock ticked, counting down the seconds until one of us attacked. And all I had was a measly single bullet. I’d been in worse situations before, but I usually had a getaway or backup. I had neither right now.
“I wouldn’t touch the menus. They’re a little sticky.”
His lips curled up in a smirk. “Noted.”
I slid my hand under the table, touching the screws that were precariously holding the tabletop to the pole in the center. I’d felt the wobble when I sat down. It had annoyed me then. Now, it just might save my life.
The waitress ambled over, sloshing my coffee on the table, just as she had with the water. “Anything else, sweet cheeks?”
Leaning forward, I smiled at her. “Any chance I could get you to leave?”
“Sure, right after my shift is over.” Rolling her eyes, she walked away, busying herself behind the counter by filing her nails.
Well, it had been worth a shot.
Very carefully, I undid the screw closest to me, glancing over my shoulder at the man leaning against the doorway, probably getting hepatitis from the simple act.
“So, any reason in particular you’re looking for me?” I asked the man licking his lips in a creepy way at me.
“You know why.”
“If that were true, I wouldn’t be asking.”
The screw dropped into my palm, and I moved on to the second one.
“Playing stupid will get you nowhere.”
“Oh, if only I was playing stupid,” I sighed, rubbing my hand across my eyes.
Fuck, this headache just wouldn’t go away. “What I wouldn’t give for just a single night that involved eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. You know what I mean?”
He shrugged with a grin. “I can give you an eternity of uninterrupted sleep.”