That was it.
One customer over the course of the last hour. After scrolling on social media for a while, I decided my time would be better spent being productive. I had just gone into the back room to find a broom and mop when the bell above the front door jingled.
“One second,” I called, moving one of the boxes aside to grab the cleaning supplies.
When I came back out of the stockroom, no one was there. I hoped they didn’t think no one was working and left, but I had called out. Plus, it couldn’t have been more than thirty seconds before I was there.
Something moved out of the corner of my eye, and when I turned around, a man was standing there.
I nearly screamed he popped up so fast. Where did he come from? There was no one there a second ago.
It took me a second to recognize him.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been in here before.” He looked around the shop with interest. “It’s cute.” His cold, dark eyes brought me right back to that night a few weeks ago outside of the police station.
My heart was beating faster. I slowly took a step back, putting more distance between us. He was standing in a way that blocked my exit by the side of the counter, but he was technically still on the customer side.
“Is there something I can help you find?” I asked with a customer service smile.
“No,” he said. He was no longer looking around, his eyes solely focused on me.
“Well, if there’s nothing I can help you with…” I reached for my phone without taking my eyes off him.
The sound of the door pulled my gaze away as Daisy walked through the door.
“Hey, I’m back,” she called. “Oh, hey, Tyler. What brings you in today?”
“Just thought I should check out what you’ve done. I like it.” He smiled at her, and all the air left my lungs.
He was clearly a friend of Daisy’s. The tension dissipated, leaving me feeling a bit foolish for overreacting.
Tyler left after saying bye to Daisy, but before he did, he took a long look at me.
We locked up and closed out the day. I shook off the edginess I felt on my drive back to Luke’s place, but something about him unsettled me.
I planned to talk to Luke about the encounter when he got home from his shift, but I didn’t even make it to the bed. I sank onto the couch to wait for him, and within minutes, sleep overtook me.
28
Luke
“Zero-nine-zero-four, what’s your location?” The squelch of the radio sounded on my shoulder, an unfamiliar voice calling to me.
“Zero-nine-zero-four. I’m on Maple, heading east to Washington. Should I reroute?”
“Negative. Stay the course.”
I shook my head. Dave Newgate was a nice enough guy. I had known him since we were kids in school, but working with him was going to be a struggle. Something in my gut told me that his position as Calla Bay’s newest dispatcher was going to his head. He had already redirected units instead of allowing the officers to take them accordingly. He was rubbing some people the wrong way right off the jump, and I could see why.
I didn’t think he needed my location to see if I was closest to a scene, which would have been a weird way to do it, rather than explaining where units were needed. No, he was looking for me to explain myself to him like he was my superior, checking inon me.
He wasn’t my concern though. I was doing my job, and anyone could check in at any time.
Right now, my job was taking another patrol around the Pine Street block between Maple and Washington. The same block that Daisy Days Flower Shop was on.
Scarlett had told me that the same kid she had seen at the police station was in the flower shop the other day while she was working. Since then, I had been doing trips around the building every hour or two, whether Scarlett was there or not.
She was working today though, and according to the text she sent me thirty minutes ago, she was alone in there while Daisy made her local deliveries.
