EPPINGTON: THE GUARDED SECRET by Tanya Taylor (red queen free ebook TXT) 📗

It was a Pit Bull dressed in the type of uniform Chief Mays wore. Mays was stationed at that location, so I wondered where the heck he was—until I saw him emerge from a side door in a typical sergeant’s attire. Stunned, I realized I needed to get the hell out of there. On the way, I’d thought that if, by chance, those cops were normal, I could’ve filled them in on what was going on and they could’ve somehow taken care of it. But that hope was crushed the minute I walked in.

The finely dressed Pit Bull was heading my way and I was careful to lower my head and not make eye contact even from that distance.

“I guess that’s it then,” I said to the guy sitting in front of me and I did a one hundred and eighty degree turn, then calmly walked out of the station.

I arched my eyebrows, hinting to the guys that we should leave like NOW. Good thing they were paying attention and we all quickly hopped on our bikes and started down the street.

“Hewey!” Sam cried behind me after we left.

“I’ll tell you about it later. Let’s just go!”

We were riding for a couple of minutes when I heard Rob say, “Gotta stop for something to drink. I’m thirsty!”

I slowed down, and Sam and Rob pulled up next to me.

“Stop for something to drink where?” I asked him.

The diner over there! I have money,” he replied.

“Can’t it wait ‘til we get back to the spot?” I frowned.

“Unless you want me to fall out on this bike, I’d be better off getting that drink now.”

“Let’s make it quick then.” I led the way across the two-lane street over to an empty parking space in front of the diner.

Fredricka’s Diner was a local hotspot that was around for decades. Three generations of Forresters ran the place and kept it from looking run-down. It wasn’t a large place, but was fairly cozy inside. The roof had bright red fish scale shingles and the wide fluorescent green overhang had a plastic, animated look to it. My parents actually weren’t ashamed to tell me that they spent their first date at Fredricka’s. Back then, they said it attracted a lot of teenagers and even had a live band several nights per week. Now, it was just a plain, old diner where waitresses ranged from the ages of nineteen to ninety. Yep—Grandma Jane was still as active as ever making sure the customers were happy. I hoped that one day when I grew up, I’d have a successful business and if I were lucky enough to have kids, they’d be interested enough to keep it going long after I passed on—just like the Forresters did theirs.

“Are y’all coming inside with me?” Rob asked.

“All of us can’t go in and I’m not so sure we should,” I said. “Besides, someone has to stay here with the bikes.”

“I’ll stay,” Sam volunteered. “Not sure I wanna go in there anyway.”

As always, I gave Rob a brief lecture on being cool and blending in as much as possible with everyone else. The windows of the diner were tinted, so we had no idea how many people were inside.

Eager to get that drink and knowing Rob—possibly a muffin while he’s there—he opened the door and stepped inside. I followed.

What I saw almost caused me to blow my cover, hop on my bike and get as far away from that place as quickly as I could.

I nudged Rob because I sensed his struggles too, but as terrified as I knew he was, he really surprised me.

Inside the deli was a row of about ten tables and the accompanying seats located on the same side as the door. Another shorter row of tables and chairs was in the center of the room and yet another on the opposite side of the space. At the right of the door, about forty feet or so down was the large kitchen separated only by a long steel counter. And next to that was a commercial cooler filled with a variety of drinks. Dale Forrester’s cashing booth was nearby. Dale was a former prom queen who graduated from our school the year before. I always had the hots for her, but she never seemed to notice. Guess Jase was more her type.

What startled me was that the tables were occupied by various breeds of dogs and the Forresters and their hired help were waiting the tables as if there was absolutely nothing out of the ordinary going on in front of them.

“I want a milkshake!” A little puppy told one of the two adult dogs at the third table from the entrance.

“Certainly, dear!” a female mutt dressed in a lovely purple sequence pants outfit heartily replied.

“Waitress!” She raised her front paw. “Please bring a chocolate milkshake for my special little guy.” I actually saw a pleasant smile stretch across her well-groomed face and I nearly slapped myself in case I’d fallen asleep and all of this was just a dream.

Grandma Jane appeared a minute later with the chocolate milkshake. She said nothing and her wrinkled face seemed lifeless.

The deli was pretty noisy due to the many conversations going on at the tables and the good thing is that no one seemed to pay much attention to Rob and me even though there were no other human patrons in there. Everything inside of me screamed to forget Rob’s stupid drink and get out of there at once. But yeah, like I said, Rob surprised me. He still went over to the cooler, picked up a ginger ale and walked right up to Dale Forrester. On a low, decorative stand next to Dale’s desk was about a dozen blueberry and banana muffins and what do you know? – Rob picked up three. Inwardly, I shook my head. That guy sometimes really got on my nerves. Even in a life or death situation or one that meant sanity