Chapter 16
I stood in the back room, staring down at my phone. For the third time, I frantically scrolled through its photos.
It was stupid, really. The phone was relatively new. I'd taken only a handful of shots, including several by accident.
The worst, or the best, depending on how you looked at it, had been an image of Lawton stark naked. That picture I'd finally deleted, but not before it caused me all kinds of grief by giving Lawton the worst impression of me and my intentions.
But right now, there was only one photo I was looking for – the one of Keith and Brittney in all their backseat glory. It was the very last photo I'd taken. It should've shown up first. Instead, it wasn't showing up at all.
I glanced again at my locker. I'd locked it myself, using my own combination lock. The lock was intact when I'd returned. Had I deleted the photo myself? Maybe by accident? It seemed unlikely.
Thank God I'd texted a copy to Erika. I scrolled through my outgoing texts, and there it was, along with her response, a simple "LOL."
Laugh out loud. Yeah, it was pretty funny. But right now, I wasn't laughing. Someone had tampered with my phone. I just knew it. And if the missing photo wasn't confirmation enough, Keith's attitude told me all I needed to know.
He wasn't scared. He was an obnoxious asshat. Like he always was.
"Hey Chloe!" he called from somewhere out front. "You coming out here, or what?"
Speaking of asshats.
I tucked my phone back into my purse just in time to see Keith round the corner, carrying a yellow timecard. I slammed the locker shut and gave the lock a few spins – not that it would do any good, assuming my suspicions were correct.
Still, I felt myself smile as I considered the thing Keith didn't know, that I had another copy.
"What are you so happy about?" he said.
"Nothing." I looked to his hand. "Is that my timecard?"
"Yeah," he said, thrusting the thing in my face. "Initial here. It does seem that someone clocked you out." He puffed out his chest. "But you'll be happy to know I did the adjustment personally."
I rolled my eyes and pulled a pen from my apron. Wordlessly, I added my initials to the adjusted entry and turned to leave the locker area.
"You're welcome!" he called to my receding back.
A minute later, I was out in the dining area, running my butt off with the other girls. I still owed Josie an explanation of what I'd seen outside. But between the packed dining room and Keith's new habit of popping in and out of the waitress station, talking to her was nearly impossible.
In a way, I was glad. I wasn't sure what to say.
Just before my shift ended, I was going from table to table, refilling the salt shakers when Josie sidled up next to me.
"Alright," she said in a hushed tone. "I got the scoop."
It was almost dawn, and most of the tables were vacant.
"Scoop?" I said, glancing around the nearly empty restaurant.
"Scoop. News. Whatever," she said, waving away my confusion. "About the guys in the trunk." She put her hands on her hips. "By the way, you were supposed to be giving me these juicy details."
I grimaced. "Sorry about that, but Keith's been dogging me all night."
"No kidding," she said. "He's like your own personal shadow. What's up with that?"
I shrugged.
"Forget Keith." She grinned. "You're gonna love this."
I paused in mid-reach, the salt shakers forgotten. "Yeah?"
"Totally." Josie looked around. "Well, remember the guy at the bar?"
"Which one?"
"Older guy. Name's Bruce. But that's not important. Anyway, he got the whole story from one of the cops."
"Really? How?"
She shrugged. "They're buddies or something. But check this out. According to Bruce, those two guys ended up locked in their own trunk because of this stupid fraternity prank that got totally messed up."
I stared at her. "Messed up? How?"
"Apparently," she said, "they were supposed to end up at some sorority bash, and got dropped here instead. Can you believe it?"
No. I couldn't believe it. I knew better. Less than twelve hours earlier, those same two guys had tried to drag me into that same dark sedan. But instead, they'd been handed their asses by Lawton and his brother, and then locked in their own trunk.
No way I'd be sharing that little nugget though. "What about the ski masks?" I said.
This ought to be good.
"Oh that's the best part," she said. "So apparently, they were supposed do some panty-raid, burglar skit when they got there –"
"Where?" I asked.
"The sorority house. But they ended up here." She grinned. "In their underwear. God, what a couple of dumb-asses."
I stared at her. That had to be the dumbest story I'd ever heard. "And the cops actually bought that story?" I said.
She squinted at me. "Why wouldn't they? You can't make that shit up, right?"
Time to change the subject.
I stopped to give her a serious look. "Can I ask you something? You did hear Keith say he was clocking me out, right?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Because according to him, he was just sending me on break. Wanna hear what he did? He tracked me down in the parking lot and practically dragged me back inside."
Josie grinned. "Ohhh, that. I know why."
"Why?'
"Because remember Sonya, how she wasn't looking so good?"
I nodded.
"Well, maybe ten minutes after you left, she threw up in Keith's office."
I leaned forward. "On Keith?"
"No." Josie frowned. "In his wastebasket. Unfortunately. Still, she had to be sent home. We won't be seeing her for a week or two."
"So that explains it," I said.
"Yeah, good news for you, huh?"
"How so?"
"Two words," she said. "Job security."
I felt my shoulders slump. It was a sad day when you had to wish the flu on your co-workers just to make ends meet.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
I summoned up a smile. "Nothing. Just a long night, that's all."
"Alright, here's something that'll crack you up. Want to know what else happened in the parking lot?"
I felt my body tense. "What?"
"You know who Lawton Rastor is, right? Remember, you let me wait on him a few weeks ago?"
Mutely, I nodded.
"Well, some guy I waited on claims he spotted him in our parking lot, beating the crap out of his own car." She laughed. "Crazy, huh?"
"Well, he does have that reputation," I mumbled.
"Know what?" Josie said. "I don't even care. I'd totally do him, anyway." She leaned her head back and closed her eyes. "Oh my God, those abs. Want to know what I want? To cover him with chocolate sauce and lick it off." Her voice got husky. "Drop by drop."
I tried to laugh, but it came out wrong. More like a whimper.
Josie opened her eyes to study my face. "You feeling okay? You're not coming down with the flu, are you?"
I shook my head. "Not me. I can't afford to."
I also couldn't afford to think about any other girl, including Josie, licking Lawton anywhere. He and I were done. But if I were honest, the idea of him with anyone else was making me more than a little sick.
Or maybe, if I was lucky, it was just the flu.