What the hell?
Is somebody crying?
Nick kept his footsteps slow and careful. He slid between the various cookers and countertops and tried not to make a sound. For some reason he felt compelled to creep, to keep his approach clandestine.
At the far end of the kitchen was an L-shaped corridor where the fridges were located. Peeking out from around that corner was a pair of legs. The feet sported heavy work boots that Nick thought he recognised.
I know whose boots those are.
Nick rounded the corner to see Carl lying face down on the floor. There was no blood and it was not immediately apparent what had happened to him. He could even have been sleeping, but somehow Nick knew it wasn’t true. He knew it for sure when he spotted Jan standing over Cassie while the girl cowered on the floor without her shirt.
Jan’s eyes immediately went wide when he noticed Nick’s presence. He quickly put his hands up in submission, holding them high above his head. “This isn’t what it looks like, brother,” he said.
“You have no idea what this fucking looks like,” Nick growled. He looked down at Cassie, who was visibly stricken by whatever event had just transpired, and then shook his head in disgust. “Cassie, it’s okay. Come over here, to me.”
For a second it looked like she might refuse, but then she clambered to her feet shakily and scuttled over to him. Nick placed her behind him.
Jan stared Cassie hard in the eye as she cowered behind Nick. “You remember what we spoke about, sweetheart, okay?”
“You don’t talk to her,” Nick said. “You don’t say a word to her, you understand me?”
Jan shook his head. “You got this all wrong, brother.”
“The only thing I got wrong was letting a bunch of criminals tag along with us. Soon as the sun is up, you’re gone. When the others hear about this they’re going to lynch you.”
Jan laughed, his barrel chest heaving in and out. “Who? You and Dave? Don’t make me shit myself!”
Nick shoved out at Jan angrily, but found himself swatted aside like a measly fly. The larger man punched him in the ribs and then shoved him aside with ease. Nick flopped to his knees, clutching his abdomen. His lungs felt like they might explode as he fought desperately to catch a breath.
Jan strode forwards and shoved him backwards with a large right foot. He glared down at Nick as though he were a child. “We’ll talk about this in the morning,” he said, “and we’ll see who gets lynched.”
Then the large man turned and walked away. As he did so, he looked Cassie in the eye again. “You just keep quiet and things will sort themselves out, sweetheart. Trust me.”
Nick managed to catch a strangled breath and roll onto his side. He shuddered in pain. Cassie came up beside him and helped him to his feet. Her shirt was rolled up on the floor and she hastily picked it up and put it back on over her white, satin bra. Then it was as if she had suddenly remembered that Carl was unconscious. She dropped to her knees beside him and patted his cheeks. “Wake up,” she pleaded.
Carl began to moan. His eyes fluttered open slowly. “W-what happened? My head feels like a Skoda parked on it.”
“I think you got struck from behind,” Nick explained. “By Jan.”
“Motherfu-“
“Don’t worry about it for now,” said Cassie in a soothing voice. “We can talk about it tomorrow. Let’s just go and get some sleep.”
Together they picked Carl up off the floor and started dragging him towards the restaurant floor. He was still pretty much out of it, but was gradually regaining his senses.
“What the hell happened?” Nick asked Cassie.
She shook her head. “Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
“Jesus, Cassie. Don’t listen to what that son of a bitch told you. It’s okay now, you’re safe. You can tell me what happened.”