“Good afternoon, sir, welcome to Spencer’s. What can I get you?”
He looked her over and gave a soft smile then glanced at the menu. He looked around them and then leaned forward.
“You look good, Marlena. I had a hard time finding you.”
“How did you?” she whispered.
“It’s my job to. Can you sit a minute?”
She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear.
“I don’t think so. I wouldn’t want to draw too much attention to us. Why are you here? Is something wrong?”
“We need to talk. It’s about Peter.”
She felt the tears reach her eyes and she pulled out the chair and took a seat. She leaned closer.
“What is it? What’s going on?”
“The woman, Maria, that Peter had as an alibi for the fire at your place—she turned up dead last week.”
“He killed her?” she asked and covered her mouth with her hand.
He nodded his head then leaned closer. “We’ve got men, detectives trying to track him down. When we raided his place looking for him, we found stuff. Evidence that links him to the fire at your place.”
“Oh God. That’s good then. You can find him, catch him, and arrest him for trying to kill me and for killing his girlfriend.”
“If we can find him. Marlena, there were things there. We found some upsetting stuff.
“Upsetting stuff?” she asked and then heard the bell ring. She had to bring the orders out. People were waiting for more coffee or refills on drinks.
“I have to get the orders out.”
“We need to talk. It’s important, Marlena. You’re in danger.”
She stood up and swallowed hard.
“I get off at four. We can meet out back and talk.”
“Okay. I’ll be back then.”
She stood up and so did he.
“You should
order something so it doesn’t look suspicious.”
He smiled and winked. “No wonder it was so hard to find you. You’re right. I’ll take a coffee to start.”
She headed away and continued working, worrying about what the detective found and also worrying about how to tell her men about him.
But that problem seemed to be taken care of for her. Ten minutes later, Mike, Jack, and Danny entered the diner along with Sheriff Gordon and Taylor Dawn.
Danny headed straight toward her, pulled her into his arms, and held her tight.
“Is the stranger Peter?” he asked, and she shook her head. He looked at his brothers and the sheriff.
“Who is he?” Mike asked.