Total pages in book: 138
Estimated words: 126823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 126823 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 634(@200wpm)___ 507(@250wpm)___ 423(@300wpm)
“The two women, twins—or I guess they would be triplets still, even if one passed,” Vaughn said. “They seem really nice and determined to put down roots here.”
“Felicity and Eve Garner.” Shabina supplied the names. “They said they feel closer to their sister when they’re here. More at peace. They seem to really love experiencing all the things their sister, Freda, enjoyed so much. Apparently, they hadn’t done backpacking and climbing the way she did.”
“Kind of strange when they were so close,” Vaughn mused. “I can see why they’d find peace here though. All of us do.”
“Unless Bale is around,” Shabina corrected and sent Vaughn a small grin.
“Fortunately, I don’t think they’re really on his radar. But he is watching Edward. He isn’t happy that Edward is sitting with that woman at the table tucked away in the back corner. Bale keeps scowling at them, but Edward seems so absorbed in the conversation with the woman that he hasn’t even looked up.”
Shabina followed his gaze to the back table. “That’s Janine Hale. She’s visiting from Washington with two of her best friends. They’re sitting at the small table next to the window in front of Bale’s table. Theresa Nelson and Val Johnson. They were on the bird-watching tour. Edward went as well and seemed to enjoy it. He’s been painting. Janine is an avid bird-watcher and she also enjoys painting. The two of them really hit it off. I think Janine extended her vacation time so she could get to know Edward a little better.”
“Did you warn her Edward isn’t very nice to women?”
Shabina shook her head. “No, unless he does something else, I’m giving him a chance. He’s cleaned out his house, which should have been done years ago. Hopefully, he’s really breaking away from Bale.”
“He’s totally absorbed in the conversation with Janine,” Vaughn pointed out. “The twins seemed to be chatting with Janine’s friends. That’s a good sign.”
The two women had gotten up from their table and were gossiping with Theresa and Val. All four women were laughing. That made Shabina uneasy. Their laughter drew Bale’s attention—never a good thing in her mind. He pointed to the women several times and leaned into the other men, clearly making jokes. That was Bale’s way. He started with stories about women, and then the jokes became progressively more demeaning. By the time he got to actually harassing a woman, the others were more than ready to go along with him.
“Those students from the university apparently only like to come here to eat,” Vaughn said. “They order the same breakfast every morning and come in right before closing to order brunch. They think of it as their dinner, I guess.” He indicated Jules Beaumont, Emil Salhi, Jamal Talbi and Deniz Kaplan. “It’s really paid off with you making one or two meals from other countries. People that far from home enjoy eating the foods they’re familiar with once in a while.”
“Or every day.” Shabina did her best to make a joke of it. She’d taken tons of cooking lessons and gone to a prestigious school to learn international dishes.
Having so many potential enemies in her café was disconcerting. She felt the beginnings of the headache that heralded a breakdown. Her thigh burned and throbbed, aching with pain. Her skin felt clammy. The symptoms got worse when the two men claiming to be Interpol agents limped in. One was using crutches. Knowing they were part of Scorpion’s cabinet made her skin crawl. How was she expected to act normal with them in her café?
She glanced toward the kitchen, needing the reassurance that Rainier was close, as Tyrone seated them near the entrance, taking pity on them because of their obvious injuries. Under any other circumstances, Shabina might have felt their wounds served them right, but she was too cognizant of Rainier in the next room. He might be out of sight at the moment, but that didn’t mean he’d stay that way. She wanted the assurance of his presence, but she didn’t want the men to see or identify him. They might not realize he was Deadly Storms, but they would know he was lethal.
Theresa waved at her and indicated a table for four that had just been set up. She circled with her finger, including the twins, making it clear they wanted to sit together. Shabina nodded and forced herself to go to them. Two tables needed to be cleared to allow more customers in. If a party of four had been waiting a longer time, they could put the tables together. There would be less room for the servers to move around, but they’d made it work many times.
“Good morning,” she greeted as the four women settled into the new seating arrangement. “Have you ordered?”
“Tyrone took our drink orders,” Eve confirmed.