Sleeping in for the baker was relatively rare, but with Mad Batter temporarily closed, Casey stayed in bed later than usual. He tended to wake when the sun rose and the birds greeted the day with their chirping symphonies. Even Wyatt slept later, and Casey didn’t mind.
Nightmares haunted Casey all throughout the night. When he closed his eyes, he saw his mom’s sullen face and frightened eyes glaring up at him from inside their bakery’s dumpster. Sometimes he woke up sporadically through the night, drenched in sweat and heart pounding a mile a minute.
The rustling wind outside his window made him want to snuggle back under the covers, but he found himself dragging his bare feet across the carpeted floor. Wyatt must’ve already woken up, probably down in the living room with his dad or Lani, as he no longer slept in his bed. With a yawn, Casey trudged over to his closet and donned warm clothes.
Casey decided to take Wyatt and Lani out for lunch, trying to take his mind off the murderous mayhem these past few days. They settled on a retro diner out near Hell’s Hollow called The Wallflower. On the drive there, they rode in awkward silence. Not even Wyatt wanted to talk much that afternoon.
After parking, they made their way inside the diner. As they crossed the black and white checkered floor, a jukebox in the back corner of the restaurant played an old rock song, something that sounded like his dad would listen to.
The Wallflower served the best milkshakes in town and Casey loved their waffle fries. They chose a booth in the front section near a window, where he could watch the traffic drone on. A male waiter came over to them shortly, donned in their standard uniform: a lime green button up and black apron. His name tag had Emmett printed on it.
“What can I get you folks to drink?” Emmett asked, retrieving a little notepad for their orders.
“We’ll take a coke and apple juice,” Casey replied.
“And I’ll have a sweet tea,” Lani said.
“Sure thing.” Emmett nodded. “You need time to go over the menu or would you like to order now?”
“Now’s fine,” Casey told him. “I’ll have a butter steak burger with a side of waffle fries and Wyatt will have some chicken fingers with a side of waffle fries.”
“And, for you, mam.” Emmett turned his attention to Lani.
“I’ll have the same thing as Casey, but with no onions.”
Emmett nodded, jotting down their order. “I’ll bring your drinks out here in just a sec.”
“Alright, thank you.”
Casey sighed, turning his attention back outside to the traffic. The weather had warmed up, but only slightly, and not enough to melt much of the snow. Most of it clung to the sides of the roads, covered in filth. Wyatt quietly doodled on a kid’s color menu, seeming a world away from him.
“Has Dad told you anything else about the person who threatened us?” Lani asked.
“No, he’s been reserved ever since we went to the police station.” Casey rested an arm on the table, letting it prop his head up. “I’ve been worried about him. I think he blames himself for what happened to Mom.”
“What do you think he did for those gang members?” Lani leaned closer, lowering her voice. “He said he gave them money, hid a gun, and did everything they asked of him. What else could he have possibly meant by that?”
“I don’t know.” Casey shrugged. “Maybe that’s all he did?”
“Nah, I don’t think so. He’s still hiding crap from us,” Lani insisted.
Soon enough, their waiter came back to the table with their drinks. Emmett paused at their booth for a moment, then turned around and headed back into the kitchen. Casey watched him walk away, wondering if he’d wanted to say something else to them. That waiter seemed like a peculiar fella.
“Hey, after we’re done here, let’s stop by the bakery,” Lani suggested.
Casey frowned. “Huh? Why? The police have it cordoned off as a crime scene. Even on the inside.”
“I want to have a look around, that’s all.” Lani sipped her tea.
“But why?”
“I asked Dad if I could see the security footage from that night. He told me no because the police need it for their investigation,” Lani explained. “But I didn’t listen to him and checked his computer while he showered this morning. All the footage from that day is missing.”
“Well, he probably had to turn it over to the police,” Casey pointed out.
“You don’t understand. The footage wasn’t shared with anyone because he must’ve deleted it,” Lani said. “Otherwise, I would have found it. But that wasn’t the only thing missing. Your run-in with that August guy is no longer there. There’s no evidence of him ever stepping foot inside the bakery.”
Casey gulped. “You don’t think that guy might’ve had something to do with Mom’s murder, do you?”
“I’m not sure.” Lani rested her hands on the table. “That’s why I want to check out the bakery. Maybe there’s something the cops overlooked or… I don’t know.”
“We can go. But we won’t tell Dad about it, okay?” Casey said. “I still have the key.”
Lani smirked. “You hear that, Wyatt? It’ll be our little secret visit to the bakery, okay?”
“Okay, Aunt Lani. Our little secret.” Wyatt grinned.
“I don’t like how suspicious you both seem right now,” Casey joked. “You wouldn’t ever keep a secret from me, would you, Wyatt?”
“Maybe.” Wyatt resumed coloring.
“Sometimes Mom and I let him have dessert before supper,” Lani admitted, grinning innocently. “We tell him it’s our little secret and not to tell you because you’re always on him to eat all his food before snacks.”
Casey ruffled up his boy’s hair, smiling. “It’s okay to have sweets before supper sometimes. But we won’t make a habit out of it, okay? Only special occasions.”
“Okay.”
“And keeping secrets from the family won’t be something we do either,” Casey told him. “Just this once, we will.”
Wyatt nodded. “Okay.”
It wasn’t long before the waiter brought their order out. As Casey munched on his waffle fries, he couldn’t help wondering about what happened to that missing video surveillance footage. Was it possible that the person who threatened their dad made him delete it and he just didn’t want to tell them? His dad was already riddled with enough guilt, perhaps he didn’t want to shoulder more blame.
“How is everything? Would any of you like a refill on your drinks?” Emmett approached their table, standing at Casey’s side. He stuffed something down into his apron pocket.
“Everything is great, thank you,” Casey replied.
Casey noticed a tick in the man’s jaw as he gave him a crooked half-smile. Upon closer inspection, he realized Emmett had some faint bruising around his neck. It was like he’d been choked. Emmett tugged at the collar of his uniform’s white undershirt when he met Casey’s gaze, covering up the discoloration.
Something about the man seemed peculiar, but Casey didn’t worry too much about it. Emmett didn’t dawdle by their table any longer and went to check up on his other customers. Casey watched the blond man as he handed out food to other tables, wondering if he’d recently gotten into a fight and someone tried to strangle him.
Comments (10)
See all