“Isn’t it time for you to get back at it?”
“I’ve got some time.” His eyes remained focused on me as he asked, “You got a name, sweetheart?”
“Mathews,” Thomas warned. “It’s time for you to go.”
“Damn, Long. If I didn’t know better, I’d say you were trying to get rid of me.” Mathews reached down and picked up Thomas’s glass of sweet tea, taking a long drink before placing it back down on the table. “I’ll let you two get back to it. Have a good one.”
Mathews glanced at me, gave me an inappropriate wink, and then he walked out of the restaurant without his takeout. Once he was out of sight, I looked over at Thomas. His back was still rigid and his expression stern, but he tried to feign a smile as he said, “Sorry about the intrusion.”
“It wasn’t exactly something you could help.”
“No, unfortunately, it wasn’t.”
He called the waitress over and ordered another drink. We continued eating, but our friendly banter had turned stilted and awkward. I could only assume that it had something to do with Mathews’ rude exchange, but I didn’t bother asking. I wasn’t planning on seeing him again anyway. It didn’t mean I didn’t care that the guy was having a bad day, though. When I noticed him nervously fiddling with his watch, I looked down at his wrist and briefly studied the silver facing with the worn-out leather band. “I really like your watch.”
“Thanks.” He extended his hand, revealing the weathered band and an oversized clock face that looked to be at least fifty years old. A proud smile crossed his face when he said, “It was my dad’s. He was an officer too. Got killed in the line of duty.”
“Oh, Thomas. I’m really sorry to hear that.”
“No need to be sorry. It was ages ago.” He pulled his hand back and studied the watch a moment. “He was a good man and an even better cop. I’ve always tried to follow in his footsteps, but it’s not as easy as I thought it’d be.”
“It rarely is.”
He glanced down at his watch once more, then said, “It’s getting kind of late. I better let you get home.”
“Okay.”
Since it was dark and I’d parked in the back of the restaurant, Thomas walked me out to my car. It was kind of crowded when I’d first arrived, so I thought it would be fine to park where I had. Now that it was just the two of us, I realized that it probably wasn’t the best idea. It was eerily quiet with just a few other cars parked behind mine, and unbeknownst to me, the streetlight was out, which made our farewell moment that much more awkward. When we got to my car, Thomas smiled and said, “I wish I’d come by to pick you up so you wouldn’t have had to drive home so late.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll be fine.”
“Well, I don’t like it, but I guess there’s not much I can do about it now.” He smiled. “It really was nice meeting you.”
“Thanks, Thomas. It was nice meeting you too.” As I reached into my purse, I told him, “Thanks again for dinner. I honestly enjoyed it.”
“Maybe we could do it again sometime.”
“Yeah, maybe.” I should’ve told him right then that I wasn’t interested, but I was ready to just get out of there. “We’ll talk about it.”
Before he could say anything more, several men stepped out of the shadows and quickly surrounded us. When Thomas went to reach for his weapon, one of the men aimed his revolver at my head and said, “Don’t even think about it.”
“Easy, man,” Thomas replied calmly. He kept his voice low and steady. “Just tell me what you want.”
“Too late for that.” Panic surged through me as I looked around at the different men. My adrenaline kicked in with such force I thought I might vomit on the spot. In the small town where I’d grown up, the only crime we had was a local drunk who caused a little ruckus from time to time, but that was nothing in comparison to this. There were six men, all covered in tattoos and wearing dark clothing like they were a part of some gang, and the fact they were all carrying weapons made it pretty clear they were there to cause trouble. Realizing our lives were in danger, I turned back to look at the restaurant, hoping that someone might come to our rescue. Unfortunately, there was no one in sight. Damn.
The man who’d first spoken to Thomas stepped over to me and grabbed me by the hair, placing the barrel of his gun beneath my chin. “You already done fucked up, and now, you gonna pay for that shit.”
“Pay for what exactly?”
“Putting your fucking nose where it don’t belong.”
Before Thomas could say any more, one of the bigger men stepped up behind him and slammed the butt of his gun against the back of his head, knocking him to the ground. He tried to get back to his feet, but the man kicked him hard, forcing him back down. The guy was about to kick Thomas again when one of the guys announced, “Hey, man, hurry this shit up. We need to get the hell out of here before the cops show up.”
Like he was waiting for his cue, Mathews stepped out of the shadows and said, “The cops are already here.”
For a split second, I thought he was actually there to help me, but then I noticed the men’s expressions. They didn’t look like they were afraid of him. They didn’t look worried that they’d just been caught roughing up a cop. Instead, they looked liked one of their buddies had just walked up. Thomas glared at him as he snarled, “I should’ve known you had something to do with this.”
“Damn right, you should’ve known.” Mathews walked over to Thomas and knelt down, grabbing him by the throat and squeezing tightly as he growled, “You seriously thought I was gonna let some pencil-pusher cop like you take me down? You really think he would let you look into him without any blowback? Surely, you’re smarter than that.”
I had no idea who Mathews was referring to, but I got the feeling that he was the man behind whatever trouble Thomas was investigating. Thomas once again tried to get to his feet as he said, “You won’t get away with this.”
“Sure, I will. I always do.”
“Let the girl go, Mathews. She’s got nothing to do with this.”
“You’re in no position to be giving me orders, Long.” Mathews reared his fist back, slamming it into Thomas’s jaw, this time knocking him completely out. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t breathe. I could only stand there and watch as the man motioned his hand to one of the others and ordered, “Put him in the truck.”
Doing as they were instructed, two of the guys came over and dragged Thomas to a truck that was parked several feet away. I could hear the men talking amongst themselves, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. I was too freaked out. I could feel the sweat drench my skin, the rapid beating of my heart vibrating in my ears, and the tension taking hold of every muscle in my body. My fingers curled into a fist, my nails dug into my palm, and my breath quickened. Air flooded in and out of my lungs at such a rate I feared I might pass out. I tried to settle myself by slowing my breathing and forcing myself to think, but all of my efforts were lost when I heard the man ask Mathews, “You take care of the security cameras?”