Cold Brew and Bullets (Part 1 of the Syndicate Series)

Chapter 6- A Turn of Events

Alessio himself didn't appear the next morning, but about an hour before closing, he stepped through the door. It was a little bit busier than usual for being so late, but since Monica had been working as well, I took a seat across from him to talk for a few minutes and ask how his day went. When Monica had to leave a couple minutes early, it didn't faze me at all, and just like the night before, Alessio stayed while I cleaned up and closed down. He even kept with his pattern and offered to drive me home. The weather had continued to be terrible, so once again, I took him up on it.

The next few days were much like the ones before, but that was the way it always worked. Every day was taking people's orders, making coffee, and serving food. I wouldn't have thought twice about it if I wasn't still thinking about my conversation with Alessio when he drove me home- it was consistent, like I said, but saying it out loud had made me realize just how boring it sounded. After my life, though, I needed safe consistency. It was the exact opposite of what I had experienced so far. The fact that Alessio appeared almost every night had just added to my routine.

A couple of days went by like that, until one morning, the blonde one came back in with him. I smiled at them as they came up to the counter, "Good morning, Alessio. Starting the day early?"

He nodded with a small grin, which is more than he usually smiled, but I had begun to assume that he just wasn't as expressive or maybe stressed. The blonde one seemed surprised as he looked as his friend, but I wasn't quite sure what had shocked him.

"I'm taking a guess here, two black coffees and two slices of lemon cake?"

They both gave silent nods of confirmation, and since there wasn't anyone else in line so early, I set to work getting the order together myself. As I came back out of the kitchen holding their cups, Alessio looked around at the still dim room, "What are you doing today?"

"Me? Mostly wiping tables and making coffee. Same old thing, I suppose. What do both of you have on your plates for the day?"

Alessio jerked his head towards the Blonde one, "Leonardo here has some consultations with those other businesses that I mentioned we worked with, and I have a meeting today a town or two over."

"Sounds busy."

He nodded silently, but the man who I now knew as Leonardo gave me a small grin, "It will be, that's why we needed caffeine so early."

I was about to make another comment when Alessio's phone rang, then a couple seconds later, Leonardo's did as well. They frowned in turn as they each looked at the screens of their phones, then they nodded to each other in some unpoken agreement. Alessio tossed a wad of bills on the counter and called over his shoulder, "Have a good day, Eliana, keep the change."

I was going to call back, but they were already out the door. When I glanced down at the cash, I realized that it was way too much for what they had gotten. I highly doubted that he realized which bills he'd grabbed, even if he was rich this was a stretch, so I took the change out of the till and stuck it in one of my apron pockets, intending to give it back to him the next time I saw him. Whatever had pulled them away, I hoped it was going to be alright, from their reaction I could assume that it was very urgent. On my end, the rest of the day went smoothly, which it often seems to do right before something goes wrong.

Mr. Walker came in for his normal breakfast routine, Mike worked the grill at lunch, and both Monica and Kelly worked the the rush hours with me. Ezrah even insisted that I take a lunch break which I usually didn't do, but when he bought me lunch I didn't really want to refuse.

He and I took our lunch back to his office and I perched on the edge of his desk, "So you've been visiting the deli next door a lot. It wouldn't have anything to do with Angela who works there, would it?"