Never Ever ✔️

Chapter 47

Reet’s Car wasn’t parked in front of Niyasa, and it wasn’t in the employee lot in back either. The business was dark, and when Varun tried the front door it was locked. Two cars were tucked next to the curb in front of the boutique a few doors down, and beyond that a car here or there dotted the mostly deserted thoroughfare.

Varun climbed back in his Car and pulled into the gas station across the street, sliding into a parking spot beside a seasonal snow cone shack. Three festive tables clustered around the tiny establishment, and the row of empty parking spaces served both businesses.

Reet obviously wasn’t at the salon, but he didn’t know where else to look. Maybe he’d just missed her. Maybe she’d gone looking for him.

He doubted it.

Reet had a soft heart but a good chin. He’d dealt her some blows, and she’d still been standing. She wouldn’t be the one to come looking for forgiveness. He’d stormed out. He would have to storm back in. Her phone rang and rang.

“Come on, Ri,” he whispered. “Pick up. Don’t ignore me.”

A tapping on his window had him flinging the phone across the front seat.

“Shit!” he cursed, startled. A grizzled face peered at him through the window, palm pressed to the glass, a tentative smile revealing broken teeth.

“Varun?” the man said. “Please don’t be afraid. I’m worried about Reet.”
“John?” Varun said, his voice calm despite his galloping heart.
Reet told Varun about an old man named John who lived across the street from Niyasa and visited her for haircuts .
The man nodded eagerly. Varun eased his car door open and stepped out, facing the man across the roof of his Subaru. He liked having the distance between them. Plus, the passenger side doors were locked.
“Do you want to be called John. . . or should I call you something else?”
“Like what?” the man stammered.
“Mr. Cutler? Reet told me about you.”
“Oh.” The man seemed disappointed in the alternatives.
“Isn’t that your name? John  Cutler?”
“Yeah. It is. you can call me John.”
“You said you were worried about Reet. Why?”
“She went inside.” He pointed at the salon. “I know she works there. But it’s late. I think she's in some trouble.”
“Trouble?” Varun stammered.

“Reet is nice to me,” John whispered. “I’m worried about her.”

“You saw Reet go in the salon? When?”

“I’m not good with time, Varun .”

“Tonight? She went in tonight?”

“Yes. Tonight,” John affirmed.

“Before I came?”

“Yeah. She parked somewhere else. She walked from somewhere and went inside. A little while later, you drove by.”

As Varun watched, a dark truck pulled up in front of the salon, and John started to back away, obscuring himself in the shadows.

“You don’t want to let that one see you, Varun,” John warned. “Get back in your car.”

The pumps in front of the gas station were well lit, but the corner where the snow cone shack stood was dark and partially obscured by two tall pines. Varun’s car was dark, and his lights were off, but sensing John’s distress, he slid back behind the wheel of his car and watched as Klaus Tate and another man stepped out of the truck and scanned the street as they approached Niyasa’s entrance. Klaus unlocked the front door and looked around like he was uncomfortable about something.

The man with him urged him inside and the door swung closed behind them.

John rapped on the passenger side window. Varun flipped the locks and John, not missing the subtle invitation, slid into the seat beside him. His knees crowded the glove compartment, and he was unable to recline because of the bulging pack he wore on his back.