Weighted Silence (Complete)

Chapter 2: Saylor

2Saylor

"Well, well, well, a new face in town!"

The woman behind the counter beamed at me, catching the attention of the few early risers that lounged in the small café. Before too long I was most definitely the subject of more than a few whispers. Pretending not to notice, I smiled at the woman as she leaned her elbows on the counter.

"Welcome to Misfire." She said as I stood across from her. "Not too often we see a stranger in these parts. I'm Nina May."

"Saylor Simmons." I met her warm hand briefly as she grinned at me. She was maybe late sixties, with dark brown hair— not a single gray, obviously dyed— pinned behind her head with an alligator clip. The lines around her mouth showed how much she smiled, and the hand that released mine was soft and wrinkled.

"Can I make you some coffee?"

Lugging my purse around to sit on the counter I nodded. "A latte would be great if you don't mind."

"Comin right up." She smiled and stood straight. "How do you take it?"

"Um, half-caff, coconut milk, two sugars and no whip, thanks."

Someone snickered to my left, and I turned to see a burly man, in his eighties by my guess, sipping black coffee from a floral mug. "This ain't a Starbucks, girlie. They serve coffee here, not some fancy no whip city sludge."

"Hush your mouth, Earl!" Nina shouted at him, and he waved a flippant hand at her before turning his scowl to the TV across the way. "Pay him no mind at all, sweets. The older he gets, the less of a filter he has between here and here." She pointed between her head and mouth, making me chuckle as Earl sat grumbling. With a small smile, Nina reached across to pat my hand. "Coffee's coming right up."

"Thanks."

She turned away and began fiddling with the coffee machine while I pulled my cellphone from my pocket and opened up my email. It took forever to load without any Wi-Fi signal. At the very top, the letter from the lawyer stood out looking stern and important amongst all the junk. I tapped it open and scanned over his list of instructions as stated from the last will and testament of Jefferson Monroe, then frowned at the address at the bottom and logged it into my GPS. After a full minute though, the map and directions hadn't loaded at all. No data signal either apparently...

"Hey, can you tell me how to get to Skylar Avenue?" I asked Nina as she came and set my coffee on the counter in a to-go cup. "I'm not getting enough signal for my GPS."

"Cell signal and Wi-Fi is pretty spotty out here with the mountains. Just head straight down Main here, hang a right at Town Hall, take your first left, then third right, then first left again, and that'll be Skylar." She pointed the directions as she spoke. "You have family in town?"

"I used to." I said. "But he passed away last month. I'm just here to sort out the stuff he left behind."

"Who's passed in the last month that lives on Skylar...?" Nina's brows narrowed as she considered. "No one that I know of."

I shrugged. "Well, I was told he died via lethal injection, so..."

She lifted her gaze to me. "You don't mean Jefferson Monroe?"

I nodded. "Yes, my father." All sound in the café came to an abrupt halt as everyone's eyes turned to me. Feeling uncomfortable by the sudden scrutiny, I turned to Nina. "What?"