Shay Warner ran away from her adopted family as soon as she found out what they truly were: criminals. They lied, they killed, they betrayed her in a way that scarred her forever. It isn't until the police catch up to her that she's forced to go bac...
In her lifetime, Shay had lived in at least ten different area codes. First, New York City with her parents in a condo that had sweeping views of Manhattan. Then, a trailer park where they were surrounded by drug dealers and alcoholics after they lost their jobs. Then, when they died, the fourteen year old girl was adopted by wealthy Valerie Briggs.
Since striking out on her own two years ago, Shay had moved a lot. Bouncing around from city to city to avoid both the cops and anyone that knew Val, searching for a way to escape her past and everyone in it. Two years of living out of a suitcase, working shitty jobs to pay her way and not getting close to anyone.
It was working, for now.
The apartment she know found herself settled in now was a small studio on the third floor of a building in small town New Hampshire. She didn't have a table, nor did she have a TV, a bookshelf, chairs, or anything else she deemed nonessential. After moving so many times, the amount of stuff she had been willing to cart around shrank every time, leaving her with just two pieces of furniture and one suitcase of clothes and shoes. If it didn't fit in her car, she didn't want it. Therefore, all she had was an air mattress, which had actually been quite durable, and a set of plastic drawers. Minimalism at its finest.
That next morning, she initiated the same routine that she always did. Go for a five mile run to the river, do body-weight exercises in her apartment, eat breakfast on her bed. Then she would go to work at nine, spending the next four hours cleaning hotel rooms with a team of three other girls that she barely spoke to. With her time off, she would read, escaping her reality for one that wasn't so boring yet complicated.
The rest of the week went the same way. It wasn't until Sunday that she had an interaction with someone that lasted longer than five minutes. And, it just so happened to be the same guy who visited the bar last week.
"Hi, Shay." The man greeted as he sat down at the same barstool he did last week. Shay stopped polishing glasses to smile faintly at him, though she was annoyed that he remembered her name.
"Hi, Corey."
His green eyes twinkled as he looked at her. It was the kind of look she didn't get often but recognized. Sometimes, guys saw past her cold expression to admire her high cheekbones and piercing blue eyes. Her caramel hair was tied in a ponytail today, accentuating her bone structure and delicate neck. She also knew she had a decent figure, though it was currently hidden beneath black pants and a white button up.
"How are you today?" Corey inquired.
"Just lovely." Since her facial expression wasn't enough to get him to stop paying attention to her, maybe her cold tone would. "What'll it be?"
"Another Geary's, please."
"Sure."
After handing him the glass, Shay breathed an inaudible sigh of relief when a family of six walked in. With four kids and only two adults, she knew they were going to be a handful, and a welcome one at that.
She offered them any table in the place and brought over menus before introducing herself. Then she took their drink order and got it ready for them.
"Where are you from, Shay?" Corey asked after she had delivered the drinks The family needed a couple minutes to settle down the toddlers before placing their order, giving Shay some downtime at the bar.
"A bunch of places."
"Alright, where were you before you came here? You said you've only been here a couple months right?" Corey probed.
"That's correct." She replied, having no intention of answering his other question.
"Noah, come here."
Shay's head snapped over to look at the family, realizing seconds later that the mother was speaking to a child. His name rattling around her brain, she took a quick glance around the restaurant just to make sure.
Her Noah wasn't here. She left him when she left that house, a thought that had broken her down more than a couple of times since.
Shaking it off, Shay concentrated back on what she was doing. Walking over to the table, she took the family's order before delivering it to the cook. Brent had been smoking a butt when she went downstairs, and he took his sweet ass time making his way back to the kitchen.
"You were getting the orders out so fast yesterday." Shay reminded him. "What happened?"
Yesterday, they had served a total of twenty-five meals, which was very good for a Saturday night. Brent seemed to be all into it, running around and getting everything out no more than ten minutes after he got the ticket.
"Sunday's are boring." He replied.
"If you wanted something more exciting, you definitely wouldn't be working here." Shay reminded him.
"True that."
With that, Shay left him to do his thing and went back upstairs to the bar to see something that made her blood run cold.
Mrs. Lang and Corey were standing just outside in the hallway, speaking low and close. Shay couldn't hear anything they were saying but she could read their facial expressions well enough to know it wasn't good. To make matters worse, as soon as Corey realized Shay had returned, he looked at her with a degree of seriousness that she hadn't seen on him before. A look that told her she needed to get out. Now.
Mrs. Lang turned and saw Shay soon after, shooting her a smile before walking over to where she was standing at the bar. Despite her flight response kicking in, Shay stayed right where she was, too curious to move. Maybe it was just her paranoia talking. There had been numerous times since leaving the safety of the mansion that she'd felt like she was being watched, and each time it caused her to pack up and leave again. Looks like it was getting to be that time again.
"What was that all about?" Shay asked her boss.
"Oh, he was just wondering about the possibility of holding an event here." She replied casually. Shay knew instantly that she was lying.
"Oh, ok."
Despite her discomfort, Shay stayed until the end of her shift, which happened to be just an hour later. Corey had left immediately after the conversation with the hotel's owner, not even stopping back at the bar to say goodbye or to pay his bill. Perhaps he settled up with Mrs. Lang while Shay was downstairs, but she somehow doubted that.
Shay peered out of the restaurant windows before heading downstairs to make sure no one was waiting for her outside. When she saw that the lot was empty besides a couple of employee cars and those belonging to guests, she hopped into her car and drove home.
She knew she shouldn't go back to her apartment. Years of training had told her that, as did her intuition. Regardless, she found herself driving on a direct route there, hyper-alert and just waiting for something to happen.
Much to her surprise, nothing did.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
