Page 32 of Scar

From his side of the pass through, Tally heard something very finely scrape and then clang against the metal. Like hollow plastic.

“You’re right, Chef. I apologize. I amsosorry.”

She was blind, not deaf. Did he honestly think she couldn’t hear the sarcasm practically dripping from his tone?

Tally was about to open her mouth to demand to know what he had done when she felt a sudden presence at her back. Noah let out a yelp of some sort, like he was scared. Then she heard the same scraping and clanging sounds as a moment ago, only hastier.

“I am sorry, Chef. Truly. I will go apologize to Chelsea. I’ll work Station Two. I won’t be any more trouble, I promise. Sorry. So sorry, Chef.”

Fast paced footsteps on her ceramic tiled floor led to the exit door and then changed tones on the vinyl flooring of the dining room.

Tally turned. He was close to her, her mystery man. Closer than he’d ever been before. If she reached her arm up, she knew she would touch him.

“What’s happening?” came over her phone. Shit, Tally had completely forgotten about Simone being on the phone when Noah had come storming into her kitchen.

Tally tipped her chin up at the man, knowing he was several inches taller than her. “He’s here,” she told her best friend. “I don’t know what Noah did, but he moved something. A second later, he moved it back, and you heard his pissed-in-his-pants scared apology.”

Simone’s voice was laced with concern. “He’s there? Your stalker is in the kitchen right now?”

“He’s standing right in front of me.”

“Do you want me to call the police?”

Tally debated for less than a second. “No, he won’t hurt me.”

“Goddamn it, Tally. Your stalker is in the room with you and you don’t want me to call for help?”

Tally shifted her head, her right ear tipped towards her mystery man. She couldn’t even hear his breathing, nor had she heard his footsteps when he’d approached. The only reasons she knew he was there were the sense of someone being in front of her and the smell of his weapons.

He had so many weapons…so why was she not afraid? He’d never been this close to her before. The instinct that he was dangerous was still there. It hadn’t decreased, but there was somethingin herthat was telling her that he wasn’t dangerousto her. When she’d told Simone that this man wasn’t a threat to her, it had been a guess.

Now… She didn’t know what it was. Maybe the way he’d done something to help the little homeless boy who visited her restaurant in the mornings or maybe it was whatever he’d just done with Noah. It wasn’t a guess anymore.

“He can hear you,” she reminded Simone.

“Can you hear me? Why are you there? Who are you? What do you want with Tally?” There was no answer. For several long minutes, Tally could only hear her own breathing and Simone’s over the speaker phone. “Please,” Simone pleaded. “Don’t hurt her. I don’t know who you are or what you want with her, butpleasedon’t hurt her. You are standing in front of one of the best people I know, someone who never fails to help others. She’s my best friend and I will be lost without her. I am begging you, don’t hurt her.”

The silence in the room spoke volumes. He didn’t move, he didn’t speak, and yet Tally knew down to the marrow of her bones that he was staring right at her.

“He won’t hurt me,” she reassured Simone.

“God, Tally, let me send Tom over there. Please. Call Mark.Somebody.”

Tally, though, did not want to do that. “I’m fine. Promise, Si. I gotta get back to work. I’ll text you before I leave for home.”

“You better. I swear to God, Tally, if you die, I will find a necromancer to bring you back to life so I can kill you myself. You are being incredibly stupid and I pray you know what you’re doing.”

Tally appreciated Simone’s concern, but she’d spent her entire life listening to her senses. The situation might be unorthodox, though that wasn’t reason enough to stop listening to herself. “Bye, Si.”

She hung up the phone before Simone could respond. She stayed where she was a moment longer before moving down towards the salad prep station. She put two pieces of sourdough bread in the toaster and started to grab the other ingredients she needed. She would have rather broiled the entire sandwich, but she was short on time.

Beggars couldn’t be choosers, though. Once she finished adding the small salad with her in-house made mango-lime dressing, Tally brought the ham and brie sandwich with sweet pears and honey down to where she knew her mystery man was still standing.

“Don’t make a liar out of me. It would be a lot easier if you would just speak with me.” She put the plate on the corner of the prep table. “Thank you, by the way, for whatever you did with Noah.”

Tally went back to work, knowing she was running out of time before her kitchen staff returned from their various breaks. It was nearly forty minutes later that she heard the soft scraping of the plate being picked up. She felt his presence fade, like he was leaving the room, and a moment later, heard the voices of her staff coming towards the kitchen.

She couldn’t help the twitch of her lips, though. Because he’d taken the food.

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