Page 11 of Lies Beneath Secrets

“No, not really hungry.” I reach over to grab the tray of silverware she must have been working on. Rolling silverware is a never-ending job in this place. There aren’t any customers right now; the breakfast rush must be over.

“You should really be on the clock when you do that.” She points as I take a knife, fork, and spoon, then roll them up in a napkin.

I shrug and take a piece of sticky paper to hold the napkin shut. “Payment for the coffee.” Piper lets out a laugh and rolls her eyes, then rolls the silverware with me. Not long after, the diner door opens with a ding of the bell and in walk two police officers.

“I was wondering when you two would be here,” Piper says, abandoning the silverware and going back to the coffeepot. “Regular for you boys today?” They both come here every morning around the same time. Eli Barns and Shane Heinz.

“Yeah, thank you, sweetheart,” Shane says, taking a seat not too far from where I’m sitting. I watch as he trails after Piper with his gaze. His broad shoulders test the fabric of his dark blue shirt with each move he makes. The man must only work out in his free time. As always, his dark hair is precisely cut and his thick beard neatly trimmed. He’s the complete opposite of Eli, who’s already walking toward me.

“How have you been?” he asks, then smiles at Piper, who places a cup of coffee in front of him. He takes the cup into his hand, and I can’t help but focus on his thin fingers that grip the mug. He’s a slender man with short sandy-blond hair and is always clean shaven.

“No complaints,” I answer with a polite smile.

“I don’t think you have ever complained a day in your life.” Eli chuckles. We’ve been on a couple dates, but it hasn’t gone any further than that. Does it mean he’ll give up and move on though? Of course not.

“You’d be surprised,” I joke. “Were you guys out chasing bank robbers? You’re in here pretty late today.” I actually thought they’d been here and gone already, which is another reason I decided to come here after my session. I might be avoiding Eli a little. After our last date, he tried to kiss me, and I pretended like I didn’t notice, turning my head in the nick of time.

“We had a call about a missing girl. Parents think she was kidnapped, but it looks as though she just took off,” he tells me.

“That’s the second person who has gone missing in this area,” I say, remembering the story about a girl from a town not too far from here. “What makes you think she just took off?”

“She was home from college. Parents said they got into an argument about her dropping out. She stormed out of the house, and she hasn’t been back since. I’m sure she’ll show up again.” He shrugs it off like it’s no big deal. “Anyway, what about you? Why are you here today? Isn’t it your day off?” He brings the cup of coffee to his mouth and takes a cautious sip.

“I got done with an appointment and decided to come here and get a cup of coffee.” It’s mostly the truth.

“You aren’t working tonight then?” he asks hopefully. I scramble in my head to try to come up with an excuse, knowing full well he will ask me out again.

“Nope. We’re both off tonight actually,” Piper says. “Lucas and I were going to Cosmo’s if you two would like to join us.” I love my best friend so much, but the urge to kick her in this moment is strong.

“I haven’t been there in quite a while. What do you say, Lauren?” I look over at Eli and give him another polite smile to his question.

“Sure.” I nearly choke on the word. As if the universe is giving me a break, both of the officers’ walkies come to life. A sharp burst of static sounds across the speakers, then a woman’s voice comes out, alerting them of a 10-27. Whatever that means.

“566 responding,” Shane says into the mic attached to his uniform, “Let’s go, Eli. You can try to get laid some other time,” Shane barks at Eli and tosses down some money. “Box it up for us, Piper. We’ll be back.”

Eli gives me a wink. “I’ll seeyoulater.”

“Yep.” I force a smile and hold it until he’s out the door. “Seriously, Piper?”

“What?” She tips to the side, acting as if she doesn’t know what she just did.

“I told you I wasn’t interested in him like that.”

“I know. Sorry. He just seems so nice and is so into you. Lucas was like that to me before we got together. I just needed a little push.”Lucas. That’s another thing to make me not want to go as well. She’s right. In the beginning, Lucas was really great. Grand gestures and everything until Piper gave in and started dating him. Now though? He’s nothing like that. I might not know everything about their relationship, but I hear and see enough to know she isn’t happy. No matter how well she fakes it most days.

“I don’t need a push. I need a friend who’s going to have my back and run interference when a guy I clearly don’t want to date asks me out.” I drop my head down onto the counter.

“I’m sorry. To be honest, I just didn’t want to go with Lucas alone. He acts so much nicer when we’re with people.” I want to hug her and smack her at the same time.

“Pipes, that isn’t healthy,” I say honestly.

“I know. I just don’t know what else to do, you know? We live together. Where would I go if I wanted to leave him?”

“You could come stay with me?” I offer. “My apartment might be small, but we’d make it work.”

“Yeah. Maybe.” I know she won’t. We’ve had this conversation before. I don’t judge her for it though. She’ll leave one day. She just needs to believe she deserves better.

CHAPTEREIGHT

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