Page 124 of Dark Endures

All too well. “Sorry, ma’am.” Who are these people, and why are they here?

The one with the gun looks like she’s still thinking about shooting me.

“Leonie, don’t kill him. He’s normally a nice guy,” Mindy says. “Though he’s not that good at chess.”

The woman in the suit spins around to face Mindy. “You played chess with him?”

“Yes.”

“More than once?” There’s shock in the woman’s voice.

Why is this such a big deal?

“Yes.”

“Back off, Leonie. You can arrest him later if he messes up.” The woman in the suit steps back.

Great, the one with the gun is a cop. I should have known by the stance, but worry has thrown me off my game.

“Have you heard of Willow Street?” Kyle asks.

Leonie spins around to face him. “That’s an urban legend.”

Kyle shakes his head. “Maddox Locke runs it.”

She turns around slowly to face me. “Willow Street is real?”

“It’s on the map.” I don’t like strangers, especially ones who are cops with Plant being in the picture, to know what we do.

Leonie steps back, muttering, “It’s real.”

I don’t wait for someone else to decide to step between us. In less than a second, I’m kneeling in front of Mindy. “You’re alive.”

“Yeah.”

The women behind me start talking a mile a minute, but I tune them out. There are so many questions I want to ask her. Like, why didn’t you come to me when you were hurt? Why didn’t you let me care for you? I reach up and brush a lock of hair out of Mindy’s eyes.

“You already made that point, Greer. And I noted that Maddox touched Mindy’s face,” the odd woman with a zebra pad reads her notes.

What?

Mindy blinks a few times. “She takes thorough notes.”

Well, if Mindy isn’t going to stress, I won’t. “Are you going to tell me who hurt you?”

“No. Why would I tell you? You’re going to fire me.” Mindy sings her answer in her weird hoarse voice.

“Is she on something?”

“Yes. The doctor came in five minutes before you arrived and gave her a shot of pain medicine.” The woman sitting next to Kyle lifts her notebook. “Would you like me to tell you the name and dosage?”

“No. Thank you.” I turn back to Mindy, knowing full well it’s taking advantage of her in her drugged state to ask any other questions. “Why do you think I’m going to fire you?”

“You want to get rid of me. That’s why you gave me to Pit. Pit’s a weird name. I don’t want Pit to be my boss. I want you to be.”

She thinks I’m trying to get rid of her? We need to have that talk and soon.

“I’m tired.”

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