Page 78 of All In Good Time

She paused and shot him a disappointed look. “We just got here.”

“I haven’t eaten today.”

“Go grab a corn dog or something.”

“We’re obligated to take a lunch break. Come with me.”

She rolled her eyes and threw the dirty rag at him. He grimaced as it hit his uniform and fell to the ground. “And leave Nicole all alone?”

“First of all, that was disgusting,” he told her. “Second of all, it’s so slow she probably won’t get a single customer by the time we’re done. She’ll never know.”

The swinging door between the back room and the front counter opened to reveal Nicole glaring daggers at Marty. He jumped. “If you were any louder, Burger King might hear you and start on the whopper I’m sure you’re going to order.”

Shooting a quick, communicative “oh shit” look to Becca, he gave Nicole a sheepish smile. “Hey, Nicole. Whatcha doing?”

Becca scoffed and shook her head at him as she walked around the corner to make a show of picking up the rag he’d left on the ground.

“Oh, you know, just listening to my friend betray me behind my back.”

“I was going to grab you something too.”

“Mmhmm. I’m sure you were.” She didn’t sound sure. Nicole turned to Becca, who raised a brow at her look. “Make sure he pays foreverything. I want a large combo, with Coke.”

Becca grinned and shifted into her customer service persona, her voice theatrically higher pitched. “Of course, ma’am.”

Becca grabbed Marty by the arm and pulled him along, not giving him time to process the sudden change. He didn’t resist, though, and she brought him after her toward the food court.

“You’re an idiot.” Becca laughed, still with her arm wrapped around his.

He frowned. “I swear she has super hearing.”

“Maybe whisper next time.”

He grumbled under his breath, and though she couldn’t hear what he said, she giggled as they turned the corner.

She didn’t see the security guard where he stood in a blind spot around a large pillar until she ran smack dab into the front of his uniform.

The collision caught her off guard and she stumbled back. If she hadn’t been holding onto Marty’s arm, she would have landed flat on her ass. Marty let out a collection of “whoas” and steadied her with a hand on her back.

An apology slipped out of her mouth before she completely reoriented. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you—”

The words stalled when she finally met the security guard’s eyes, and she froze. His gaze was familiar blue, with that graying mustache and hard-set stare. Marty wasn’t as quick to realize who it was, but eventually he did, which Becca could tell by the tensing of his biceps under her hand, where she squeezed him for steadiness.

A static interrupted her mind, and fear raised the hairs on the back of her neck and down her arms.

“Rebecca. I thought that was you.” Mark Stokes scanned her, pausing at the name tag attached to the deep red uniform. His words sounded conversational, friendly even, but the smile didn’t reach his cold eyes. “Do you work here?”

Anytime it came to Mark Stokes, she was frozen in her tracks. She had a hundred different escape routes in the shopping mall, yet it felt like she remained constrained to a box only large enough to stand in. “Yes.”

“I just got transferred here for security. I guess we’ll be seeing each other more often,” Mark said.

Becca’s blood ran cold. He watched her like a bug under a microscope, waiting for a reaction. She could see the way he focused on her face, searching forsomething.She held her breath and gave him nothing.

After a few seconds, his lips drooped slightly, as he finally acknowledged she wasn’t alone. Marty stood still, observing the uncomfortable interaction. Maybe a breath or a blink had caught Mark’s attention, because his eyes flicked to Marty. He looked over him the way he had Becca, starting at Becca’s hand holding onto Marty for support, then going to his nametag.

Mark’s eyebrow raised. “You’re the Parr boy, right?”

Marty nodded but didn’t say anything.

---