Page 23 of Insidious Monsters
Quentin cut the call and sat back in his seat. “Urgh.”
“What is it?”
“Keswick.” He made a meh face.
“You two don’t get on?”
“The man’s an asshole, and his rift walker is just as bad. This is going to be a challenge.”
I beamed up at him. “Challenges are my forte.”
He chuckled. “I love your enthusiasm. I’ll call Keswick and arrange to meet so they can catch us up on the case. In the meantime, we need to focus on our list. I’ll send the coordinates for our next eldritch to Archie.”
“Awesome. I’ll call in once I’ve bagged it.”
“I like your confidence.”
“What can I say? I’m on a roll, Quentin. I’m on a roll.”
* * *
“What doyou mean you have no rolls?” I stared at Bertie in horror. “Ineedmy egg salad on one of your soft wholemeal rolls.”
He looked just as upset as me. “I know, I know, the oven malfunctioned. We have no rolls today. Trust me, you’re not the only upset customer.”
It explained why the place was practically empty when it was usually heaving at this time of day.
Roll With It was the go-to place for epic sandwiches. They baked their rolls from scratch, and there was a variety to choose from. The fillings were freshly made too. It was my lunch spot most days, and it helped that it was around the corner from Real Deal.
My stomach grumbled.
Telarion had retreated in a way I recognized as asleep so I couldn’t share my disgruntlement with him.
“I can do you a regular sandwich,” Bertie said hopefully.
I didn’t want a regular sandwich, but he’d probably lost out on major business today because of the lack of rolls. “That’ll be great, Bertie. Make it three, please.” Archie and Nandi were expecting me to bring them something too.
His shoulders sagged in relief. “Thanks, August.” He retreated to the counter at the back to make my fresh sandwich.
The bell dinged as a woman entered and approached the counter. She was petite, with dark hair streaked with gray, but the eyeglasses perched on her nose drew attention. They were an extravagant pair shaped like slanted eyes and tipped with gems, hinting at a fun-loving personality.
“No rolls today, Mrs. B,” Bertie said.
“No rolls?” Her face fell.
“Sorry.” Bertie winced. “Oven malfunction, but we’ll be back to business as usual tomorrow.”
She nodded. “In that case, we’ll take regular bread today.” The woman glanced my way and smiled.
“You want that delivered?” Bertie asked.
“Yes please, dear.” She pushed a couple of twenties across the counter. “And add some of those delicious cookies to the order.”
“No problem. I’ll have Denny run them over in a bit.”
She dropped me another smile before heading for the door.
“Lovely lady,” Bertie said. “Runs the non-profit organization that started up a few weeks ago. They do outreach to the homeless. Super nice group of people.”
