Diners, Dives & Dead Ends by Terri L. Austin

so I gave
her the Cliffs notes version and hung up.
    I turned on all the lights
and huddled beneath my blanket.  BJ knew everything about me.  My dysfunctional
family dynamic, my job, my house, probably even my favorite breakfast cereal. 
Who was this guy?  Finding that out was at the top of my short list.  If I
could find out who he was, maybe I could get the upper hand.  Divert him until
I found Ax.  Knowledge was power and I’d had precious little in this whole
thing, that was for freaking sure.  And the fact that every time BJ came near
me my heart beat a little faster—well, I’d deal with that later.
    The next morning I decided
against drinking a tankard of coffee, even though I was exhausted.  Last time
I’d done that, it hadn’t worked out so well. 
    When I got into work I
greeted Jorge and Ray, who waved me at me with a spatula and mumbled a hello. 
Ma stood in the dining room filling salt shakers.  “Good morning, Ma.”
    She stopped pouring and
looked me up and down.  “You look like ten miles of bad road, toots.”
    “Thanks.”
    “Didn’t get much sleep
again, huh?”
    Roxy came out of the
bathroom.  She wore a short shepherdess dress and a schoolgirl tie.  “Jeez, you
look terrible.”
    “That’s the general
consensus.”
    She glanced at Ma.  “She got
another visit from BJ last night.”
    “He broke in again?” Ma asked. 
“Oh my God, honey, did he hurt you?”
    “No, he just wanted to
talk.”
    “Talk about what, for God’s
sake?” Ma asked, hands on her hips.  “And why did he have to break in to do
that?  Hasn’t he ever heard of a goddamn telephone?”
    “Wait until you hear this,”
Roxy said between chomps.
    My cheeks felt hot.  “He
didn’t break in.”  My voice got quieter as I went on.  “I…let him in.”
    Ma’s eyes widened.  “You let
him in?  Did you offer him a beer, too?”
    “No, I didn’t offer him a
beer.  I just thought maybe I could get some information out of him.”
    “And did you?” she asked.
    I took a deep breath. 
“No.”  I walked around the counter and began rolling silverware into paper
napkins.
    “Oh no you don’t.”  Ma
wrangled the fork out of my hand.  “Finish the story, Rose.  Why did he come to
your apartment in the first place?”
    “He still thinks I have his
property.”  They waited for me to continue.  “And he told me to mind my own
business.  That’s all, I swear.” 
    Roxy looked skeptical.  “Did
he say what would happen if you don’t mind your business?  Did he threaten
you?”
    Totally.  “Not really,” I
lied.  I hated keeping things from them, but the last thing I wanted to do was
freak them out any more than they already were.
    “Oh, if I could get my hands
on that man—I’d have socked him in the mouth, too,” Ma said. 
    By then we had a few early
customers, so we quit talking and got down to business.  Ma manned the counter
while Roxy and I did our thing.  I tried to concentrate on my job, rather than
my problems.
    When we hit our midmorning
slow down, I checked my phone.  Still no Axton.  But I had texts from Eric,
Sheila Graystone, Dane, and two from Kevin. 
    I used the diner phone and
called Eric.  He answered on the first ring.  “I’ve got something.  When can
you get here?”
    “What?  Did you decrypt the
hard drive?”  I twisted the old, curly tan phone cord around my finger.
    “Yeah, I decrypted it, but I
still don’t know what it is.”
    I wanted to leave work
immediately, but I needed the money.  Badly.  “I’ll be there a little after one.” 
Ma and Roxy wouldn’t mind if I skipped clean up for a good cause. 
    I read Sheila’s text next. 
She wanted to meet at Starbucks.  Maybe she heard from Axton or thought of something
that might help me.  I texted her back and then called Dane.  I figured he’d be
in court and was surprised when he answered.
    “Have you heard from Axton?”
    “No,” I said.  “He’s still
missing.  But I