Джанет Кантрелл - Fat Cat At Large

Chase finished a transaction and checked the drawer. She raised her head as a large person blocked the light from the front windows. It was the last person she ever wanted to see again. She grabbed the edge of the counter to steady herself and felt the sweat springing up on her palms.

“Hi, Chase,” the man said, giving her the devastatingly handsome smile she’d fallen for.

“Shaun.” Tall, blond, ruggedly good looking, and all too real. She froze for a moment in the headlights of his dazzle.

“Oh, so you remember my name.” The smile on his handsome face wasn’t friendly. “I wondered where you were hiding out.”

She wiped her hands on her smock. “I am not hiding out.”

“I can’t believe you’re not locked up. Maybe you escaped from jail?”

The nearest customers, apparently the grandparents of the student fidgeting between them, stared openly. Chase couldn’t stand a scene in her shop tonight. But what could she say to him to get him to leave? Or at least be quiet?

“Very funny.” She tried for an amused smile. “I’m surprised you’re not in jail yet. Come on back and see the place. Vi, could you work the counter for a moment?” She beckoned him toward the kitchen. Anything to get him out of here, away from her customers. The older couple walked toward the door, trailed by their young student.

“Wait a minute,” the young man said. “I wanna buy something.”

“Let’s come back later,” said the woman.

Chase knew they’d never return.

She grabbed Shaun’s elbow and tugged him until he followed her, a doubtful expression on his face.

Anna was drying the mixer attachments and stowing them in the drawer. She looked up as they entered. “Who’s this?” She raised her eyebrows and gave him a brilliant smile.

Shaun turned his charm on full force. “I’m Shaun Everly. Pleased to meet you, Miss . . . ?”

Anna wiped her hands on her apron and extended a palm. “I’m Anna Larson, co-owner of the Bar None.” She gestured at the kitchen with a proud sweep of her hand. “You’re a friend of Charity’s?” She tilted her head at him. Was she flirting?

Chase said, “No,” a fraction of a second before Shaun said, “Yes.”

He chuckled. She didn’t. Anna’s smile faltered.

“We knew each other in Chicago,” he continued. “We worked together. For a while.” He turned toward the office door. “What’s that awful noise?”

“Quincy, hissing at you, as usual,” said Chase.

His ice-blue eyes narrowed. “You still have that mangy cat?”

The smile dropped from Anna’s face. An enemy of Quincy’s would be an enemy of hers.

“There’s the back door,” said Chase. “You’re welcome to use it.”

“I’m not surprised you don’t want me around.” There was a hint of menace in his silky voice. “Afraid people might find out what you did?” He walked over to stand next to Anna and talked to her in an undertone, then handed her something she stuffed into her apron pocket. Chase caught the sound of a sibilant and thought she heard the word stole .

“The only thing I’m afraid of,” Chase said, “is that you’ll spread more of your lies. Now get out.”

He gave Chase an ugly sneer. “I’m not going far. Thinking of moving here.” Then he left, giving the rear door a hearty slam.

“Who on earth was that?” Anna looked horrified for Chase. “What an awful man!”

“Yes.” Chase’s knees weakened in the aftermath of the confrontation. She grabbed for a stool and sat.

Anna glanced at the clock. “I’ll go flip the sign and finish up out front.”

Chase waited, unable to stir, listening to the voices in the front of the store. Finally, the last customer left and Vi and Anna came in.

“I really do have to leave,” said Vi. “Have fun without me.”

“Are you going to the visitation for Gabe Naughtly tonight?” Chase asked.

Vi paused on her way to the back door. “I’m . . . not sure.”

“The funeral is tomorrow,” Anna said. “Maybe you’d rather go to that?”

“We’re closed Wednesday this week, right?”

“Yes, so we could all go if we wanted to.”

“I’m doing the visitation,” Chase said.

“Me, too.” Vi continued toward the door.

“See you Thursday?” Anna said. “Since we don’t know when Laci is returning to work.”

They normally closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, except during freshman move-in time, when they only took Wednesday off. Next week they would close both of the normal days.

Vi left out the parking lot door, saying she’d be back on Thursday. Anna released Quincy from the office. He twined around her legs, then sashayed over to Chase.

“Can I get you something? Shall we open that bottle of wine?” She leaned down and rubbed Quincy’s nape.

“That would be lovely. I’ve been looking forward to it all day. I haven’t taken any pain pills since this morning.”

Anna wielded the corkscrew, reached for two of the tumblers they kept in the kitchen, and poured them half-full. She and Chase clinked their glasses and Chase gulped down a hefty amount.

“Now spill,” Anna said. “What was that talk of jail?”

“What did Shaun say to you?”

“That’s not important.” Anna glanced away.

“He’s the reason I left Chicago. I’ve told you that.”

“You never told me his name. Or how good looking he is. Or exactly what the details were.”

“I know. It was . . . upsetting. We both worked at the same place.”

“That German place in the Loop?”

“Yes, I was waiting tables there. The waitstaff took care of the dinner checks, no cashier, and we handled a lot of money. His uncle owned the place. Shaun didn’t work there much, but showed up once or twice a week to help out in the kitchen.”

“What else did he do?”

“He was going to school, I guess. At least that’s what he said. Right now, I don’t believe anything he’s ever said. He asked me out a few times and I thought we hit if off pretty well, but I knew he wasn’t someone I wanted anything permanent with.”

Chase took another glug of her wine. Anna moved around the kitchen efficiently, putting away the day’s equipment, stopping to sip her wine when she passed it.

“When money was missing,” Chase said, “he convinced his uncle I had taken it. I tried to reason with both of them.”

“Who did take the money?”

“I didn’t know, at first. I just knew it wasn’t me.” It sounded like Anna was accusing her. “No matter what I said, Shaun’s uncle was sure I’d taken it, and I got fired.”

“That’s when you came home to Minneapolis?” Anna put the last of the baking sheets in the cabinet and came back to sit beside Chase.

“No, not exactly. Before I left their place, I happened to see a deposit slip in the kitchen wastebasket. I thought that was an odd thing to be there, so I fished it out. Shaun was not only a jerk and dishonest, he was stupid. The receipt was for a large deposit to his personal account. It was for exactly the amount that had been missing the week before. I knew I didn’t want to work with anyone in that family again, so I didn’t use it to get my job back. But I did leave Shaun a sealed note about finding the deposit slip before I left the place.

“Then I tried to get another job. I applied at five different places nearby. One of them finally told me that Shaun had talked to them. I was blacklisted!”

“Blacklisted? That’s terrible. Why would he do that?”

“Because he’s a class-one jerk.”

“You could have brought the deposit slip to the police.”

“Yes, I know, but I just wanted to get far away from everything.”

“So you came home.” Anna’s warm smile eased Chase’s heart. “I’m glad you did.”