Uncaringly, he got off the bike to go into the restaurant he swore never to go in again.
Marty was behind the grill and there were several customers standing at the cash register.
Reaper went around them to stand at the counter. “Has Ginny been in here?”
“Today?” Opening a brown paper bag, he started putting burgers inside.
Placing his hands on the counter, Reaper prepared to jump over the counter if the asswipe kept playing games. “Yes, today.”
“She left about ten minutes ago.”
Reaper lifted his hand just to smack it down in frustration. “Fuck.”
“She give you boys the slip?”
“Which direction did she go?”
Marty lifted the fry basket to dump the fries inside the bag. “Took off toward the interstate.”
Nodding, Reaper headed toward the door.
“Wait!”
The customers moved when Marty waved them away.
“Take this.” Marty held the bag over the cash register for him to grab. “You’re going to get hungry before you catch her.”
Giving him a dirty look, Reaper ignored the offering, reaching for the doorknob instead.
“If you underestimate Ginny, you’re never going to find her. She wasn’t driving the same car she usually pulls up in.”
“What was she driving?”
“A black four-door Taurus. I’m guessing it’s a 2015 or ’16 model. I took down the license plate. It’s on the bag.”
Leaning forward, Reaper took the bag from him. “Thanks.”
“Didn’t do it for you. Did it for her. I don’t want anything happening to that girl. She’s my best customer. She came by to give me a good-bye card. Bought me a week’s getaway in the Dominion Republic.” Marty shook his jowly head. “Like I have the time to take a vacation.”
Ginny meant more to him than any customer. The asswipe cared about Ginny, and she cared about him, too, or she wouldn’t have come to tell him good-bye and give him something so Marty would remember her.
“Do yourself a big favor and sell your business as fast as you can. Take a break from the restaurant and put a hold on the Dominion Republic for a few months.”
“Any reason why I would want to sell?”
“I’m just returning the favor.” Reaper left with the bag, leaving the asswipe to stare after him.
On his bike, he called Shade with the license number and the direction she was headed. Then, putting the burgers in the saddlebags, he took off toward the interstates.
He chose the westbound ramp, since the southbound interstate would send her toward Florida. Though she’d find it easier to hide with all the tourists, something had him going west. He told Shade to call Nickel to take the eastbound interstate. That only left northbound, which would have put Ginny coming too close to Kentucky, the exact place she’d lead her stalker away from. Once on the interstate, he started looking for black cars
His deductions were based on wild guesses. Guesses that, if he was wrong, Ginny would no longer be the responsibility of the club or him. If she achieved her goal and successfully managed to slip away, Ginny could be out of his hair forever, or at least the time it took her to feel safe enough to return to Treepoint.
A shiny black hood caught his eye.
Speeding up, he rode the line between a semi and a red pickup, risking his neck to gain speed on the black car, hell-bent on catching her.
Then all he had to do was let her go.
He had a little something to give her to help her remember him.
Chapter Twenty
Getting in line behind a father with two young children wasn’t the best decision she had ever made. Ginny pretended to be patiently waiting for her turn in line while all she was doing was blasting herself. It would be quicker to get back in her car and go through the drive-thru. She had come into the fast food restaurant to use the restroom and grab something quick to eat and drink. She hadn’t planned on getting behind a five-year-old who couldn’t make up her mind on whether she wanted nuggets or a hamburger.
She should have waited until she was ready to stop for the night. Her rumbling stomach had disagreed, though, reminding her of why she was in line in the first place.
Finally able to give her order, Ginny then took the paper cup from the employee to fill up at the self-serve drinking fountain.
Putting the lid on the top when she was finished, Ginny poked a straw through the lid to take a sip when she heard her number called out.