“Zoe, by the way.”
“What?” Keira managed again. She felt as though she’d walked into a Picasso painting, where life just didn’t make as much sense as it should.
“Coffee. Now. I have some questions. You’ll give me answers. C’mon.” Zoe was already pulling off her apron.
Keira’s brain was doing its best to catch up. She found it hard to believe Zoe had seen an actual dead person at her window the night before—but there had been a genuine ghost outside the groundskeeper’s cottage. She wasn’t in a position to discount anything or reject any potential help, no matter how bizarrely it was packaged. “All right, okay. Coffee. But I need to pay for this first.”
“Yeah, yeah, sure.” Zoe grabbed the basket and riffled through. Before Keira knew what was happening, the other woman was prying the twenty out of her hand and shoving a couple of coins into its place. “That’ll be nineteen fifty-five. Thank you for shopping at Blighty General. Now c’mon. If we’re fast, we can get in before the lunch rush.”
“But—”
Zoe piled the bags back into the basket and shoved it behind the desk. “You can pick this up on your way back through. Oy, Lucas, take over for me.”
“What?” A skinny teen standing in line startled at the sound of his name.
Zoe snagged the boy’s collar and hauled him behind the counter. “Just cover for me for the next half hour, okay?”
His eyes bulged with dawning horror. “But I don’t work here.”
“You’ll be fine! Just scan stuff and take people’s money.” Zoe caught Keira’s sleeve and dragged her through the door. The sudden sunlight made Keira squint. She had all of half a second to inhale the brisk air, then the pressure on her arm was pulling her toward the intersection.
Zoe didn’t even check that their path was clear before striding onto the road, forcing a car to swerve to avoid them. Keira had no choice but to follow at a quick trot. Zoe was a head shorter than her but could have entered the Olympics for competitive power walking. As they reached the curb, she shot Keira a huge smile that was equal parts manic excitement and zealous determination. Keira tried to smile back, but it came out as a grimace.
I think she might just be insane.
Chapter Six
The café occupied the corner opposite the general store. Keira only had a second to read the bright-yellow wooden sign above the door—Has Beans—before Zoe jerked her inside. It was a welcoming sort of café, with big, squishy chairs spaced around the various nooks and a bookcase half-full of worn paperbacks near the window.
“Oh good, the corner’s free,” Zoe said. The café wasn’t quite full, but a small crowd had gathered, and the chatter blended in with the whirr of a coffee grinder. “That’s the best table. What d’you want? My treat.”
“Uhh—” Keira squinted to read the smudged chalkboard above the counter. Zoe had offered coffee, but it would be all right to get something else, wouldn’t it? Something with a lot of sugar and fat for energy. “Hot chocolate?”
“Oy, Marlene!” Zoe bellowed over the queue of patrons waiting to order. A sallow woman behind the counter looked up. “Bring us a hot chocolate and a caramel latte, okay? And two of those disgusting, overpriced muffins. I’ll pay you back later.”
Marlene gave a thumbs-up. Zoe shooed Keira toward a four-seater table in the corner between the window and the bookcase, then pushed her into one of the couches. The constant manhandling was grating on Keira’s nerves, but she purposefully kept her demeanor calm.
Play it casual. She can’t prove I’m not a tourist. And if I can redirect the conversation to the thing she saw outside her window, she might forget to ask too many questions.
Zoe took the seat opposite and shuffled it as close to the table as it would go. “Okay, spill the beans. Who’re you running from?”
“Running?” Keira laughed airily. “I’m sorry for getting your hopes up, but I’m honestly just passing through.”
Zoe gave her an intense deadpan glare. “Cut the crap. Tourists don’t buy a lifetime supply of rice and potatoes. And you could have been following the CIA’s training manual for how to not draw attention to yourself. I didn’t even see you until you were standing in front of my counter.”
Damn. She’s quick. Keira’s smile faltered, but she fought to keep her voice light. “This is going to be a disappointment, but I really don’t have any answers. You said something about a face