What He Heard

Chapter 28

            The after school crowds were blessedly sparse, less than a quarter of the tables and chairs of the food court filled. But what they lacked in size, they more than made up for in sound. The mall practically echoed with ebb and flow of the chattering groups that had streamed in from both high schools. In another hour or so, the after work crowds would join the students already there, and the mall would be filled with people trying to get an early start to Christmas shopping.

            Willow glanced around from where she sat across from Rune, and repressed a shudder. She avoided the mall as much as possible. Too many people, the bright, artificial lighting, and the combined smells of the food court and Body Shop always had her wrinkling her nose. Worst of all, the PA system was already playing Christmas carols, despite it being only barely November.

            Rune, who had been watching the Taco Bell closely from his seat, turned to look at her. He took in her expression and chuckled. “Not much of a mall rat, are you?”

            She glowered. “I hate this place. I don’t know how Darbs can stand working here.”

            “She’s probably not as delicate as you are,” he replied dryly before he nodded at the fast food counter directly across from them. “And it looks like she’s ready to go.”

            Willow studied the Taco Bell counter. The purple sign hung over the lit up menu, the various deals and combos only half visible from where they were, though the larger font on some of the panels was legible. Behind the solid grey wall that separated the counter from the open space of the food court, Darby stood behind one of the cash registers. Her brown hair tied back into a ponytail and shoved through the back of her baseball cap and changed into her black uniform, she blended in with the other two cashiers, one guy and one girl. Behind them loomed a balding man in white collared shirt and nametag who Willow assumed was the manager from the intent attention he was giving the three out front.

            Already a line had formed in front of the stall, as hungry teens realized they still had hours until dinner, or only minutes until their own work shifts started, in the mall or elsewhere. Slowly, the food court population grew. The volume took a sharp upturn which did drown out the Christmas carols.

Willow shifted in the hard plastic of her seat and glanced around. Nearly everyone was concentrating on the food in front of them or the people they sat with. The handful who weren’t were either in their bags or staring off into space. No one that she could see was watching Darby. She looked at Rune.

He too, scanned the swelling crowd. From the way his gaze darted, Willow guessed that he wasn’t having any more luck than she was. She turned her attention back to her cousin and the line that snaked out from the counter.

            Darby smiled at the customers as she rang through their orders, but no one appeared to be paying her any more attention than anyone else. As soon as any one customer got their food, they were gone, to be replaced with the next person in line. No one lingered, no one stared, and no one seemed to pay the girl in the uniform more attention than they did the ubiquitous store mannequins.

            “Anything?” she asked Rune.

            He shook his head and spun back to face her. “You could switch her out with either of the other two and I don’t think anyone would notice. Hell, I bet if you changed her with a robot most people wouldn’t notice. Most people are far more concerned with themselves and their food to even really pay attention to who’s serving them.”

            Willow nodded. “That’s about all I saw too. And you’d think the rush right now would be the perfect chance to try and get close to her. I’m sure she’s not imagining it though. We’re taught to be aware of people paying us too much attention from early on, and how to recognize a real threat from paranoid feelings.”

            “Well, the line looks like it’s dying down a bit. Want to go buy drinks so we can talk to her? We might see something that way.”

            She smiled and stood. “Aye, aye, Captain!”

            Rune grinned and strolled off, Willow falling into step beside him. “Damn right, I’m the Captain. What would you do without me?”

            “Not get lectured as much. Or get called to the principal’s office on an almost weekly basis.”

            “Sure, focus on the negatives.”

            Willow chuckled as they joined the end of the dissipating line. “You set yourself up for it.”

            “And you simply lack the willpower to keep from taking the easy shots. You need to go for the challenges, like me. It’s how you improve.”

            She fake shuddered as they shuffled forward. “No, thank you. The thought of being like you will give me nightmares for weeks.”

            “Coming from you, that’s twice the insult,” he replied, smirking.

            “Don’t think I won’t bite you.”

            “You won’t. I’d taste terrible.”

            Willow chuckled again. “Not to mention you have no meat on your bones. You’d be far too much effort to eat, and nowhere near satisfying. I mean, I probably outweigh you by more than twenty or thirty pounds. Maybe I should start fattening you up…”

            “Good luck. My mom’s been trying for years.”

            “Welcome to Taco Bell. What can I get for you?”

            They both looked up and smiled at Darby as they stopped in front of her cash. “Two Pepsis,” Rune said, digging a five out of his pocket. “Drinks are on me.”

            Willow shrugged. “I’ll get them next time then,” she said then turned her attention to her cousin. “How are things?”

            “Fine. Nothing out of the ordinary,” Darby replied as she took Rune’s money.

            “We haven’t seen anything, but we might wander around to see if anything jumps out at either of us. But we’ll stay here until your shift’s over so we can go home together.”

            Darby smiled and shook her head as she dropped the change into Rune’s hand. “Don’t worry about it. Ed’s picking me up. Even I couldn’t talk him out of it.”

           “That’s probably for the best,” Rune said, one hand jammed into his pocket. “The more you’re around people, the safer you’ll be. We’ll keep an eye out.”

            “Thanks you two,” she said, handing them their drinks.

            They both nodded. “Any time,” Willow said, before leading the way back to their table. They’d watch for a bit longer and hope that, whoever it was watching Darby, they’d make themselves known. The last thing Willow wanted was for something to go wrong while Uncle Allistair was away.