Say When

T W E N T Y - N I N E

I punched in the wrong order for the third time. I apologized profusely to the customer and ordered a redo. My nerves were shot. I was completely unable to focus on anything but the closed door behind me and what was transpiring on the other side.

Jules was in there with detectives and had been for the past twenty minutes. I glanced at the cameras to make sure that they were still pointed away from the counters. Where they always at that angle? Had they been moved? I hoped I would have noticed. In a cloud of paranoia, I convinced myself that the camera in the corner had been moved a couple of millimeters toward the register.

"Bri." I spun around with my heart thudding in my chest but it was just one of the cooks passing the last of my redone orders. His frustration was evident.

"Sorry, Al." I dropped my head hoping he wouldn't bite it off. He waved a hand at me before disappearing back into the kitchen. As I gave the customer their corrected order with a side of apologies, the office door finally opened. I grabbed a rag and busied myself wiping down the counter.

I cut my eyes over my shoulder. A tall middle-aged black man in an ill-fitting suit towered over Jules' tiny frame. I strained to hear what they were saying but they spoke in hushed tones. I needed to move closer. I decided to rearrange the sauces that were stacked on an open shelf adjacent to her office. I was within earshot but I was a little too late.

"Just keep an eye on it and call us if anything." The detective slipped a card to Jules who nodded and assured them that she would. I flattened myself against the sauce shelf as they went by. He'd just disappeared through the door when Jules called Yuri into the office. He was in there briefly before he came out.

"A little help here," Amanda called out from the front. A line had formed. I hurried over to my register and threw another 'sorry' into the air. I was drowning in 'sorry's'. The walls seemed to be tightening around me.

I'd let my guard down. I wanted to kick myself. Maybe I'd done too many. I tried to stay within Jax's parameters but some days I lost count. The threat that I thought about so much, in the beginning, fell away with each skim. The more comfortable I got with things the less I thought of it as actually breaking the law. We were just outsmarting people. Using a flaw in the system. But the law didn't forget and now they were here.

I wiped my damp palms on my jeans. I tried to focus on my job and not fuck up anything else. I did not need extra attention on me at this moment. Especially not with the skimmers tucked away in my locker. I cursed to myself and felt tears start to sneak into my eyes. I was in full panic mode. I needed to call Jax now. I needed him to handle it.

I became hyper-focused and knocked out my line. I was the model of efficiency and within fifteen minutes everyone was fed and out of the door. I slipped back into the locker room and dialed Jax. The phone rang. And rang. And rang. His voicemail switched on. I killed the line and dialed him again.

"C' mon. C'mon." I pinched my nose to keep from crying. My blood pumped loudly in my ear. The ringing continued. Then the voicemail again.

"It's me. Call me back please," I looked around before whispering into my phone, "the cops were here." I ended the phone call. I paced the room hoping that he would call me back within a second. Any second. Dammit. The door to the locker room burst open and I let out an audible yelp. I was on edge.

"This is where you're hiding," Yuri let the door click closed behind him. I shoved my phone in my back pocket.

"Yeah, just taking a little breather," I told him. I tried to seem as normal as possible.

"Crazy today, right?" Yuri crossed over to his locker and opened it. He pulled out a uniform shirt. I noticed a blotch of what looked like our secret ranch sauce on his shirt, "Everyone's on edge. Donna squirted ranch on me and shit."