All I've Ever Wanted - Adrianne Byrd [24]
Tyne shook her head. “I got bills, girlfriend.”
Chapter 11
“Hey, Kennedy,” Bennie called.
She looked up to see him waving her over. Before she took a step, she glanced over to table twenty-three.
Det. Collier and Dossman waved.
She moaned in disbelief.
When she approached Bennie, he looped an arm through hers. “Do your friends plan on being here all day? They’re costing me money.”
“They’re not my friends.”
“What—you recently started a fan club? They’re sure as hell acting like they know you.”
She sighed. “They’re cops, Bennie. You’re more than welcome to go and kick Atlanta’s finest out if you want to.”
His expression grew serious. “Is everything all right? Are you in some kind of trouble?”
Saying yes wouldn’t change anything, nor would it help. It would only bring up more questions.
“It’s nothing like that.”
“Then what?”
“Nothing,” she insisted, and searched for a lie that would appease him. “They knew my father, that’s all.”
Bennie’s expression displayed disbelief. He cast another glance at the two officers. “They look a little young to have been associated with your father.”
“What are you, the FBI now?”
“Now calm down,” he said, trying to placate her. “I was just saying—”
“Look, I’ll just tell them to leave.” She turned on her heel, ignoring Bennie when he called for her to come back.
As she drew near the table a funny thing happened. Her pulse quickened and her palms felt slick. When Det. Collier’s head lifted and their gazes met, a sudden rush of heat surged through her. There was something about him that reminded her of her father. Perhaps it was the intensity of his stare, or the subtle character lines etched along his mouth and eyes. She wasn’t sure.
To keep her wits about her, she decided to make and maintain eye contact with Dossman. In her opinion, he wasn’t as intimidating as his partner. “Look, I’m going to have to ask you two to leave. My boss is giving me a lot of flak.”
“Well, we can’t have that.” Dossman looked to his partner as if waiting for an objection.
“You know I’m really impressed with the service around here,” Collier said. “Maybe we ought to have breakfast here every day before heading into the office. What do you think, partner?”
Dossman shrugged. “It’s as good a place as any, I suppose.”
Kennedy turned then, sweeping her gaze over Collier like a searchlight. “Just what are you trying to do—get me fired? Is that how you go about coercing false confessions?”
Max showed obvious surprise at her outburst.
“Look,” she said, slapping her hands down onto the table and leaning toward him. “I have a four-year-old I have to look after. I bust my ass waitressing two jobs and somehow still manage to scrape out time to go to night school. I don’t have time to play silly games with you and your partner. I said it before and I’ll say it again—I was not in those woods Friday night.”
Disguised in a fake goatee and dark sunglasses, Keenan Lawrence smiled, and then took the last drag of his cigarette. He’d watched the fireworks exchange between Kennedy St. James and the two detectives with amusement. Though the small group had frequently talked in hushed tones, he’d always prided himself on his ability to read lips.
Whether the waitress was telling the truth, he didn’t know. But he had every intention of finding out. The night he’d finished off Underwood, his men had come up empty when they’d chased the unexpected witness. But Keenan knew everything that went on on his streets, and he knew the regulars who traveled them. So he’d decided to do a little investigating on his own.
He’d seen Kennedy St. James from time to time, but knew more about her father than about her. And he should—considering that the man had arrested him more times than any other cop on the force.
“Can I get you anything else, sugar?” his waitress, Tyne, asked as she placed his bill facedown on the table.
He lifted his gaze to the waitress and admired her pretty smile. “Nah, I think that will just about do me.” He smiled back.
“Did you have just a little too much to drink last night?” she asked,