Page 100 of Lay Me Down
“Of course, honey, any time. I hope you find him.” She frowns, but then she perks up some, like she got an idea. “Did you say you needed to see where he headed when he left?”
I raise an eyebrow. Did I say that out loud?Shit.I need to get the manic talk under control before I go back to Ash.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Well, come on. We’ll try something else.” In a flash, she’s already up and out of the chair, walking out of the office. She scurries away, and I stumble to catch up with her. “Let’s go! Get a move on!”
I hurry behind her as she walks out of the building and towards the bank next door. I look around the parking lot, wondering why the hell I’m letting the Alabama State Grandma lead me anywhere, but she’s determined—I’ll give her that. She shoves the door open, struts in, and marches right up to the counter. I can’t help but look around anxiously and grip the back of my neck, hoping that they don’t immediately call the cops. Then I’ll have to explain myself to Tony, and I don’t want to deal with that Leave-It-To-Beaver motherfucker if I don’t have to.
“Where’s Gerald?” Diane asks the well-dressed woman behind the counter.
“Hi, Diane. Good evening to you, too,” the woman says in an annoyed tone. It kind of pisses me off. Yeah, we came in here a little too ‘gung-ho,’ but damn, what happened to customer service? Diane relaxes a little against the counter and puts on her softest smile.
“Good evening, dear. I need to speak to Gerald, please.”
“I’ll go grab him.” She huffs and walks to the back.
“Um, ma’am?” I try to get Diane’s attention, to ask what the hell we’re doing, but she just holds her hand up and shushes me.I raise an eyebrow but ultimately let it go. What am I going to do? Yell at her?
The woman walks back in, and a grey-haired man follows her. He’s probably in his early fifties and is dressed in a nice button-up shirt, but clearly has a clip-on tie.
Tacky.
“What can I do for you, Diane?” The guy, Gerald, says in a tone that speaks ‘I’m already sick of this shit,’ and now I’m fully annoyed. Diane just wants to talk, what’s his deal?
“This nice man needs to look at your security cameras.” Diane points back to me, and my eyes widen a little, but I can’t help but grin at her. This woman is on a mission, and I definitely appreciate her enthusiasm.
“Now, Diane, we don’t share our footage. Especially not with strangers,” Gerald drones.
“Well, I’m no stranger.” Diane puts her hands on her hips, and even though I’m standing behind her, I can feel the attitude radiate from her.
It’s inappropriate to start chanting ‘fight’ right now, isn’t it?
“I can’t show the footage to anyone but local authorities.” Gerald rolls his eyes, and I decide to step in on that remark—even though I already hate where this is going.
“Well, I can take care of that.” I pull out my burner phone and reluctantly dial Tony’s number.I guess I’m going to have to deal with this asshole anyway.It only rings a few times, and I can’t help but smirk smugly at Gerald’s wrinkly face.
“Sheriff Bordeaux?” Tony answers.
“Tony? It’s Zeke. I need you to come down to the bank on Mill Lane. The one next to the ice cream shop.”
“Why?”
I scoff.
“Don’t ask questions.” I hang up and turn back to the man. “My officer will be here in a few minutes.”
“Well, you’re also going to need a warrant, sir.” He leans on the counter and tilts his head to the side, like this isn’t a life-or-death situation.
“Oh, to hell with your warrant, Gerald!” Diane yells, and I flinch.Damn, this woman is feisty.“There is a sweet, innocent man missing, and you’ll do well to comply! I’ll flood your district manager with so many complaints that they’ll fire you just to get rid of me! Now, you let this man watch your damn tapes!”
I stand back and listen to them argue with each other for a while. Diane’s face turns red, and I’m pretty sure Gerald’s hair becomes even thinner than it already was. The lady behind the counter continues to work and just shakes her head, like this is some normal occurrence for them. After about ten minutes of Diane screaming at Gerald, Tony comes striding in through the doors to hear the commotion. His blonde hair is still shaved, and his looks just as dopey as ever.
“Whoa! Whoa, now. What is going on?” Tony approaches us all with raised hands.
“Oh, thank goodness you’re here! This man is obstructing justice!” Diane yells, and points at Gerald.
“Officer, please get this woman out of my bank!” he yells back.
