Page 65 of Edge

“I hope she’s okay,” Evie said after they left.

She wasn’t, but I couldn’t tell her that, and I hated it. I just hoped they wouldn’t link Marcy’s disappearance to Muzzle and in turn link Muzzle to the break-in. I wasn’t worried about the connections going further than that. We were very careful and made sure to leave nothing behind that could connect us to Muzzle’s disappearance, but Evie already felt guilty for what happened at the diner and didn’t need to add anything to it.

“I’m going to call Irene and tell her about Marcy,” Evie said.

“Go ahead. I’ll keep an eye on the front,” I told her.

I was fighting the urge to close my eyes and take a short nap when the bell on the front door rang. I looked up to see Walter and Buck walking toward the counter.

“Hey, guys. What can I get for you?”

“Nothing,” Walter said, scanning the diner. “Is Evie here?”

“She’s making a phone call in the office. Do you want me to get her?”

“No,” he said and lowered his voice. “We came to talk to you. We saw that asshole that started trouble in here last week. He was in the parking lot of that abandoned warehouse over on Highway Fourteen talking to a group of men on motorcycles.”

“You’re sure it was him?” I asked. I had a feeling they were right, but I didn’t want to jump to conclusions.

“Absolutely,” Buck said. “I got a good look at him through the binoculars Walter keeps in his car.”

“What about the men on the bikes? Were they wearing cuts?”

Buck nodded. “Yeah, they were. I couldn’t make out any of the words, because somebody doesn’t know how to keep a car steady, but there was something that looked like an angry dog on the back.”

“Don’t blame your bad eyesight on my driving,” Walter retorted.

“I see,” I said and tried not to show any kind of reaction.

Walter gave me a knowing look. “We thought it was worth mentioning, and I can see that it was.”

“Thank you. I really appreciate you guys looking out for Irene and Evie.”

“We’re happy to help,” Buck said.

I waited until they were gone to stick my head into the kitchen and ask Byte to come out to the front. I wasn’t surprised when Ranger came with him.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

I quickly filled them in on what Walter and Buck told me, keeping my voice low so Evie wouldn’t overhear us.

“Sounds like the Mad Dogs are in town,” Ranger said.

“My laptop’s in the office. I can check the traffic cameras and confirm,” Byte said.

“They showed up sooner than I thought,” Ranger said.

“You think it’s really them?”

“Sounds like them. Men on motorcycles wearing cuts with a dog on the back. Who else could it be?”

Byte returned a few minutes later and confirmed our suspicions. “It’s them.”

“How many?”

“I saw five on the cameras, but I bet there’s more,” he said.

“I’ll call Phoenix and let him know.”