Page 82 of Killing Mind

She remembered falling into bed and off to sleep immediately. She had no idea what time it had been but she hadn’t woken once.

‘And if you were wondering, you snore,’ Brit said, as Tiff got out of bed.

‘I do not.’

‘Do so, not big snores but delicate little lady noises,’ Brit said and began to impersonate her.

Tiff burst out laughing.

‘Well, you’ve missed shower time so just throw your clothes on and let’s head up for brekkie.’

Tiff went to reach for her phone and remembered it was missing. Britney had helped her go through all her things and had then gone to let Jake and someone called Lorna know that a phone had been lost. Britney was convinced it had fallen out of her bag and that someone would find it and hand it in.

Tiff knew there was nothing she could do about it right now. She was in no danger and was surprised to find that she was ravenous. If they were serving leftover chop and mash from the night before she wouldn’t mind a bit.

She dressed hurriedly as Britney turned away and started preparing her backpack.

‘Oh, Brit, can we check to see if my phone—’

‘Yep, we’ll check with Jake on route,’ Britney said, heading for the door. ‘Come on, we’ve got a busy day ahead.’

Tiff pulled on her second trainer and ran after her.

Britney checked the typed list on the wall and smiled. ‘First sitting.’

Thank goodness for that, Tiffany thought. She was sure her insides were beginning to chew on themselves.

A quick appraisal confirmed that Jake was once again at the top table, which was full. Britney pretended not to notice but a brief look of disappointment was chased away with a clap of the hands as she surveyed the breakfast offering. Tiff had noted from the waves and smiles of the diners that most folks were the same as the previous night, but not all.

Another difference to the previous night was an extra table at the end of the line holding rows of sandwich boxes stacked high.

‘What’re those?’ Tiff whispered, as the room was dining in silence.

‘Packed lunches for the workers,’ Brit whispered back as she took her plate laden with sausage, bacon, eggs, beans, hash browns and toast. Tiff indicated to the dark-haired woman that she’d have the same. She could feel the saliva gathering in her mouth as it was plated up.

She followed Britney to the last two seats at the bottom table. Quite honestly, she didn’t care where she sat, she just wanted to eat.

Again, she was content with the silence. It gave her chance to focus and savour the deliciousness of the food.

She realised that she hadn’t once looked up from her plate when she felt a tap on her shoulder.

She looked up into the cool blue eyes of Jake Black who was smiling down at her.

Oh no, not again.

‘Tiffany, I understand you’ll be returning home today but I’ve been thinking a lot about our conversation last night and I’d really like to talk to you some more. I think I can help, so if you do return with Britney, I’d love to continue our chat.’

Tiffany nodded as he smiled and walked away.

The panpipe music began to filter into the room and the chatter started up.

She wondered exactly what it was that Jake wanted to say to her.

She’d think about it later.

Right now, she just wanted to eat.

Sixty-Seven