Chapter 1

*Tamara*

My eyes darted to the wall clock just a few feet away from where I stood as I swiped quickly at the round table. I cursed myself in my head, staring out the glass doors and realizing just how late it was. I couldn't seem to stop myself from attending to customers who arrived just mere minutes away from closing time. Yesterday had been a woman in her late fifties who'd come to get takeout for dinner after closing late from work.

Tonight had been a young couple, around my age, who had apparently run a little late for their date. I'd been determined to ask them to have it somewhere else, I lived in a very shady neighborhood and I couldn't afford to make going back home late a habit. God knew my habits were almost impossible to break out of. But then the guy had called me aside and discreetly whispered that he wanted to propose.

And my resolve had melted instantly.

Theodore the chef, who we fondly called Teddy, had already signed out of his cooking duties for the day. I'd come to that conclusion myself since he had been nowhere to be found that both his uniform and his apron had also been hung. He'd probably seen me talking to the young couple and had known despite my initial reluctance that I was going to eventually cave in. I didn't blame him for slipping out the back door without notifying me.

I asked too much of him sometimes.

Since I couldn't inform the couple that the chef had retired to his home, I had to take on the duties of both their waitress and chef. They had better be lucky that I knew the recipe to prepare the meal they had ordered like I knew the back of my hand. In the end I'd teared up dramatically from where I stood shamelessly but discreetly watching them behind the counter. She'd eventually found the ring in her food and he'd retrieved it from her, gotten down on one knee and proposed.

It had been beautiful, really.

I pushed the chairs around the table a bit more forward and quickly hurried behind the counter. I was on my way to the storeroom at the back when I noticed that the backdoor was wide open. I furrowed my eyebrows, taking cautious steps toward the door as I tried to make sense of why it was that wide open. Teddy was the most careful person I knew. He would have made sure the door was at least closed since his intention had been to escape.

Deciding to ask him about it tomorrow, I closed the door shut and locked it with the key. I proceeded to change out of my uniform into my usual clothes. Flinging my bag across my shoulders I paused at the base of the stairs leading to Mike's floor. Mike, the owner of the diner where I worked, literally lived alone upstairs. It was his building after all. He'd turned the first floor into his apartment and he'd turned the ground floor into his diner.

Usually, after work I took him a few leftovers as his dinner. I still wasn't exactly sure why I still did it though. I avoided Mike as much as I could because I didn't like the way he looked at me. It always made my skin crawl when he'd lick his lips like I was some kind of yummy dessert he'd specially ordered for himself. The man was old enough to be my father. Plus I didn't trust him. There was just something suspicious about the way he moved.

Still.

I'd taken him some leftovers after my first day of work here and he'd literally teared up with how grateful he'd been, saying that no one had ever cared enough about him to make sure he had something to eat before going to bed. It had been one of the few times I'd ever felt sympathy for him. Standing at the base of the stairs now, I found myself oddly debating whether or not I should go up. The leftovers from today were a little smaller than usual and I wasn't exactly sure I wanted to share, since the terms of our agreement had been that I had rights to half of the leftovers after each day, while Teddy had rights to the other half.

It was the only thing I could ask for after hearing the ridiculously small amount I was going to be paid. Then again, I remembered that beggars couldn't also be choosers and had immediately agreed. I stared down at the brown bag in my hand, trying to remember the amount of food I'd packed into it. Not much, I finally decided. It didn't help that my brother had decided he was going to pay me a visit tonight. I'd been a little on edge since receiving his call earlier during my break.

Jasper couldn't be bothered about what I was doing or what was going on in my life. Usually, he only showed up when he needed some form of help or when he'd gotten himself into some kind of trouble, despite the fact that we literally lived in the same city. I knew all this, but I just kept making excuses for him. Maybe it was the fact that his fiance had cheated on him with his best friend. Or maybe it was the fact that he'd been laid off only days after finding out.

Whatever it was, my brother had definitely been going through a lot. As his elder sister, the least I could do was help him through it. Which was why I'd informed Jasper that he was totally welcome to come see me at home and that I would be bringing dinner. Of course, that had been before I knew that very little was left of the day's orders. It didn't matter though. All three of us were simply going to make do.

I ignored the warning sensation at the back of my head and trudged forward, gripping the rail firmly before I let my exhausted body topple down the stairs. I couldn't help but turn to look at the black door that had bothered me from the very first day that I had seen it. I'd let my curiosity get the better of me and had wanted to check it out, only that it had been locked.

I'd never once found it open.

Choosing to forget that the door was even there in the first place, like I always did, I continued my walk to Mike's home office. I wasn't exactly sure how long he stayed up in his office doing God knows what but I had never for once closed the diner and come upstairs to find him anywhere else. I'd asked once but he'd waved it off, saying that he was only going through files that had to do with the diner's daily activities.

I hadn't completely believed him.

My eyebrows drew together as I approached the door. I leaned my right ear against it trying to figure out what was going on before I tried to knock. It was weird. I could hear muffled voices. It was the first time I'd ever come upstairs to find someone else aside from Mike in his office. My gaze darted to my phone's lit screen as I checked the time. Almost midnight. Even as a part of me warned that I should have been back home by this time, I couldn't help but wonder who it was that Mike was talking with.

I'd already discovered that one could get upstairs without having to walk in through the diner, so I wasn't exactly surprised that whoever it was hadn't entered from the diner's doors. What I found really strange was the fact that the other door the person should have entered into the building had been locked all day. I was sure of it. It was only ever open whenever Mike was upstairs and he'd been out the whole day. I'd seen him walk in a few hours before closing time and even then he'd come in through the diner's doors. It meant that the other door had never for once been opened today.

So how did the person gotten in?

My eyes bulged when I remembered the back door I'd found wide open. It was then that realization dawned on me. Mike was likely in trouble. I stepped away from the door like it had suddenly caught fire, my heart immediately racing. My first instinct was to run. I'd suspected that Mike was into some kind of shady business but there had been no way to know for sure. For all I knew, he'd double crossed someone and they had snuck in to get their pound of flesh? Why should I get involved?

Despite the thoughts running through my head, I knew for fact that there was no way I was leaving Mike all by himself with a possible threat. I massaged my temple, feeling a migraine build as I tried to hurriedly think of a way out. Calling the cops was definitely out of the action. It was way too late and there was no way they were going to get here in time if they even decided to take me seriously. I bit down on my lower lip, staring at the door.

What if this was all in my head?

Maybe whoever it was wasn't actually harmful like I'd immediately concluded. There was only one way to know for sure. Taking in a deep steadying breath, I practically tiptoed back to the door, thanking the heavens when I discovered the door wasn't actually closed. There was just the tiniest bit of space between the door and the doorframe. Holding my breath, I pushed at the door with the tip of my pointer finger, widening it just the slightest bit.

My heart began crashing against my rib cage the second I made sense of what I was seeing. Mike was in front of his desk standing right next to some guy wearing a black hoodie. My eyebrows squeezed as I realized Mike was actually pleading with the hooded guy, unshed tears making his eyes appear glossy. Before I even knew what was going on, the hooded guy had taken a gun out of the front pocket of his jeans and put a bullet through Mike's head. I squinted my eyes, trying to catch the last word Mike had managed to get out of his lips.

Leon.

I stared with a frightened expression on my face, my eyes widening slightly as Mike's body fell to the ground with a loud thud, blood instantly pooling beneath him. If I hadn't already been holding my breath, I would definitely have held my breath in that moment. I knew how this would have played out if it had been a horror movie. I'd be next in line after Mike. Luckily, this was no horror movie and I was definitely not going to be next in line. I refused to make a single sound.

I'd just taken a step back when the hooded guy turned his head in my direction. I immediately winced after hearing the loud gasp that I instinctively let out. I wasn't sure if I was wincing because I had not expected to be caught like a deer in headlights or if I was wincing because I was sure he could see every detail of my face. It was a good thing I didn't have much time to look into it. We stared at each other for only a heartbeat before I did the wisest thing to do in that situation.

Run.

I let my legs carry me as fast as they probably could, even skipping stairs where necessary. One second I was on the run, with the hooded guy right on my tail, the next I had succeeded in slipping past the back door, not caring in that moment whether or not the diner was locked or if it was unsafe to leave it open. All I cared for in that moment was my safety, as I rightly should. I knew better than to turn back but for some reason, I still did.

My heart lodged in my throat when I realized just how close he was to me. I increased my pace, taking a bend I knew wasn't exactly safe but was definitely going to make me lose him. Luckily, there was no one on the narrow lane. Rather than stop or slow down my pace, I kept on running until I had gotten to my tiny apartment. I unlocked the door with shaky hands, hurriedly pushing the door open and instantly closing it behind me, turning to push the dead bolt.

It took me a few minutes to catch my breath as I tossed my bag onto the small bean bag lying in a corner of the room and walked to my fridge to get myself a cold cup of water. I couldn't help but reminisce on everything that had happened in the past few hours. It all felt surreal. I pondered on the one word Mike had managed out of his lips before he'd died. Leon. Is that the name of the hooded guy? I took a seat on a well worn wooden chair, trying to figure out the way forward. Mike was dead. The diner was definitely going to close down since I was sure there was no one who could step up to run it. It also didn't help that Mike had no family.

Fortunately, I'd just been paid a few days ago so I didn't have to really bother about losing money for all the work I'd already put in. My mind drifted to Teddy. I wondered if I should say anything to him about what I'd seen. Probably not yet. It was just a few minutes past midnight and Teddy was probably sound asleep. I shouldn't disturb him. I still wasn't sure who Mike's killer was exactly but I was certain he wasn't someone I ever wanted to cross paths with. I should probably just move. I mean it wouldn't be so difficult, right?

Technically, I didn't have a job any longer and Jasper and I hadn't exactly been the most involved in each other's lives. No one would miss me. Before I could pursue my line of thought any further, a knock sounded on my door. I felt my entire body freeze before I realized I knew that firm rapid knock anywhere. Rising to my feet, I walked to the door, checking the peephole to make sure it was actually Jasper.

Twisting the doorknob, I pulled the door wide open to let Jasper in. He slipped in and walked past me, turning to watch as I shut the door and secured the bolt. I released a deep breath, praying for strength to deal with my brother. Heaven knew he was a huge pain in my ass. I turned around, noting the worried look on his face. "What's wrong?" I asked tentatively. I should've known he'd only decided to show up because things weren't going smoothly. His next words confirmed my fear.

"I'm in deep trouble."