“What do you want with me?” I asked him angrily. I had never felt so powerless. Fear for Rathe was mounting. He wasn’t safe, and now, I wasn’t sure I could do anything to protect him. I had been so worried about him being in danger from me, never once thinking someone like this would be an ever bigger concern. And this was a danger I’d walked him straight into.

ONE: THE EVIL

One

the evil

The overpowering scent of rosemary at table seven couldn’t be coming from the food they’d ordered. I would have noticed Jacque’s heavy-handed seasoning when I delivered their plates. The garlic and lemon in their choice of entrée was expected but not the Rosemary that was wafting from them. It wasn’t that I didn’t like rosemary. I enjoyed it just fine, but the odd strength of the herb’s scent was intriguing me. Did the couple take a bath in the herb when I wasn’t looking? That idea made me grin.

I had been working at Grandezzas for three years. It wasn’t just a job. This place was like family. I never dreaded coming to work. Instead, I looked forward to the escape from my house and those who lived there. Customers like these kept me entertained. Underneath the strands of lights that covered the ceiling, there was a peaceful feel to this place. The ambiance was one of the two reasons for its popularity. The most important reason was the food. Everything on the menu was delicious.

“Can you take my last table? I need to go unlock my apartment for the new roommate.” Heath Brown and his twin sister, Margo, had been my best friends, or the closest thing I had to best friends, since we were seven years old. I glanced at Heath’s table of two older men and figured they’d be easy enough.

“Sure,” I replied. “I didn’t know y’all had found a roommate to replace the psycho.”

The psycho was how I described his ex-girlfriend. Because she deserved the title. She was legit insane. The things she’d done to Margo while living with them were ridiculous. Coming from someone who had grown up with the three insane females I’d been forced to endure, that was saying a lot.

He smirked but had stopped correcting me when I labeled her as such. He knew she was crazy. “I met him through a mutual friend. I don’t have time to explain now. You can drill me for details later. I gotta go.”