Lindsay was eager to get her shift over, even asked Merriman if she could leave early. The man was still stung by her mother breaking off with him and refused, lecturing her for fifteen minutes on the importance of being grateful.
She glared at his back when he walked away from her register. The store was dead. Only a handful of customers had come in the last hour. It was dinnertime in Little Bend. She fidgeted to get back to her room, excited and in awe of Jace’s ghost.
There was no doubt in her mind that her boyfriend was reaching out to her from beyond the grave. Given his currently unsolved murder, she could use some incite from him of what happened that day.
Bells alerted her as the door to the grocery store opened. She groaned inwardly as she saw it was Matt, Cam, and another boy from school. The two boys sought Merriman out on the ruse of wanting a job. While her boss was busy looking for job applications in the back office, Cameron approached her register with a smirk on his face, his blue eyes full of amusement.
“Hey, Lindsay, how’s workin’ in this shithole treatin’ you?” he drawled as he played with her scanner on the conveyor belt. “Heard about the big boom the other night. Would have been somethin’ if you were in that car, huh?”
She stiffened as he laughed. “You don’t scare me, Cameron. I saw your car out there. You keep harassing me; you’re just going to get caught.”
“Aw, now you know I didn’t have anything to do with that,” he protested with a lazy smile. “My car was stolen yesterday. We just found it in the woods a couple miles from here.”
“That’s convenient for you,” she snapped and ripped the tape off her register and tossed it into the trash. “Like I said; keep it up.”
“You’re gonna pay for turning me in, Lindsay,” he warned and his blue eyes turned cold as they met hers. “I got more friends than you can even imagine. I can’t help it if they got my back.”
“I’m going to be there when you get executed for what you did to Jace, Cameron,” she stated boldly and smiled as she saw him bristle in anger. “I’m going to hope you suffer every bit as much as he did. I just have to ask. Did you get off on it? Did killing Jace make you feel like a man for once; you sick piece of shit?”
“I didn’t do it!” he grated and glared at her. “I can’t help what you think, Lindsay, but you accuse me one more time and you’re gonna piss me off!”
“What are you gonna do, Cam?” she jeered and pushed him harder. “Are you going to take me out in the woods and stab me to death too? Oh, I’m so scared!”
“I’m going to cut out your tongue first, you little bitch!” Cameron raged and was nearly frothing at the mouth now. “You just shut your mouth!”
“It must be hard being a little man without a knife in your hand, Cam,” she said and sneered at him. “I’m not real impressed with you without it.”
“I’ll kill you; you little snooty bitch!”
“Like I said; I’m not scared of you at all. I think you’re a wimp and a sicko!”
Cameron reached out and grabbed her, his fingers digging into her arm, his eyes boring into hers. “I’m going to enjoy cutting you up, Lindsay. I’m going to take my time with you. You and Jace will be together soon; mark my words.”
Merriman returned to the floor and he let her go as if she burned him, backing away with a look of hatred in his gaze. Triumph flared in Lindsay’s eyes, knowing the wire had picked up every bit of his threats. He was close to losing it. She wished she had just a few minutes more and he probably would have bragged about killing Jace.
Cameron stared at her until he and his friends left. The feel of his cold eyes made her tense. She was eager to get off work and go find Sheriff Wilson. Without a confession, she knew it was far from over. She was no expert in law enforcement, but Cam hardly confessed. The most she could get from this was a personal protection order, knowing that piece of paper would hardly protect her from Cam and his friends.