Hospitality
by: Liv-x-Case-Benson
Ch. 4: Wrong Place, Wrong Time
Just over an hour later, Heather dialed Sara's number.
"Hi. How'd it go?"
"Hey. I was wondering if you'd like to meet her?"
"Sure, I'll be right there," she said, getting in her car and arriving fifteen minutes later, walking in.
Heather was sat with Allison on her knee, head tilted to one side as they colored together.
Sara walked over slowly. "You must be Allison," she said softly. "Hi, I'm Sara," she smiled.
The three year old smiled. "Hello Sara," she replied as Heather smiled widely.
The brunette sat across from them. "What are you coloring?"
"Cat," Allison replied, handing Sara a pencil.
Sara smiled. "It's a pretty cat, isn't it?"
"Like you."
"So are you. How old are you?"
"One, two.. three," she counted.
She smiled again, coloring the sky of the picture. "Can I get a coffee?"
Heather nodded, sitting Allison down in her place as she stood to order. "Grandma's friend?" she asked.
"Yes I am."
"Pretty eyes."
"Thank you. You do too."
"Sit with you?"
"Yes you can sit with me," she said watching as someone walked in. "Hey, listen," she whispered, "you need to be really quiet and slip under the table and color. Don't look unless I say, okay?" Truth be told, the man who had just walked in gave her a terrible feeling. She quickly took a picture without a lens flare, sending it to Russell. 'Diner. Don't know if it's a hit or not. Silent.'
Allison hurried under the table, staying quiet as she colored.
The man pressed himself up against Heather's back, and she froze, eyes widening.
Sara silently walked up beside her, minding her own business.
Heather listened carefully as the man whispered in her ear, nodding as she turned with him toward the door. "Can I help you?" he asked Sara.
She smiled. "Yeah, I'm a friend of hers."
"You should go back to that kid you were sat with," he replied as Heather nodded, panic in her eyes.
Sara nodded, going back to sit with Allison. 'Need help' she text as she sat down.
'Already on the way' Russell text back a moment later as the man led Heather from the building.
Sara bit her lip, taking another picture through the blinds. "He has Heather," she whispered, calling him. "Her granddaughter's in here. Her father's supposed to come pick her up."
"Stay with the girl. Back up will be there in about a minute."
"Good, but you'd better step on it. He lead her from the building. Something's wrong," she said, hanging up. "Hey, Allison, come sit with me."
"Grandma?" she frowned, looking around once she'd rejoined Sara.
Sara pulled her into her lap. "It's okay. Grandma will be back. Let's keep coloring."
Nodding, Allison passed Sara another pencil as she continued.
In the parking lot, Heather froze in the center as the man walked away from her.
"What do you want?" Heather asked.
"I already told you. That bitch in there is going to pay for what she did to me, and you're going to help me."
"How?"
He pressed the cool metal against her skin for the second time. "You're going to help me kill her."
She bit her lip, trying to maintain a neutral expression. "I, uh, I understood that, but how?"
"You're going to be the one to pull the trigger."
She nodded. "Can I ask what she did? I need to have a reason."
"That stupid slut slept with my brother."
"Your brother?"
"Yes, and my best friend! She promised me everything!"
She nodded, agreeing, knowing it was better to agree than disagree with someone who had a knife pressed to your neck.
"Good, so you'll..." he began, but was interrupted.
"Police! Drop your weapon!"
Heather instantly backed up.
She felt the knife nick her skin a little as he pulled away, quickly dropping it.
Sara peeked between the blinds, sighing with relief.
Though she bled a little, the dominatrix calmly walked back inside, sitting back at their table.
Sara sat Allison by the window, quickly moving to beside Heather to hold a napkin to her neck. She knew she shouldn't ask questions right now.
"Thank you," Heather whispered.
"Anytime," she whispered back, her opposite hand under the table, holding Heather's, rubbing circles. "It's okay now."
Nodding, Heather held Sara's hand tightly. Turning again to check on Allison, she smiled. "Ok sweetie?"
She nodded. "Missed you."
Heather's smile widened. "I missed you too. Just like I always do."
Allison smiled, then noticed what Sara was doing. "Hurt?"
"I had an itch and scratched a little too hard, that's all. I'm silly, aren't I?"
She nodded again, continuing to color.
Sara smiled, grabbing a clean napkin to press against the wound. "Can you come back with me?" she whispered.
"Back where?"
"To my place."
"Yes."
"Good. How much longer is she staying here?"
"Her father got called away. I can leave him a message with your address?"
Sara shook her head. "Did you give a statement or anything?"
"Not yet."
"You should do that. I could take her for a bit in my lab or Russell's office."
"Ok. Has it stopped?"
She pulled the napkin away. "Yeah."
"Shall we go?"
Sara nodded. "Hey, Allison, do you want to see where I work?"
"Where is it?"
"At the crime lab. It's part of the police department."
"Cool!" she smiled, dropping her pencil to reach for Sara's hand. Heather leant across, packing her things into a bag.
Sara smiled, standing to take her hand, wrapping her other arm around Heather.
Heather smiled, leaning against her as they walked out.
Sara opened the back door, strapping Allison in, then opening Heather's door.
Heather smiled, getting in quickly. She pulled down the mirror to check the cut on her neck.
"We could have someone look at that if you want," Sara said as she got in.
"I don't want to be any trouble."
"I'm sure it wouldn't be."
"Ok," she smiled. Once they were at the lab, Heather disappeared to make her statement, leaving Allison with Sara.
Sara put Allison's bag over her shoulder, leading her back.
"Can I help with work?"
Sara shook her head. "I'm already done," she said, pulling a few stools over, sitting Allison on one, "but you can finish your picture."
She nodded, opening her book. "Grandma sad?"
"She's okay. She'll be back."
"Where's Daddy?"
"Daddy got called away. He'll be back."
Allison smiled. "Help color?"
"Sure," she said, sitting beside her.
"Grandma likes you."
"How do you know?" Sara asked.
"She smiled lots."
"That's good though."
Allison nodded, then looked sad. "I miss Grandma."
Sara wrapped an arm around her. "It's ok."
She shook her head. "Daddy takes me away."
"What do you mean?"
"I don't see Grandma much."
"Maybe you'll be able to see her more."
"Why?"
"Maybe if you ask, you can see her more."
"I'll ask Daddy."
Sara smiled.
Heather knocked gently before entering half an hour later. "Hey, you two having fun?"
"Of course we are, right?" Sara asked.
Allison nodded eagerly.
"I'm glad," Heather smiled, sitting beside Allison, dropping a kiss to her head.
"Did you leave a message with her father yet?"
"He should be here soon."
Sara smiled. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm ok. I'm really sorry about all this."
Sara waved it off. "Don't worry. You're okay."
"What the hell happened?!" said Allison's father from the doorway, "I leave her with you for a couple of hours and you end up in a crime lab?"
Sara turned around. "Everything's all right. There was an altercation, but Allison is fine. I made sure of that personally," she spoke calmly.
"Who are you?" he frowned.
"My name is Sara Sidle. I work here. I also happened to be there when everything happened. I made sure nothing happened to Allison."
Jerome calmed. "Thank you, Miss Sidle. Come on, Allison. Say goodbye..."
"Can I come see Grandma next weekend?" she asked.
Sara pulled him aside. "If you're worried about anything, they can always come to my place and watch a movie or something. I'd assume that's why Allison says she doesn't see her much. I know Heather misses her a lot."
He nodded, turning back to Allison. "Only if you're good."
She smiled, hugging Heather, handing her the picture from her book, kissing Heather's cheek.
"I'll see you soon, ok? I love you," Heather smiled, hugging her.
"Love you."
Heather waved until Allison was no longer in sight, sitting down with a soft sigh. "Thank you. You didn't have to do that."
"I wanted to. I knew that was probably why," she said, wrapping an arm around her.
Heather held her tightly.
"What happened?" she asked softly.
"H-He said if I didn't go outside with him, everybody inside would die... I had no choice but to go, especially with Allison and you in there."
Sara wrapped both arms around her, kissing her head. "What else? Who was he?"
"The boyfriend of one of the waitresses. He said she'd slept with his brother and friend. That she had to pay for it."
"But why you?"
"Wrong place, wrong time."
Sara nodded. "But you're okay now," she said.
Heather nodded, kissing Sara's cheek.
"Should we go home?"
"Please."
Sara smiled, walking her out.
Review: katvrah