7.1
“You are never gonna get everything you want in this world.
First things first, you get what you deserve.”- Neon Trees, “First Things First”
The bell above the diner door chimes to announce a new arrival and Walker, sitting in the booth near the entrance, looks up instinctively from his hash browns. The woman who enters from outside, heavy boots thudding against linoleum floor, is strangely familiar, though he can’t quite place her at first. There’s something about seeing someone he knows in a place he’d never in his life expect them to be - without the right context, it’s easy to pass it off as a funny coincidence. But when the woman stops in front of the counter and ties her hair off in a ponytail, Walker breaks out in a cold sweat. He would recognize that fluid, business-like motion anywhere.
No fucking way, he thinks to himself, staring down at his plate and trying to make himself as inconspicuous as possible. What is Jenny doing here?
“Can I get two milkshakes, one chocolate one strawberry, an order of gravy fries, a sunny-side up egg with bacon, and a turkey sandwich?” Jenny rattles off to the waitress. There’s a strange clicking sound underneath her voice - Walker glances out of the corner of his eye to see that she’s drumming her nails on the counter. “Oh, and a cheeseburger with onion rings. Mmhm. To go. Thanks. I’ll just be waiting with my friend over there.”
Walker’s never been a religious man, but he starts praying that Jenny doesn’t mean him as soon as the word “friend” is out of her mouth. He keeps praying up until she slides into the seat across from his.
“You know,” she says, with the lopsided, closed-mouth smile that means she’s sitting on a really good secret, “I heard you were in town.”
“How’d you hear?” Walker asks, trying to keep his tone one of casual interest. If Jenny’s here, that can only mean she’s being paid to be here. And if she already knew he was here before walking into the diner, she could very well be here for him.
“You know I can’t tell you that.” Jenny reaches across the table, stealing a slice of toast off of his plate. She nibbles on a corner of it while she talks. “It’s been a while, huh? You grew your hair out.”
“You look the same,” Walker says dryly.
“It’s a shame, your job keeping you out in a backwoods town like this,” Jenny says. “And on babysitting duty, too. What’d you do to piss off your boss so badly?”
I ran away, Walker thinks, but he’s not going to tell Jenny that. He may not know exactly what her and her friends are here to do, but the less she knows about his situation in Antlers, the better. Instead of saying anything at all, he shrugs and stuffs a forkful of hash browns in his mouth.
“You really should consider freelancing,” Jenny says, like she isn’t restarting an argument they’ve started and tabled countless times over. Walker snorts so hard he hurts himself a little.
“Right. Like Jacob would just let me quit and start taking jobs for the highest bidder.”
“You could fake your death,” Jenny says, as casually as if she was suggesting what to have for dinner. “Getting a new identity isn’t that hard.”
“Even so,” Walker says, “I don’t kill people.”
“Still?” Jenny sounds surprised. “I would have thought the Department would start sending you on kill missions by now.”
“The Department doesn’t kill people,” Walker says. Not unless it’s strictly necessary, and they’ve got other people to do that, anyway. I don’t think they want to test if I’ve got the stomach for killing - I mean, I don’t have it, and they have the psych evals to prove it. But I can’t say I blame them for keeping me on low-stress jobs after I ripped Evan’s eye out.
“I didn’t think you were still so naive,” Jenny says, with a little laugh that Walker can’t help but find charming. “You know, if your job didn’t tie you down so much, maybe you wouldn’t have ruined your chances with me in the first place.”
Walker leans his elbows on the table, massaging his temples. “You broke up with me, Jenny.”
“I did not! I came home to find all your things gone, right after -”
“Right after you tried to blow my head off?” Walker asks. “That’s how you were going to end that sentence, right? Because I definitely remember you trying your damndest to kill me while I was out on a jail pickup.”
Jenny sighs. “I was doing my job.”
“And that’s why we broke up!” Walker snaps, looking up at her. “Because apparently, when someone offers you a briefcase full of money to kill your boyfriend and the guy he’s escorting, you have no problem actually doing that!”
“I cannot believe we are having this conversation here,” Jenny says softly, her expression suddenly cold and dangerous. The way her eyes turn from amused to steely, in between blinks, is enough to make the hair stand up on the back of Walker’s neck. “You are acting like a child, and if you’re going to make a scene just because I came over to say hello to you, then I’ll go and sit by myself.”
“Fine,” Walker concedes, forcing himself to relax in his seat. Just because Jenny doesn’t have any immediately visible weapons on her doesn’t mean she’s totally weapon-free. But if she’s stuck around to shoot the breeze this long, he can’t possibly be what she’s here for. She’s methodical, one-and-done, usually from a far away perch with a sniper rifle. If Jenny wanted him dead, he’d be dead about ten minutes ago.
“Good,” Jenny says, pleased, and takes another bite of her stolen toast.
“So what brings you to Antlers?” Walker asks, figuring it can’t hurt to out-and-out ask. “Kind of a weird coincidence, us both being here.”
“Not as much of a coincidence as you think,” Jenny says, smiling her secretive little smile again. “But I won’t be here for long.”
She looks like there’s something else she wants to say, her smile stretching even wider for a moment before one of the waitresses comes over and deposits a bag full of to-go boxes, plus two tall Styrofoam cups, at the table. Jenny combs through the boxes, checking to see that they’re all there.
“Thanks,” she says to the waitress, unfolding a few bills from her wallet and handing them over. “Keep the change.”
It must be a large amount of change, because the waitress’s eyes go wide as she scurries back behind the counter. Jenny collects her things and stands from the booth. She spares Walker a last glance before leaving, smiling over her shoulder.
“It was nice catching up with you,” she says sweetly. “You should give me a call when you’re back in town.”
“Like Hell I will,” Walker says back, just before the door swings shut behind her.
As soon as Jenny’s gone, and he can hear the sound of a car pulling away outside, the gears in Walker’s brain start grinding to life. She said she won’t be here long - she’s probably on her way out of town, then. Her food order was for more than just one person, so she’s traveling with backup. And if she knew I was going to be here, but she wasn’t here specifically for me, that means that someone working against the Department sent her. Which means…
Walker shoots up out of his seat, slamming one of his knees against the table as he does so. One of the waitresses behind the counter gives him an odd look, and he glares back, slapping a twenty down next to his plate and limping over to talk to her.
“Landis Holliday. He working today?”
“H-he doesn’t come in until the afternoon,” she stammers.
“Shit,” Walker says under his breath, and turns to leave the diner. He glances at the door and it flies open, the bell on top wildly shaking and chiming as he tries to wrestle his cell phone out of his pocket.
“Come on, come on, come on,” he mutters, dialing Austin’s number and pressing the phone to his ear, pacing in a tight circle on the sidewalk. It rings for what feels like hours. Then, finally, it goes to voicemail.
“Fuck!” Walker yells, coming very close to throwing his phone. He pockets it instead, forcing himself to breathe, his heart hammering against his ribcage.
Okay. Think through this logically. If they’re after Austin, he’s either in one of two places. The library, or the apartment. He doesn’t go in to work until noon, usually, so he’s probably still at the apartment - unless Jenny and her friends were there earlier, killed Otter and Landis, and took Austin with them. Shit. Okay. Better go there first.
His palms are sweaty. Walker wipes them on his jeans and starts off running in the direction of the apartment complex. There’s no way he’ll be able to beat Jenny there, not when she’s in a car, but maybe if that’s where she’s headed, he can at least catch her in the act. His winning streak against her is 1-0, at least, which is a lot better than everyone else who’s been caught in her crosshairs.