Free Find My Baby by Mitzi Pool Bridges

labeled Office and knocked.
    “Take a seat.”
    “Thanks. And thanks again for the job.”
    “I should be thanking you. Not too many as pretty as you want to wait tables and tend bar.”
    Kayla felt herself blush.
    John Henry shuffled through a couple of drawers trying to find the right forms. Looking at the disorder, Kayla smiled to herself. He could use help here, too.
    “I like Jackie, she seems nice.”
    He chuckled. “She is. I don’t have kids, so she takes up the slack.”
    “I’m sure she does. Is she in school?”
    “Graduates in the spring,” he said with pride. “I’m lucky she’s here, Christmas break you know. She helps out on occasion, like now, when I’m short-handed. I was watching you out front. You know what you’re doing.”
    She shrugged. “I’ve been a bartender and waitress before.”
    “Good.” He found the proper papers. “Here they are. Fill them out and bring them back tomorrow.”
    “Will do,” she said leaving the office.
    Jackie and Kayla kept busy with customers. In between, they shared a word or two. “Where are you from?” Jackie asked.
    Kayla found herself giving partial answers. The more they talked, the better she liked Jackie. She had a streak of humor Kayla envied. And found herself giggling more than once over something silly Jackie said. For a moment she forgot why this job was so important.
    “What’s your major?” Kayla asked.
    Jackie blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. “Computer science.”
    Kayla took a pitcher of tea to a table, poured refills all around. “I just got my degree and teaching certificate this month,” Kayla told her when she finished.
    “I’m glad you’re the one with the kids instead of me.”
    Kayla chuckled, wondering if Jackie thought it strange a college grad, a teacher no less, was excited about a job in a bar and grill.
    “You look sad. Wanna talk about it?”
    Two more customers came in.
    Kayla stared at Jackie as she went to wait on them, realized she wanted to confide in her. How had Jackie zeroed in on Kayla’s hurt and grief so soon? “We have customers. But if you have some free time after work, maybe we could talk.”
    “I have to close up tonight. Why don’t you keep me company?”
    “Sounds good,” Kayla said. She didn’t know why she wanted to tell Jackie about her kidnapping and Sam’s disappearance, she just did. Maybe it was because being around Rosie and Aunt Nester all weekend made Kayla realize how much she missed not having a friend. Besides, she needed all the help she could get.
    More customers streamed through the doors. Thankfully, two more employees showed up. One was a bald black man of indeterminate age named Early, who worked in the kitchen. The other was Carol, a middle-aged woman, who both waited tables and worked the bar. They were a pleasant bunch and Kayla considered herself lucky that Howard’s wasn’t what she first suspected. A strip joint.
    As customers came through the door, Kayla searched each man and woman’s face, but didn’t see anyone who resembled the two who’d held her captive for the past month.
    By the time they closed, she had made a couple of trips to the restroom to pump her breasts and massage her feet. Even wearing Nikes, they still hurt. She’d have to get used to being a waitress all over again. Hopefully, it wouldn’t take long to get back in the groove, or too long to find the people who would lead her to Sam.

Chapter Six
    With a weary sigh, Jackie locked the door behind the last customer. “Finally,” she said, going to the office to put the receipts in the safe.
    Kayla helped Carol straighten up behind the bar while the kitchen help finished up.
    “We’re out of here,” Carol said a few minutes later. Early and Felix followed her out the door.
    Kayla locked the door behind them just as Jackie came out from the back office. “How about a glass of wine?” she suggested.
    “I’ll have ginger ale,” Kayla said, taking two glasses and filling