The beautiful brunette was quite busy and looked to be both surprised and excited to see us. The second she laid eyes on the two of us, I think we may have caught her off guard a little bit. When I thought about it, I kind of felt like a jerk for showing up unannounced since people like Cathy were probably under the impression that Bridget and I were a couple. I bet it looked mighty awkward for me to be walking in with Ashlee at my side.“Follow me!” Bridget cheerfully commanded as she led Ashlee and I toward the booth I had been sitting at when I first met the amazing brunette. Upon being seated, I glanced around and realized we had taken one of the last available tables. I felt bad that my incredible friend had to be on her toes so much after barely getting any sleep.Ashlee picked up the menu that was sitting in front of her and started to peruse it as she inquired, “Do you know what’s good here?”“Cathy makes a mean burger with fried onions and pepper jack cheese on it,” I responded while watching Bridget run to a few other tables to make sure her customers were satisfied. I then placed my eyes on Ashlee and realized just how adorable she looked in the clothes she had selected to wear from our mutual friend’s closet. I wondered how a guy like me could get so lucky and end up with two women who truly wanted to see me happy.Ashlee and I engaged in a little small talk after she decided on trying the burger. We were then interrupted when Bridget finally made her way toward us and delivered a couple glasses of ice water to us. Mine had a few lemon wedges around the rim.“Sorry for the craziness, you two! It’s that time of day, though! I’ll come take your orders as soon as I can!”“No worries,” I told my brunette friend. As hungry as I was, I knew I could wait a little longer since I didn’t want Bridget pushing herself too hard. I did, however, want to see Ashlee get some food in her, so I hoped it wouldn’t be too long.The gothic beauty and I started talking about the future and what we hoped it would bring. We discussed her band briefly and how she knew they’d get along fine without her. We had been talking for no more than five minutes when she finally looked up from where she sat on her side of the booth and pointed out, “Holy shit, Marcus! You should see the creeper sitting on the other side of the joint by the back window! He looks like a first-class lurker!”Since I was sitting on the side of the booth facing the front of the diner, I edged over a bit and glanced over my left shoulder at the man Ashlee had taken notice of…and instantly recognized my “friend” in the hooded cloak. He had the full ensemble on and was doing his best to keep his attention focused on his immediate surroundings. He looked just as peculiar as he had back in the strip club when I had seen him the first time.I instantly turned back to face Ashlee and hoped that he hadn’t taken note of me. I was convinced that he had become aware of my presence when I had first entered the diner with my ravishing partner, but since he hadn’t attempted to flee the scene, I knew I had a chance to keep an eye on him. “Ashlee,” I spoke in a low voice even though the din of the establishment easily drowned my volume out, “I need you to do me a huge favor right now.”“Of course,” the dark-eyed babe said. “Anything.”The sweet woman was so genuine, which was just one of the many reasons why I would do anything to protect her and Bridget from the sycophant sitting only twenty feet away from me. “That man you just noticed: Would you keep an eye on him for me? If he so much as moves a muscle, could you tell me?”The raven-tressed female sat perfectly still as her brown eyes glanced over at the man and then back at me. “I can do that. Why? Do you think you know him?”“I saw him next door at the Treasure Chest the other night when I went to see Bridget,” I told her. “Something about him sticks in my craw. I don’t know if it’s the way he dresses to conceal his face or if it’s his very aura, but something about the guy isn’t right.”“That goes without saying!” Ashlee matter-of-factly stated while glancing in the enigmatic man’s direction one more time. “I’ve seen my share of creepers from being on stage, but that guy really takes the cake!” She paused and took a drink of her water before adding, “Then again, maybe it’s because this is such a small town and I’m used to larger cities. He kind of sticks out like a sore thumb here amongst the locals. In one of the bigger cities I tend to play in, you see dozens like him before breakfast…if you’re up that early, mind you!”I adored Ashlee’s carefree attitude. She was truly a woman after my own heart.Bridget suddenly appeared and had her small notepad and pen at the ready. “Sorry about the wait, you two! So good to see you both, by the way! Thanks for stopping in to visit! It’s certainly made my day better!” She winked at me while speaking her last sentence.“It’s great to see you too, Bridget,” I told the beautiful brunette. I had a lot more I wanted Beşevler Escort to tell her, but I knew that her place of employment wasn’t the best place to do so. I quickly ordered for both Ashlee and myself before asking the cutest waitress in the world, “Bridget, have you been waiting on that man at the table by the back window?”The brunette started to look in the direction I had given her, but when she did so, I instantly regained her attention while lowering my voice and telling her to not draw attention to herself. Her face showed a bit of concern since I was coming off a little cuckoo. “What is it, Marcus? Do you know him?”“Have you ever seen him around here before?” I whispered. I was glad that no one at any of the nearby tables seemed to be paying any attention to us.Bridget did her best to look without looking again. She then answered, “I’ve never seen him before in my life.”“What about at the Treasure Chest?” I asked. “Has he ever come in to watch you dance before?”“Not that I’ve noticed. Why?”“He was the man I saw the other night when I came to see you,” I informed her. “He was the one I was trying to talk to before, well…he was the one I was trying to have a conversation with before knocking out poor Rutger.”Bridget glanced back at the mysterious man once more before quickly turning away again. After receiving a better glimpse of him, she told me, “Martha’s been waiting on him, but if you’d like, I could walk over and see if he needs a refill or something. If there’s anything you want me to ask him…”“Don’t go near him!” I hastily cut her short. “I don’t want you anywhere near that guy!”By this time, Ashlee was starting to get a little spooked as well. “Marcus, I have to say you’re kind of scaring me. I know that guy looks out of place, but maybe he’s just some poor slob who’s down on his luck. Maybe he keeps that cloak wrapped about himself because he’s some destitute bum who has some nasty scars or nowhere to go.”“Yeah,” Bridget agreed. “Maybe he’s cold or something…”“This late in summer?” I asked the sweating brunette. “I don’t mean to sound rude, but I don’t think he’s wearing that cloak because he’s cold.”Bridget was quiet for a moment before asking, “If he’s as dangerous as you think he is, should I maybe fetch the law? I could place a call…”“Don’t do anything just yet,” I told the beautiful brunette as her voice trailed off. “Ashlee and I will have our breakfasts and keep an eye on him in the meantime. If he does anything suspicious, I’ll be right here to make sure he doesn’t hurt either of you.”“What about the others?” Ashlee asked since the diner was full. “What if he’s some psychopath with a few firearms hidden under that cloak and decides to mow everyone in here down?”“Or what if he has a collection of knives and has unbelievably accurate aim?” Bridget threw in a less likely scenario.“You two are my only concern, but if he really is dangerous, I’ll do my best to put a stop to him before he can pull anything.”“How?” The benevolent waitress then asked with a single word as her voice quivered.“I have my methods,” I told the bountiful brunette. “Don’t be scared, okay? I might be overreacting about the whole thing.”Bridget looked unsure, but nodded since she trusted me.“I still say the guy is probably just some grub off the streets,” Ashlee gave her input. “Maybe some kind soul threw him a few coins and he decided to come in and have breakfast instead of eating out of the refuse bin from whatever alley he crawled out of.”“Even if that was the case,” I spoke up, “Bridget would’ve seen him before. In a town this size, everybody knows everybody.”Trying to think of anything but the suspicious man on the other side of the establishment, the wonderful waitress went back to what had been said about the first meal of the day and asked, “Are you guys sure you want burgers for breakfast? I mean, I know Cathy cooks them up pretty well, but wouldn’t you rather have an omelette or a cinnamon roll or something?”I chuckled as I responded, “Nah. Like you said, Cathy makes a mean burger and I’d like to enjoy another one!”“Okay!” Bridget said as she regained a bit of her perkiness. “I’ll go tell her to put two more burgers on! I’ll be back with you guys as soon as I can, all right?”I thanked Bridget again before glancing back at Ashlee. I was about to ask her something relating to her band and about picking up her belongings, but she quickly cut me off and pointed to the other side of the diner.“Oh, shit!”I quickly spun around when I realized that Bridget had gone against my wishes…and had decided to encounter the cloaked man by asking if he needed his glass refilled. She was only trying to do me a favor by seeing if she could gain any possible information about him…and it almost ended in the worst way imaginable.Everything happened so quickly that I can hardly recall the details. As I remember it, the brunette energetically approached the man and pointed at his glass, but before she could even finish Escort Beşevler her query, he lunged forward and reached for her. Everyone seated in the immediate vicinity heard her yelp as she fell back into a table and the rest of the establishment became aware of the commotion. By this time, I had already made my way to where everything was transpiring so I could aid her. Since everything was a blur, all I recalled seeing was that the beautiful brunette whom I loved so much was being attacked…and it made everything around me go red. I was in a rage, and as Ashlee ran over to check on Bridget, I grabbed the cloaked man and tried to decide how I would end him.That’s when I was hit by something unexpected.If I had to guess, I would say that the bastard caught me off guard due to my surprise when he ignited an actual fireball in my face. It happened rather quickly, and by the time I was dropped to the floor near Bridget, he was already halfway to the front door. I had charged in like a rookie, and I deserved to fall on my ass for such obtuse recklessness.As the frantic customers in the diner started yelling and screaming, I was doing my best to make sure my eyes still functioned since the flash had been so bright. I could smell burnt hair because the flame had come so close to me, and since Ashlee had seen firsthand what had befallen me, she was quickly at my side and shouting.“I’m fine,” I grumbled as I rubbed at my orbs and could see things coming back into focus. “How’s Bridget? Is Bridget okay?”The brunette could clearly hear the desperation in my voice as she placed a hand on me. “I’m fine. Just a bruised elbow. My god, Marcus…he threw fire at you! Are you all right?”I could hear the diner’s patrons and the workers who had come out from behind the counter as they all discussed what they had just witnessed. I even heard a few of them speak of sorcerers and wizards like they were commonplace. They were shocked by what had gone down.“Marcus!” Ashlee called out as she knelt beside me. “Don’t get up yet! Take a minute to rest…”“I can’t let him get away, Ashlee! He’s dangerous! He attacked Bridget and…”“But he threw fire at you!” The brunette called out again in alarm. “How did he manage to conjure…”“Nitrocellulose combustion,” I answered my brown-haired friend. “He used flash paper and a concealed lighter, and when releasing the strip of paper, it became lighter than air and floated upward in order to graze me since I was the closest thing to it. There wasn’t anything supernatural or mystic about it.”“That doesn’t mean you need to go running off after that psycho,” Ashlee gave her opinion as she clasped onto my right arm. “Everyone else is all right and he’s gone…and I say good riddance.”“But he’s still out there,” I told my two friends as the rest of the people who had been watching gave us a wide berth. “I can’t take the chance that he won’t come back and finish the job. He tried attacking Bridget in front of witnesses, so what’s to stop him from…”“My necklace!” The frazzled brunette called out when she suddenly realized what had happened. “That man stole my necklace!”The amethyst stone I had never seen leave Bridget’s chest was in fact gone. It was in that moment when I realized that the bastard had more than likely been scouting the bountiful brunette and had his sights on her necklace the whole time. I wasn’t sure what the significance of the piece of jewelry was, but it had more than likely been one of the family heirlooms that had been handed down to my brown-haired compeer…and I could tell it meant a lot to her. “I’m going to get it back,” I sternly told her.Both women gripped my arms and held me in place. “No!”“I can’t let that guy…”“I don’t care about the necklace!” Bridget lied. “Just let it go, Marcus! It’s not worth risking your life!”“My life means nothing next to yours,” I told the beautiful brunette. In my heart, I figured the mysterious individual was done with Bridget since he had what he had more than likely been after the entire time, but I couldn’t take that chance. “If that bastard comes back for you…”“But what if he has other tricks up his sleeves you’re not prepared for?” Ashlee brought up a good point. “If he’s carrying around that kind of crap to produce fire, maybe he has something in his arsenal to throw lightning your way as well! Or maybe clouds of poison, or sharpened icicles…”“I think we played too many games together as teenagers, Ashlee,” I told the raven-tressed beauty as I smiled at her. My eyes were already starting to feel better.One of the people who had gathered around us suddenly stepped forward. It was an older woman well into her seventies, and when she saw that she had our attention, she asked, “Would you like us to call someone, sonny? Do you need someone to take a look at those eyes or burns?”“I’m fine,” I answered the elderly woman as I placed a hand on my forehead to check my skin. I hadn’t even thought of the burns that may have scarred me, but both Ashlee Beşevler Escort Bayan and Bridget assured me that the flesh was just a little red. I had apparently been lucky.Another man suddenly burst through the front door. He looked to be in his early twenties and was attired in the typical clothing that a man who spent his days tending to a vast stretch of farmland would wear. He looked visibly shaken by something, and upon stepping foot in the diner, he also appeared to be out of breath. “Holy Hannah! Buck and I were just out fueling the tractor and saw a curious feller tearing past the defunct train station! He was a crazy son of a gun who looked to be up to no good!”I stepped forward and asked, “Where did he take off to?”“He was running south along the train tracks out of town! He was going towards the woods!”It made me feel a little better that the mysterious man was leaving the same way I came in through. It made me feel like he didn’t plan on coming back.But even though I felt better, that wasn’t going to bring Bridget’s property back.What was so special about the necklace, though? Was it valuable? Had the loon who pilfered it been hired by someone to nick it? That seemed farfetched since Bridget’s home was so far off the beaten path. In order for some rich collector to find out about her necklace, he or she would’ve had to have visited the village at some point in the past and seen her wearing it…but that seemed highly unlikely. It felt like this insignificant hamlet wouldn’t have been on anyone’s radar as a place to visit, and the citizens themselves acted like they didn’t see outsiders very often.“Marcus! Stop! Where are you going?”The two women were still gripping me as the other patrons of the diner stared at the two of them. I think some of them were beginning to wonder what the connection was between the three of us.“Listen,” I said in a low tone so only the two women at my sides could hear me. “There’s a lot more to this guy than meets the eye. I don’t know if he came here of his own volition or if he was hired, but the last thing I’m going to do is let him get very far. Not only do I want to get Bridget’s necklace back for her, but I want to make sure he doesn’t come back…no matter what it takes.”Ashlee had a hint of fear in her dark eyes. She had always known me to be the gentlest of souls, and in all honesty, I always tried to live that way. I didn’t enjoy seeing people hurt, and I avoided confrontations whenever I could not because I was timid, but because I didn’t want to physically harm anyone. Nevertheless, when people I cared for were endangered, I had methods of fighting back.“Marcus,” Bridget’s sweet voice then broke into my thoughts as she glanced at all the people a few feet away from us whom she had known her entire life. “Marcus, I don’t care about the necklace, all right? Just let the guy go!”I knew full well that the cloaked man could possibly be the notorious Nick I had been after. It made the most sense after seeing what he had been capable of. I’m sure many people would think me dense for not seeing it sooner, but those people weren’t in my shoes. Before this confrontation, I had only seen the man on one other occasion, and while he was suspicious, I couldn’t just throw all my eggs in one basket without first gathering more information. His recent behavior, though…well, it didn’t matter if he was Nick or not. I had to bring this guy down.And the thing was, I could do it.I was just thankful that Bridget wasn’t hurt when the cloaked man snagged her necklace. I was pissed that he had laid his slimy hands on her, but the fact that she was okay was all that truly mattered.Ashlee and Bridget followed me as I made my way out to the street. I glanced in the direction of the woods and saw where the cobblestone road became gravel as it disappeared into the trees beyond. My quarry had gone south…“Where are you going?” Bridget asked as she watched me start to cross the street. “What are you doing?”“I’m going after him,” I replied as if the answer was obvious. I was about ten feet away from my pickup when I realized I was being followed. Both of the beautiful women who had given me the night of my life were directly behind me. “What are you…?”“We’re going with you,” Ashlee replied in a voice that made her answer sound even more obvious than mine. “If you think we’re letting you out of our sight…”“Ashlee, do you realize how dangerous this guy is?”“I was there, Marcus. I saw what he did.”“So how can you even consider…”“You heard the woman, Marcus,” Bridget cut me off. “If you fully intend to go after this nutjob, you better not think for one second that we’re going to let you go alone.”I should’ve known better…and at the same time, I could see why I loved both women so much. I had known Ashlee for more than half my lifetime, and I had known Bridget for less than a week. Still, I cared for both women in such an intense way and would do anything for either one of them. I had to admit that it felt damn good to know that they felt the same way about me.Ashlee placed her hands on her hips and simply stared at me. “Well…?”I reached into my left pocket and fished a couple things out. I then motioned for both women to put a hand out, and when they did, I handed each of them an earring.