A mother and her two small children huddled in the front booth while a young couple snuggled together at the counter.
Lucy Ann stood stoically at the hostess station, and the cooks emerged from the back room.
All in all, there were ten people in the diner, including Jeff and Emmett.
A SWAT van rolled into the parking lot, along with a couple of federal and state vehicles and his mother’s patrol car.
Of all the people out there, his mom was the only one he trusted completely.
“I didn’t want it to end this way, but that agent out there didn’t leave me any choice.”
Emmett had no idea what this man was talking about, but he didn’t want this to turn into a blood bath. He pressed the mic on his shoulder. “Tell them to stand down. I’m chatting with the suspect now.”
Jeff pointed his gun toward Lucy Ann.
Emmett inched closer to the door, stepping between Jeff and his friend. “Why don’t we sit back down, and you can tell me what you know?”
“Someone is setting me up. I didn’t do anything wrong. I would never hurt anyone.”
“You went to prison for murder. You killed your wife’s lover. You never denied murdering him,” Emmett said.
“I paid my debt to society for that. Since then, the worst I’ve done is taken food from dumpsters to survive.”
“You’re pointing a gun at a woman who’s done nothing to you. That’s pretty bad.”
“I don’t want to hurt anyone. I only want my daughter to get what’s in that envelope.”
“Why don’t you let all these innocent people go, and you and I can talk this out?”
“No.” Jeff shook his head like a wild dog. “If I do that, they will come rushing through that door and take me into custody. I won’t stand a chance. They won’t listen to me.”
Emmett glanced out the window. “Do you see that woman wearing a uniform just like mine, talking with one of the federal agents?”
“Yes,” Jeff said.
“That’s my boss. The one you heard on the radio. She can help negotiate, but you’ve got to be willing to give them something.”
Jeff continued aiming his weapon at Lucy Ann, which annoyed the fuck out of Emmett. Not that he wanted it pointed at anyone else in the room. “How do you see this ending?” Emmett asked.
Jeff laughed. “We both know it’s not going to end with me walking out of here at this point.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way.”
“I’m tired,” Jeff said. “My daughter hasn’t wanted to talk to me since I was released from prison. I can’t say as I blame her. But I tried to be a good man. I tried to play by society’s rules. Do you know how hard it is to get a second chance once you fuck up as badly as I did?”
“I can’t imagine,” Emmett said.
“Everyone says that if they ever caught their spouse cheating, they’d do something drastic like kill someone. But the second they hear I actually saw red and did it, they change their tune.”
Flashes of Emmett’s childhood came flooding into his brain. His mother’s affair had torn their family apart. All the fighting. All the times his father had stormed out of the house.
Not to mention what it had done to his brother when he’d found out that his father wasn’t his biological dad.
However, no one had resorted to murder.
“I lost my family and my job. I spent eight years in prison. Seven more on probation. Do you know how hard it is to find a job as a convicted felon? No matter what I did. No matter how many times I apologized, I couldn’t get anyone to trust me. Not even when I moved from one town to the next. All I wanted was a fresh start and a chance to have a relationship with my daughter. But she wouldn’t have anything to do with me. She believes I’m a monster, and now I’m sure that point is being driven home. But it’s not true.” Jeff shook his head. “The only person I have ever killed was Paul, and I honestly didn’t mean to do that.”
The radio crackled in Emmett’s ear. “What’s going on in there, Emmett?” his mother asked.