7 Chapter 7

He grimaced and pushed away the worry from his mind, wiping his greasy hands on his coveralls as he crossed the floor. When his coworkers threw him questioning looks, he shrugged.

Ellis knocked hesitantly on the open door. “Boss?”

The man’s scowl was worse than ever. “Shut the door and sit down, Walker,” he grunted without looking up. Ellis bit the inside of his cheek but did as he was told.

The office was quiet for several minutes except for the slow clicking noise of the keys on the computer as the Boss-Man typed, using only his index fingers. Ellis forced himself not to fidget in the chair but couldn’t stop his knee from bouncing.

What the heck was going on?

Finally, Hal looked up from the screen. His salt-and-pepper hair was in wild disarray as if he’d repeatedly dragged his fingers through it. He pinched the bridge of his nose and groaned.

“Here’s the deal. Nancy’s quittin’.”

“What?” Nancy? Quit?

“Yeah. She wants to live closer to her kids now that she’s alone.”