The Diner
Detective Danny Williams sat staring at the large glass of ice cream sat in front of his younger daughter. It was covered in all sorts of sprinkles, candy and marshmallows. It looked larger then a newborn baby. Danny glanced at this 10 year old daughter Grace as she gleefully tucked into the dessert. Danny felt guilty for filling her up with all the sugar and contributing to rotting her teeth, something his ex was always bugging him about, but he loved treating his little monkey. Today she had been to a friend's birthday party which had been cut short when the birthday girl became ill. So Danny agreed to take her to her favourite diner for a treat.
"No treats for you tonight" A lady said from across Danny. She was talking to her little girl who had the same dessert and was sat opposite Grace. "I think we made a bad decision letting them decide on the actual ice cream."
"I agree. That is not a good move." Danny replied.
"Thank you for inviting us along. Maddie was looking forward to the party, shame it ended so soon."
"Hey thats cool. Grace and Maddie don't get time to play together a lot. Plus, you kept promising me a coffee." Danny noted.
"True." The lady replied. The door of the diner opened and Danny watched as a middle aged man walked in. Something inside Danny was telling him to keep an eye on him. The man looked slightly edgy, looking around him and taking a seat at the counter. "Something wrong?" The lady noticed Danny looking at the man.
"No, nothing is wrong. More coffee?" He asked. The lady nodded and Danny headed to the counter. As he did he glanced over to the man. Danny noticed the mans hand was slightly dirty and he noticed a minor shake in it.
"What can I do for you hun?" Asked the waitress.
"More coffee over here please." Danny said.
"Sure thing, will bring it on over." She said. Danny glanced at the man as he headed back to the girls at the table.
"Daddy can Maddie and her mum come back to ours after?" Grace asked Danny.
"I am sure Maddie and her mum have plans Gracie. Excuse my daughter Kate, she can be a bit forward some time." Danny replied.
"Don't worry about it. And no, we don't have plans. I can do us some dinner while the girls play." Kate said smiling at Danny. Danny hated to admit it but he had liked Kate for a short while but he was too chicken to ask her for coffee. He was silently glad the party had ended early, it gave him a chance to have that coffee with her.
"Did you want some mommy? Its lovely." Maddie asked her mother.
"No sweetie, you eat it all." She said. Danny smiled and watched as another man walked in the door of the diner and headed over to the man at the counter. This second man also looked a bit off to Danny.
"So why don't you girls hurry up and eat your ice cream and we can head out to the beach maybe." Danny suggested, overthinking that he might need to get the girls out of the diner in a hurry.
"I love the beach." Kate said.
"Me too." Danny replied.
"No you don't Danno, you always say you hate it." Grace said.
"Well I have changed my mind monkey." Danny looked over to the men. They were deep in conversation but were looking beyond edgy.
"You sure everything is okay? You look weird." Kate smiled.
"Everything is fine." Danny said. The men at the counter were beginning to get louder and Danny could make out a few words. He wasn't sure but he thought he heard the words score, hide and money. He didn't like the whole feeling. "We need to leave." Danny said to Kate. He reached into his inner jacket to make sure his gun was close by. As he did one of the men at the counter glanced over to Danny. Sensing something was wrong, the man backed away followed by his partner. Danny kept an eye on him but all of a sudden the man grabbed a nearby waitress and pulled out a gun, placing it against her neck. Screams echoed around the diner as people dived for cover. Cups and glasses smashed to the ground. Danny pulled his gun out and stood in front of the girls, pushing them down under the table for cover.