by Dale Mayer
Right.
They were watching you maybe?
Quite possibly.
Come on home.
That’s the plan. Eton waited in the darkness for the single driver to pull away, but it seemed like he was more concerned about standing there and taking a photo. If Eton had been on guard duty at the townhomes, he’d have done the same thing because security never wanted something like this to happen without at least checking it out. What Eton didn’t know was who this guy was and why he was doing it. He wondered about jumping forward and saying something but decided that wasn’t a good idea. As soon as the driver got in his vehicle and drove away again, Eton sent a message back to Garret, saying he was doing a quick switch of vehicles.
Good enough.
Eton headed toward the town, looking for an option. When he got there, the place seemed to be just as dead as it had been before. If not more so. A couple lights were on in the small town, but that was it. As he passed the road heading toward his place, he remembered where Sammy had said she’d been, at her friend’s house. He wondered if a small shopping center was up ahead, but it was mostly just three or four stores, and, with all the businesses closed right now, he saw no sign of any other vehicles. He would have to drive into the major city center. With that, he quickly made a U-turn and headed out.
He could make it back again in an hour, as long as he booked it. And now that his vehicle had been spotted, he didn’t have any reason or excuse for being up here and had no cover. So getting another vehicle immediately was really the only option. As he drove, he sent a message to Garret. We shouldn’t stop searching yet.
We won’t. We still are.
Maybe. But I’m on the way to switch out, so I’ll be back in an hour or two.
With that, he rang off, still wondering what the hell that guy was doing and where he’d been. Had Eton been made, or was it just his vehicle that had been made? So many questions, and, of course, never any answers.
Chapter 5
Sammy woke up the next morning with an odd sense of disconnect. Then she remembered that Annie was here with her. She got up, walked into the bathroom, and had a quick hot shower. Coming out, she dried off, got dressed, put her hair in a braid, and headed downstairs to put on coffee. Annie was in the first-floor guest room and would likely sleep in late. But Sammy was an early riser. She was still a little out of sorts from seeing not only Eton and another man up on the hill but also seeing a stranger outside her house. No need for it. That was the one thing that bothered her.
Why would anybody care that she was here with her father? Unless she’d been followed, after picking up Annie. And that was a little disconcerting too. She didn’t want to get in between Annie and her ex, but somebody had slashed Sammy’s tire as well, so she’d already been targeted, or maybe she’d just been unlucky in her location, and this was really all about Annie. That would make more sense.
Sammy frowned, as she thought about it. Shit, no real way to compare the silhouette she’d seen to that of Annie’s husband. Because they were both very tall and slim, and, true enough, her husband used to wear a lot of hoodies. But then if somebody were to place blame on Annie’s husband, that was an easy answer, yet not necessarily the truth. But there must be a reason for that tire slashing and stalking too. And it would also mean that somebody was after either her or Annie. To think that there would be two potential threats was a bit of a stretch for her.
All in all, it gave her an odd feeling, but she went ahead and put on the coffee and set out breakfast for her father. In the mornings he usually liked to have slices of fresh bread, sometimes maybe an egg or two. She wandered toward his room and listened, and, when she didn’t hear anything, she called out, “Papa, are you there?”
His rumbling voice answered her.
She smiled and said, “Coffee is on.” Then she headed back to the kitchen, her heart pounding, as she realized that his days were numbered. Still, what she could do was remember to enjoy the moments that she had with him. As she headed downstairs to the kitchen, Sammy heard his door open, and he came in behind her.
“I had a good night,” he said, with a bright smile. “What about you?”
She gave him a nod. “Yeah, except for Annie,” she said. “She called, looking for a place to stay last night.”
Immediately his face twisted in concern. “Problems?”
“Not sure,” she said. “I would have told you about it yesterday, but I didn’t want to disturb you.”
He raised his eyebrows, then frowned.
“Just that, after I’d been over there visiting, I hadn’t driven too far and got a flat tire. It was such a clean cut that I was wondering if somebody had done it on purpose. Then, when Annie and I spoke last night, I found out that her tires had been slashed too.”
The look on his face hurt her.
She rushed over and said, “I’m fine, Dad. Honest. I was just trying to figure out what to do from here,” she said.
“Do you have the cut tire?”
“I do,” she said. “I need to take it and get it fixed because, at the moment, I don’t have a spare.”
He nodded. “Maybe you should drive my vehicle,” he said worriedly.
She reached out, patted his cheek, and said, “No need. If I have to, then I will, but, at the moment, mine is working just fine.”
He nodded. “And Annie?”
“She spent the night,” Sammy said. “She was pretty unnerved, and I just thought I would give her a good night’s sleep.”
“You’re a good friend,” he said, with a bright smile.
“Well, we’ll see about that,” she said, with a cheeky look. “I might put her to work.”
He rolled his eyes. “You should go for lunch somewhere,” he said. “Have some fun and do something besides working all the time. You don’t do enough of that.”
“I do just fine,” she said, laughing.
He sat down on the table, looking at the bread. “I do love this bread,” he said, as he cut himself a big thick slice and slathered fresh butter all over the top.
She watched him, a smile growing on her face. “Do you want eggs or just some jam?”
“Cheese,” he said. “I’d love some cheese.”
“Good enough,” she said and brought over the cheese that they had in the fridge. She sat down with a cup of coffee, and he looked at her. “You won’t eat?”
“I thought I’d wait for Annie,” she explained.
Immediately he nodded. “That’s a good idea.” He grinned at her. “More for me that way!”
She laughed. “I wish you would get all that bread down,” she said. “You’ve cut your appetite in half these days.”
“Just not that hungry,” he said.
She nodded. “I know, but it concerns me anyway.”
“You would worry no matter what,” he said, with a knowing smile.
She shrugged and agreed. “That’s what happens when you love somebody,” she said, chuckling.
“You should have a partner,” he said abruptly.
She winced at that. “How about we just don’t go in that direction?” she said, shaking her head.
“Maybe, but you know it’s true,” he replied.
“Well, the right guy hasn’t walked across my path just yet,” she said. “So what would you have me do?”
“I don’t understand it,” he said. “You’re beautiful. You’re smart. You’re intelligent. So what’s the problem?”
She laughed. “What makes you think there is a problem?” she asked.
“Always seems to be something,” he said. “Are the guys blind out there?”
“Yes, maybe,” she cheerfully said. This was an old argument between the two of them.
“I’m sorry that last guy didn’t work out.”
“I’m not,” she said, “because, when you really think about it, he obviously wasn’t someone I needed in my life.”
“Maybe,” he said, “but still it would be nice to have a partner. I coul
d leave you happily.”
“Meaning, there would be a man to take care of me,” she teased. “Oh, please, you know me better than that.”
He gave her that big grin of his.
“But it doesn’t change the fact,” she said, “that some things I just can’t change.”
“No,” he said, “that’s not true. Maybe somebody would get smart enough to find gold where it is, instead of just looking at all the other pretty things that walk by. Shiny isn’t a measure of substance.”
“Maybe that is a lesson I need to learn,” she said lightly, picking up her big mug and taking a sip.
He looked at her, his gaze sharpened. “Maybe,” he admitted. “Relationships aren’t easy at the best of times. They take work.”
“And here I thought you and Mom had it made,” she said. “No work there.”
“We had our moments,” he said, with a grin. Then he looked at the loaf of bread, shook his head, and said, “You know what? I think I’ll have a little more.”
She watched, as he cut himself a second big slab and covered it in honey this time. She got up and refilled his coffee cup, then heard sounds of movement. “Sounds like Annie is awake,” she said.
“Great,” he said. “I’d like to see her. Been a long time since she was here.”
“Well, not so long,” she said gently, “she was here last week.”
He recovered quickly and said, “But she didn’t stay long.”
Annie came in just at that time. She looked at the two of them, smiled, and said, “Did I miss breakfast?”
“No, not at all,” her father said, turning with a big smile. “My, aren’t you looking lovely this morning.”
She chuckled, walked over, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and said, “Ever the charmer.”
“Of course,” he said. “Some things just come naturally.”
Annie chuckled and sat down at the table, until she spied the coffee. Then she bounced to her feet, walked to the cupboard, where she snagged herself a cup and filled it. Looking back, she asked, “Anybody else need some?”
“I just refilled ours,” Sammy said. “Did you get any sleep?”
Annie gave her a look and shrugged.
“Right, same as me,” she said.
“It’s a little tough when you are unsettled,” she said diplomatically.
“Very true.”
Annie came over to the table again, sat down, and looked at the bread. “Now that looks lovely too. May I?”
Embarrassed at forgetting her manners, Sammy hopped up and proceeded to make breakfast for the two of them.
When it was done, they cleaned up, and her father headed upstairs to work. Annie asked, “Can I trouble you for a ride home?”
“Absolutely,” she said. “Did you arrange for a tow for your car yet?”
“Not yet,” she said. “I’ll do it when I got home.”
“And maybe we should talk to the cops,” Sammy said quietly. “If it is your ex, he shouldn’t be allowed to get away with this.”
“You know what? I don’t really want to bring more trouble onto my head,” she murmured.
“I get it, but that doesn’t mean that avoiding the issue will make it any better.” Her friend wrinkled up her nose and nodded. “Maybe you’d feel better if I’m there when you talk to the police,” Sammy said, and that’s what they did. They waited an extra twenty minutes before leaving because the cops wouldn’t be at Annie’s right away.
Finally, by the time they were leaving, Annie looked at her and said, “Should I say goodbye to your dad?”
“Don’t bother,” she said. “He isn’t likely to remember anyway.”
“I’m so sorry,” she said. “That’s got to be hard.”
“It’s horrible,” she said, “but it is what it is, and I’m trying to make peace with it.”
“You are a better person than I am,” Annie said. “I would rant and rave to the skies.”
“That won’t do me any good. Besides, so far the skies have yet to answer back.”
At that, and still chuckling, the two walked out of the house. She drove her friend quickly home, and the police arrived as she pulled up.
Annie said, “You need to tell them about your car too.”
Sammy hesitated, but Annie shook her head. “What’s good for me is good for you,” she warned.
Groaning, but with a grin, Sammy hopped out of the vehicle and walked over to the cops, as Annie quickly explained the little bit she knew. And then Sammy explained about her tire too. It wasn’t in the trunk unfortunately to show them. But they could already see the destruction on Annie’s car. They took what little information they had and then left. She looked at Annie. “You good to go?”
“Absolutely.” Annie turned and walked back into the house.
Sammy hesitated for a long moment, wondering if she should follow her, but it didn’t seem to make any sense. Then she turned, got back into her vehicle, and drove off. She had a long day of work ahead of her, and, without any sleep, it would be just that much harder to get through it.
As she headed up the main road to her driveway, she saw another vehicle coming toward her. She immediately slowed down, wondering who it was. They didn’t have very many strangers here as it was, but, with the odd events happening now, she couldn’t help but look to see who it might be. Sure enough, it was Eton, but he was driving a completely different vehicle.
She gave him a good frown, but he gave her a city smile and waved as he drove on. She pulled onto the road that she needed, but her mind was consumed, wondering why he changed vehicles and what had happened to the other one?
*
It took Eton a moment to realize that his new vehicle was probably causing Sammy some concern. But he already had multiple excuses ready when needed. Right now he was heading into town, looking for information from various storekeepers. But he was also going on the pretense of shopping. He pulled in outside the butcher, walked in, looking for fresh bacon. And, sure enough, there was some. He bought a little bit and struck up a conversation. “Is there much business with all these little towns around here?” he asked.
The butcher nodded. “We have our regulars,” he said. “Other than that, not likely. But I’m the only butcher around for the next couple towns, so I get other surrounding business too.”
“That’s good,” he said. “I thought the other town or the one over from here was bigger than this one?”
“Not really,” he said. “It’s a little bit bigger, but they are all spread out,” he said. “So population-wise, we are the same. Most businesses need the population from all these towns around here to stay in business,” he said. “It’s not like in the olden days.”
“I guess a lot of people here are commuters, aren’t they?”
“Yes.” He looked at him and asked, “What are you doing here? Just a tourist?”
Eton nodded. “Yes,” he said, “staying at one of the chalets for a few days. A bunch of buddies got together.” He looked at the bacon and said, “Considering that, you want to double up the bacon for us?”
The butcher nodded.
“I think I saw something about condos for sale around here somewhere. Do you know anything about that?” he asked. “The guys and I are really enjoying being out in the country.”
“Those condos have been a nightmare for the area,” the butcher said, with a headshake. “It was a go five years ago, then they shut it down. It’s been one of those on-again, off-again deals,” he said, with a shake of his head.
“I don’t understand these property developers,” Eton said. “You’d think people would get their facts straight, before they got to that point.”
“You’d think so,” he said, “but then people will be people.”
“Is it all being done by locals? That aspect would be a nice shot in the arm for the economy.”
“No, of course not,” he said, with disgust. “I think they hire one or two local guys for security up there overnight, but that’s it.”
“Yeah, probably guys who don’t really have regular jobs maybe?”
“Not all. I think old Joe over there took on one of the jobs, looking for extra money for his grandkid.”
“That’s a nice thing to do,” Eton said.
“That’s the guy Joe is though,” he said.
Eton nodded. “Is there a problem with the grandkid?”
“Yeah, he’s got some leg issues that need surgery, and he needs equipment to help him recover, so Joe was picking up some shifts, trying to raise some of that money.”
“Well, if it wouldn’t insult him,” Eton said, “I’ll be happy to donate a little bit. I mean, I don’t have a ton, but anything would help a family like that.”
The butcher looked at him warily, but his gaze warmed considerably. “Well, he’s right over there in the coffee shop. You can go talk to him about it, if you like.”
He looked over to see an older man, sitting there outside. “That’s him at the table?”
“It is,” he said.
“I’ll go do that.” Paying for his bacon, he smiled and walked out to the street. As he crossed the road, he walked into the little coffee shop, ordered a coffee, and took it outside. He looked at the man seated there and asked, “Are you Joe?”
Joe stared at him and said, “Yeah.”
“I was just talking with the butcher,” he said. “He mentioned you were working up at that condo project, doing some night security work to raise money for your grandkid.”
“Yeah, he ought to stick to butchering.”
Eton motioned at the chair and asked, “Do you mind if I sit down for a moment?” Joe looked at him, then the chair and just shrugged. “I’m sorry that your grandkid is having some issues.”
“It’s my grandson,” he said. “And the butcher talks too much.”
“My fault probably because I was asking questions,” he said. “So I’m interested in helping out a little. I don’t have a ton of money, but, if a few dollars would help out, to make things a little easier,” he said, “I’m up for it.”
Joe looked at him in surprise. “Why would you do that?”
“Because not everybody in the world is an asshole,” Eton said sincerely.