Page 17 of Flick

“Well, I’ll let you get settled. Here are your keys, garage door openers, and a list of all the amenities that come with living in this community. Welcome to Bluebonnet Gardens,” she said.

Flick shook her hand again and ushered her out of the house. Beth didn’t say anything, waiting for the all-clear from the Cider Creek guys. Salty, who was the Enforcer for their Cider Creek Chapter, walked in, carrying a clipboard and wearing blue coveralls with a moving company logo on the chest.

“Sir, if you’ll look at our bill here and approve it, I’d appreciate it,” Salty said, holding the clipboard out.

Salty had written: House is clean, no bugs or surveillance. We’ve set up your equipment in the smaller bedroom in the back of the house, facing the suspects’ house. If you want us to hang around longer and add the surveillance in the house for you, tell me you need to check everything yourself.

Flick glanced at Salty. Beth and Flick had discussed whether they wanted to set up the surveillance in the house themselves or have the Cider Creek Chapter help. They both thought having an extra set of eyes would be better.

“I’m not signing the bill until I check your work,” Flick said.

“Well, then let me show you where we’ve put everything,” Salty said.

Beth nodded and walked back to the front door. After checking that all the Cider Creek guys were in the house, she locked the door and then placed one of the devices Scoop had sent. Half of it went on the door and the other half was on the door jamb. She activated it, and if the door was opened without the button being pushed, an alarm would sound.

Since they were in a rental, they assumed someone else had keys. There were multiple items she and Flick would add later tonight that would keep them safe if someone tried to come in using the keys to the house.

Once they were secured, she went up the stairs to their surveillance room. She nodded when she came in.

“You guys are secure, but we’re leaving these two so you can check for any bugs that might have been put in place when you’re gone from the house and also any video equipment. I’m also leaving this jammer just in case.” Salty handed them a small envelope. “Keys, addresses of the other two rentals we have for you to move into for surveillance. Each house has two different vehicles you can use. Text if you think one of the vehicles has been burned, and we’ll replace it. Any questions?” he asked.

“I think we’re good. Thanks. If you could have somebody dive deeper into the guard currently working. We both got weird vibes from his offer to find us anything,” Flick said.

“Will do. The only suggestion I have is if things start getting hot, you think about reinforcing one of these rooms or closets as a safe room,” Salty said, then left at their nods.

“You ready for this?” Flick asked.

“Yep. I want this ended,” Beth said.

Chapter Twelve

Beth and Flick had switched disguises and were on a street watching Rose’s partner go into a building they’d identified as having an unusually large amount of traffic if it was, as it said, a large privately funded dog shelter.

“I’ve got to have something to drink. I’m going to go grab us something,” Flick said, getting out of the car.

“I want…” Beth said, then paused when Flick closed the door in her face. Seriously, they were both low on sleep, but there wasn’t any reason for him to ignore her request.

Her phone rang with Remi’s code name Beth had changed it to—just in case she was taken and her phone was too. Remi would kill her if she knew Beth had changed it to Hot Horny Mama because of Remi’s complaints the last time Beth had talked to her.

“Hello,” Beth said.

“Hey, it’s all of us. We’re checking in. How are you doing?” Remi asked.

“There’s a lot of time to think, and butthead just went to get a snack but didn’t even wait for my order,” Beth grumbled.

“Getting on each other’s nerves?” Sarah asked.

“No, we’re both low on sleep because of the activities in the neighborhood and worrying. It will be okay, but you know surveillance gives me a lot of time to think,” Beth said.

Listening to her sisters’ laughter had her smiling. She missed them so much. Even though she’d wanted to get away, she missed being able to share all the ideas that popped into her head while she was on surveillance or play with the kids and enjoy that family time.

“Okay, well you can tell us in a minute, but we wanted to update you on our talk with Dad. They’re still not being around each other, but you know that look Dad gets on his face when he’s contemplating something?” Winnie asked.

“Yes. It’s similar to his ‘I think I need to have my morning constitutional in the bathroom’ look,” Beth said, giggling. Oh, it was good to chat with her sisters. Two weeks seemed like a lifetime away from them.

“We’ve been seeing it a lot. I think he’s taken our words to heart. I think they’d be great together because they both have lost someone and know how precious time is,” Jesse said.

“Now tell us about the ideas you’ve had,” Sarah said.

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