Page 21 of Gideon
“My pleasure,” I returned, taking the plate from his hand and even going so far as to reach up and kiss him on the cheek. He looked at me, slightly puzzled, but shook off the gesture before heading for the door. Thank God.
“I’ll be back before dinner, yeah?” he questioned, toeing on his shoes one by one, his hand already poised on the doorknob.
“Sounds good,” I called back, already halfway to the sink with our dishes in hand. He headed out, a smile plastered on his face. Idiot. He really would believe anything, wouldn’t he?
As soon as he was out of the house, I made quick work of the dishes, eager to get started pilfering through his things. Once I had washed and put away the last dish, I made for the stairs, taking them two at a time before I nearly wiped out and face-planted. These stairs really were too steep for the house. Cursing his name for building such a stupid staircase, I finally reached the bedroom.
“If I were a dumbass like Gideon, where would I hide my money?” I asked out loud to the empty room. I ran to his dresser, looking through the cluttered bits and things that he had stashed there. A receipt here, a bit of trash there, and — nothing. Not a penny. Dammit.
Opening the top drawer led me to only socks and boxers. I dug through his undergarments, but nothing was to be found. I went through each drawer inch by inch, even checking each pocket of every single pair of pants and shorts he owned. Still, nothing.
Next was his closet, or rather, our closet, though none of my belongings had made it outside of my suitcase other than my toothbrush. His closet was as disorganized as everything else in his house. I rolled my eyes, inwardly disgusted. How could he live in such clutter and disarray? It would drive me mad. Who was I kidding? It wasalreadydriving me mad, and it had only been two days.
I went through each shirt pocket, every jacket and coat. I pilfered through the random shoe-boxes and other assorted containers scattered on the top shelf of his closet as well. Still, I came up with nothing other than junk and a few odd bits of trash in the form of receipts and other papers. Not a single one even had something of interest written on it. Nothing at all. The only thing I learned was that he was a bit of a slob, which I already knew, and he frequented places in St. George far more than I could have imagined. There were easily a dozen receipts for places there, from gas stations to fast-food joints, yet nothing of any actual worth to me. I doubted the Elders would care all that much if a precious Temple son had frequented St. George occasionally. Honestly, they probably sent him for this errand or that job, whatever they felt necessary at the time.
I moved on from the bedroom to the spare room, if you could even call it that. It was a mess of random unpacked boxes and random, unused furniture.
“My God, he’s a borderline hoarder,” I groaned. This was going to take much longer than I had originally thought. I looked around the room, deciding where to start, when a thought struck me. If I didn’t start actually doing something in the house, he was sure to question what I had been up to all day. At the very least, even if I found something, I wasn’t ready to leave today. Too much still needed to happen for me to be able to safely escape. I need a better plan. So I began in one corner and worked my way through, organizing and putting things away as I went.
Box by box, I unpacked and rearranged the room, hoping to get it to a point of looking at least somewhat decent. When I had finished, the room still looked to be a bit of an odds and ends storage, but at least it looked unpacked and organized. But all I had to show for it was a clean room and a pile of empty, broken down boxes.
“Dammit,” I cursed, stamping my foot in frustration. Maybe there would be something downstairs, though I couldn’t remember seeing anything noteworthy when I had cleaned the place a few days ago. Maybe I had missed something, though. He had a few drawers that I hadn’t dared rifle though, not on day one at least. But it was now day three, which meant I was no longer feeling as nervous about snooping through my husband’s things.
I made my way downstairs, going much slower than I had when traveling up them earlier. I looked out of the front window, making sure that Gideon was still out on his boat and not two steps from walking in on me rifling through his things. He was there on the deck, soaking in the sun’s rays for a moment before leaning over to what looked to be a toolbox there beside him. I shook my head in vexation. The man loved that boat more than he loved himself. And that was saying something.
I tiptoed to the cabinet by the television, as if anyone could hear me. I shook my head at my ridiculousness before I opened the top drawer.
Jackpot!
Inside were a few neatly organized storage containers. The first held a few watches. Beautiful watches that looked expensive. There were only three of them, but I had a feeling they were worth a pretty penny. Enough to at least give me some cash if I took them to a pawnshop. The second container held mail. I looked through it slowly. A bill of sale for his beloved boats, yes both of them, sat right on top. A deed for the house lay directly below it. As I made my way through the stack of papers, I found bank statements. Two separate banks, in fact. One with the same bank logo I had seen in my adoptive father’s things, and another I didn’t recognize. So Gideon had a secret bank account? That’s certainly what it looked like. And that bank account proved he was not a penniless moron. He was a somewhat well off moron, as the truth would have it.
There was nothing more of note in that container, so I moved on to the next. This one housed a few Polaroid photos. Six of them in total. The photos were of him and his brothers in a variety of places. All looking to be in St. George, if I had to wager a guess. They looked to be fairly recent, as well. All of them looked exactly as they did now. What were these boys up to in town and away from Zion? Curiouser and curiouser. The final container in the drawer held the biggest jackpot of them all. Cash.
Double jackpot!
There wasn’t an enormous amount, just shy of five hundred dollars, but it was a start. The problem was, would he notice the money was missing? Then again, would he notice the watches were missing? I could take them and run. Even between all of that, I wouldn’t end up with all that much, and that meant I wouldn’t get far. I needed to get as far away from here as I could if I had any hope of surviving the wrath of the Zion Elders. If that meant I had to bide my time a little longer, then so be it.
I left the watches where they were for now. It was unlikely he would take them anywhere soon. I took only a twenty-dollar bill from the pile of cash I had found. If I took a little at a time, surely he would not notice the missing funds. Now… where to hide it?
The spare room.
From the looks of things, he hadn’t stepped foot in that room in quite some time. I doubted he would notice if I stashed some things away in there for later. I checked the front door again, noting that he was still on the deck of the boat. This time he looked to be talking to someone on a mobile phone. That was odd. No one in Zion had one of those that I had ever seen before. I shrugged off the thought, turning on my heel and making a mad dash for the upstairs spare bedroom. I took the stairs quickly, but carefully. It would do me no good to wipe out and injure myself with money in my hand. Who knew what Gideon would do if such a thing were to happen? He would probably sic his father and the Elder goons on me faster than you could sayPraise be to God.
I found a small box I had torn down, putting it back together somewhat haphazardly before stashing the twenty-dollar bill inside. I opened up the closet, finding a back corner to hide it in, right behind a dresser that lay empty and unused. He’d never find it there. It was perfect.
I was halfway back down the stairs when the sound of Gideon’s truck startled me, nearly making me lose my balance as it revved to life. I ran to the front door, peeking outside to see Gideon in the front seat, talking somewhat animatedly as he backed out of the driveway and sped off down the road like a bat out of hell.
Where the hell was he going? And why didn’t he say anything?
I began pacing around the room, worrying about why he would just bolt like that. Did his father call him? Had they figured out that I knew everything? Should I grab the money and the watches and just leave?
I took slow, deep breaths, working to calm myself from my rising panic. He was gone. For how long, I had no idea. I had looked through almost the entire house, finding only a little of what I truly needed.I glanced outside one last time, making sure he really was gone. That’s when it hit me.
His boat.
He had seemed so shifty about whatever he was doing below deck last night. If he were hiding something of worth, he was sure to hide it there on his precious baby. I found my shoes by the door, slipping them on quickly as I tried not to face-plant into the entryway as I did so. I opened the door, noting that it was a little chillier than I would have expected in the late morning air. Goosebumps erupted over my skin as I wrapped my arms around my body to ward off the chill.
The boat was large, which made sense, as it was a boat made for the ocean and not a lake. I scoffed at the audacity of the man, building a damn ocean-worthy sailboat on a damn lake. He was certainly an idiot for not thinkingthatone through. I climbed up the ladder he had attached to the stern, making my way onto the deck of the boat. For all the shit I wanted to give him for even owning this huge thing, I had to admit it was a beauty. There was no doubt about that. Seeing it up close and personal in the glittering morning light was almost breathtaking. I could just imagine how it would look out on the actual ocean, waves crashing against its hull as it slid through the water like a hot knife through butter. Not that I had ever actually seen the ocean. But I could imagine it.
