Page 144 of Out on a Limb
“ARE YOU DONE yet?” I reached out with one foot to nudge Phillip’s ass. “Hurry up. It’s going to start raining.”
I glanced up as one of Collette’s neighbors crossed the street to avoid walking past me. I raised my hand in a wave. “Evening.”
The woman didn’t even bother trying to smile. Just shot me an irritated look as she dragged her fluffy little dog along.
Finally Phillip gave up pecking at whatever it was he needed to dig out of the grass. I pulled on his leash. “Come on, Buddy. We gotta get back home.” I glanced up at the clouds threatening to drown us any second.
The little chicken trotted along beside me as we headed back. Halfway there our time ran out.
I picked up Collette’s pet and started to run.
By the time I busted through the front door, both Phillip and I were soaked to the skin.
“Holy shit.” Collette rushed out of the office that opened to the foyer. “What happened?” She leaned to peek through the narrow window just beside the front door. “When did it start raining?” She didn’t wait for me to answer any of her questions before turning to run down the hall. She came back a few seconds later with one of the towels from the bathroom we shared.
A towel big enough we could both use it.
At the same time.
She took Phillip from me, holding him away from her body as she marched toward the kitchen. “You’re going into the garage to dry off.”
I used the towel to wipe down my face and head, knocking as much water out of my hair as I could manage.
“He needs an outside space.” Collette came back, her eyes moving over my rain-soaked body.
“Not sure your neighbors would appreciate his early morning wake-up calls.”
“They’re just a bunch of stuck-up snobs.” Collette came closer, reaching out to grab the hem of my t-shirt. “I’ve been thinking about moving anyway.”
“Moving?” I’d just moved all my shit from my house to hers. “Already?”
She chewed her lower lip as she dragged my shirt up. “I might have come across an opportunity I can’t really pass up.”
“You found a new house?”
“Sort of.” She continued peeling the wet cotton from my skin, her eyes dropping to my stomach.
I waited for her to continue explaining.
Instead she was entirely focused on working off my soaked shirt.
I grabbed it away from her, wrestling it over my head before dropping it to the tile. “What did you find?”
“Hmm?” Her hands were already on my skin, the tips of her fingers skimming over my chest.
I grabbed her wrists and waited for her eyes to come to mine. “What did you find?”
Her lips slowly curved in a smile. “I heard the property behind the garden might be going up for auction soon.”
“Really?”
She nodded. “They finally found the paper trail proving it was Alan who owned it.”
That was not what I expected her to say. “Him and who else?”
“He’s the only one.” Her smile slipped a little. “Which means we still don’t know who he was working with, but at least they can sell the lot.”
Alan turned out to be in a hell of a lot of debt. His house was mortgaged to the hilt. He owed on every car, including the van that was used in Collette’s kidnapping. Credit cards were maxed, and he had more than a handful of personal loans.
