Page 47 of Out on a Limb
I sat in my truck, tugging at the neck of the shirt I found shoved into the backseat. It was tight around the neck and shoulders, but Collette hadn’t seemed remotely interested in giving back the one she was wearing.
Which was a little too fine with me.
And had nothing to do with why I was risking a neighborhood watch report.
I slumped down in my seat as a set of headlights beamed up the street. A newer model sedan crept up the street, moving slow enough it was obvious they were looking for a specific address.
Sure enough, it was Collette’s.
Her front door opened and Collette came out, still wearing my t-shirt and the shorts she had on earlier. She went to the passenger’s side and climbed into the backseat of the car marked with an Uber sticker in the window.
I let them get a decent head start before I pulled out. I was almost positive I knew where she was headed, so there was no reason to stick too close. I hung back as the car traveled a path I knew well.
I drove it every day.
But instead of pulling into the long lane leading to the garden’s secluded parking lot, the Uber stopped along the curb and Collette got out, staying put as the car pulled away.
It made me feel better that she was with it enough to know letting a stranger take her into a dark, isolated space was a bad idea, but her diligence didn’t work in my favor.
Since it sent me driving right past her.
I held my breath as I coasted along the asphalt, not four feet away from where she was watching the Uber driver disappear down the street.
Maybe she was more sober than I realized.
Luckily her sights were locked onto the Uber driver and she didn’t seem to notice me. I continued past, going about a quarter mile down the road before turning into the lot of a gas station. I went in to grab a bottle of water before climbing back into my truck and taking a few long gulps, fighting the urge to rush.
I wasn’t planning to get in the way of what she was trying to accomplish. Someone needed to check up on Alan, and honestly she was the best person to do it.
But letting her go to the garden alone right now wasn’t something I was going to do. Not considering she’d just committed an act of war against a group who’d shown themselves to be more than a little vengeful.
I drove just under the speed limit on my way back, giving Collette plenty of time to get into the garden so she wouldn’t see me pull in.
I shut off my lights as I turned onto the lane leading back to the lot. I rolled past the main entrance, letting out a little breath when there wasn’t any sign of Collette.
I pulled around the back and into the employee lot, parking in the least conspicuous spot there was, before getting out and gently closing my door.
The air was slightly cooler than it was during the day, but still just as humid, and my shirt stuck to me almost immediately, making me feel a little claustrophobic. I tugged on it, stretching it out as much as I could as I walked to the gate I used to get in every morning. By the time I got there I had a little more breathing room, but it wasn’t getting any easier to inhale.
Because I was starting to second-guess myself.
I shouldn’t have told her what I was doing tonight. I should have kept my damn mouth shut and come back myself.
I didn’t like her ass being the one on the line. She had too much to lose.
The job. The house. The car.
And if her grandfather found out she was snooping around here I knew damn well he would rip all of it he could away.
I unlocked the gate and slipped inside, quietly closing and locking it behind me for the second time tonight.
But this time it was significantly quieter than the last time.
I only knew where Collette was this time because I was the reason she was going there.
The guilt in the pit of my stomach twisted tighter with each step I took toward the office building where her grandfather and Alan used to work every day.
Now they only visited it occasionally, which meant chances were good neither of them would notice Collette had gone through anything.
