Page 16 of A Soldier's Pledge
“If it worried you then it’s probably something. Gut instincts are usually right.”
He was right, it had freaked her out and just because she didn’t want it to be true didn’t mean it wasn’t. “When I closed up the open house on Saturday, there was a guy leaning against a rusted green pickup truck and smoking. I don’t remember ever seeing him before, and he kind of gave me the creeps.”
“Can you describe him?”
“Probably, it wasn’t dark yet. He was wearing sunglasses, but I got a pretty good look at his face.”
“Good. Anything else?”
“Yeah. Umm…” He was going to be pissed, so pissed. Why hadn’t she realized it before?Because you’re too stubborn for your own good, that’s why. He put his coffee cup on the table and crossed his arms like he knew he wasn’t going to like what was coming next.
“Outside the open house wasn’t the only time I saw him.”
“What? Dammit. After everything we’ve been talking about today, you’re making me drag this out of you now? You really need to work on your trust issues, sweetheart.”
“I know. But when I got home and didn’t see him following me, I figured it was all in my imagination.”
“Even if it was, you should have told me. If not right away, then definitely after you heard about the robberies.”
He was right, and she had no excuse other than she’d honestly forgotten until then. With everything else going on, it had been the furthest thing from her mind. “It was stupid, yes, I realize that now, but I really did forget.”
“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now. For all we know, he’s the one planning the robberies. Or maybe he’s stalking you. Either way, we need to take care of it as soon as possible. Please promise me you won’t hold back any more information whether you think it’s pertinent or not.”
“I promise.”
“Good.” He softened his tone now that she’d agreed to do what he wanted, but she didn’t care. In this instance, he was right, and she was wrong. She was woman enough to admit it. “Where else did you see him?”
“At the office. Not at first but the truck was there when I was leaving to come home. At least, I think it was the same truck. I couldn’t see the guy, just the glow of his cigarette through the tinted window. At first, I didn’t think anyone was in there until I tried to drive by to get the license plate. I only got the first two letters before he took off in a hurry.”
“Good instincts but dangerous, especially because we don’t know why he’s following you.”
“We don’t really know that heisfollowing me either. He might have been there for some other reason.
The look he gave her was classic and would have made her parents proud. It was the typical ‘are you shitting me, do you need to be punished’ look, and he wore it well. She struggled to keep the grin off her face. He wouldn’t have taken that well.
Ethan pulled out his phone and tapped a text to someone, she was sure it was to Steele. “What were the two letters you saw?”
“An S and an R. It was the regular sunshine state plate too.”
“Okay. Did you recognize the make or model of the truck?”
“No, sorry. Just that it was green, old, rusty and looked like it was on its last leg, except for the tinted windows. Now that I think about it, that’s kind of weird.”
“Very. I know you’re always too busy for much of anything, but do you think you could come by the station at some point tomorrow and work with a sketch artist?”
“No promises, but I’ll try. It might be late; you know like after work.”
“That’s fine, but I really would like to get that sketch circulated as soon as possible.” He typed some more and then slid the phone back into his pocket. Apparently, it was police business, and it wasn’t going to be shared.
“Maybe I’ll be able to stop by before I go in. I’ll have to see how much I get done tonight.”
“What do you have to do tonight?”
“My usual prep for the week, schedules, plans, new listing information, bills, the usual stuff. Then I usually do some yoga, shower, and go to bed.”
Shaking his head, he had a weird expression on his face. “Do you ever just have down time where you don’t do a damn thing? You know, be spontaneous?”
“Well yeah of course I do.” Did she? Now that she thought about it, maybe she didn’t. Her schedule had worked for her, until now anyway. Kept her busy and focused on the end game. But now all of that had changed once she’d let Ethan into her life. If she hadn’t had blinders on, she would have realized it a whole lot sooner.
