He closes the door and walks down the alley toward Dustin’s. This man must have been born yesterday if he thinks I’m going to sit in this hot ass car and wait forhim. No way in hell! When the car door shuts behind me, Erick turns my way.
“Get in the car, Cady.”
“Not gonna happen.” I stretch up on my tiptoes and give him a kiss, hoping to change his mind. “I want answers. I’m gonna get them.”
I pass him on my way to Dustin’s, and he starts grumbling. His feet crunch the gravel beneath him as he walks. Good thing that whoever is in Dustin’s house doesn’t have sonar hearing. I shush him as I creep up behind the remnants of the dilapidated wooden fence that is barely standing. The ivy climbing along the wood partially covers the gaps where pieces of the slats have crumbled, giving us the perfect hiding spot to watch Dustin’s back door without being seen.
“Wonder how long we’ll have to stand here?” I whisper to Erick, after half an hour passes and no one comes or goes.
My body and clothes are sticky from the sweat trickling down my back. I fan myself with the neck of my t-shirt to get some kind of relief from the heat, but it’s no use.
“I don’t know. You can go wait in the car,” he whispers back. “Actually, I’d prefer you to wait in the car. We don’t know what could happen if we’re caught here. If Phil is here, it could be dangerous.”
“Damn straight it could be dangerous. Because I’ll kill the bastard,” I snap at him. “But I don’t think he’s stupid enough to step foot back in Swanson or Trinity.Too many people know him, and he would get caught instantly.”
“Just a reminder that we are here to watch, not reenactCOPS.” Annoyed, he gives me the side eye.
“I know. That’s what I’m doing. Watching.” I cross my arms and turn back to the house.
Erick leans back and checks the alley. His gasps then grabs my arm and yanks me behind some trashcans, tugging on me to pull me down. I squat and peek around the large plastic containers, watching as my old beater car pulls in beside Dustin’s.
I turn to Erick and mouth “Bobby.” He closes his eyes for just a second, and when he opens them, they are hard and icy.
Erick nudges me with his hand, and I quietly walk behind the fence as Bobby closes the car door. He stretches his arms over his head before rubbing his tired face. When he approaches the house, Dustin opens the door and steps out.
“Hey, brother.” Dustin grins, and I’m not quite sure I like the meaning behind it. “You ready to do this shit now?”
Erick and I glance at one another, wondering what exactly “this shit” is. If Bobby is helping Dustin, I don’t think Erick will ever forgive him. Looking back through the hole, we watch as Bobby gets a shit-eating grin on his face and claps hands with Dustin’s in a low five.
“Does a bear shit in the woods?” Bobby jokes. “I’m ready whenever he is. Let’s do this.”
They climb in Dustin’s car as we hide behind the trashcans again. When Dustin drives up the alley, we make our move to the car. Erick takes off as fast as he can to catch up with Dustin’s car. We finally spot them a little way up the street, so we stay back to keep some space between us to hide in.
“I can’t believe this,” Erick spouts, gripping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turn white.
“All we know right now is that Dustin and Bobby are hanging out. That’s it. We don’t know what they are doing together.”
Erick looks at me like I’ve grown a third head. “You were the one telling me he was hiding secrets. He is. Now you’re saying they are innocently hanging out.”
“All I’m saying is that Bobby knows something. And goddammit, I want to know what it is. If he is fucking us over, we will learn soon enough. If he isn’t, we’ll know that too.”
We drive across town heading the opposite way of Trinity. Wherever they are going, they are getting closer and closer to exiting Swanson. Traffic is thinning out, and soon it will be blatantly obvious we are following them. We need to make a choice soon.
My phone rings, and I dig it out of my bag in the floorboard.
“Hello?” I ask, hoping I didn’t miss the call.
“Go home. Now.”
Cash.
The call ends, and I drop my hand in my lap, feeling more confused than ever.
“Go home, Erick.” I throw the phone in the floorboard and run my fingers through my tangled red hair, tugging at it in frustration. “We’ll get answers soon enough, or so help me God I’ll go to jail for murder.”
HAZEL
I try to swallow, but my mouth and throat are so dry that my tongue feels like sandpaper. An attempt to stretch my arms leads me nowhere. They feel weighted down, and like I don’t have control of them. A shiver wracks my body, and I open my eyes to see if the window is open. Nothing looks familiar. I close my lids tightly and open them once more, hoping they are playing tricks on me in the dim light.
