by Tawny Taylor
“Where are you getting that?”
“He said ‘shit.’ Would you say that if your dog was attacking an intruder?”
“No, I wouldn’t. He said ‘shit’? Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“I didn’t hear him say that.”
“Well, if I’d had a furry piranha chewing my ankle, I might have been a little distracted, too.” Sarah sniffed. “Speaking of shit...”
Mandy grimaced. “Yeah, I stepped in some.” She half walked, half limped back toward the Clark house. Looked pretty quiet.
“I say we go around back again.”
“I say we go to the nearest emergency room. I think I need a tetanus shot. Maybe a rabies shot, too.”
“Drama queen.”
“How about gyros? My treat?” Mandy offered. Anything to ensure she wouldn’t be climbing back over that freaking fence tonight.
“Okay, fine. But only if you buy dessert, too.” Sarah sniffed again. “But I’m not going anywhere with you until you do something about that shit on your shoe.”
“Fair enough. I keep a spare pair in the trunk.” Mandy hobbled toward the car.
“Well, at least you have something useful in there.”
14
Approximately twenty hours later, Sarah asked, “Where are we headed tonight?” She bounded from her chair. Literally bounded. Mandy didn’t have that kind of energy tonight. She wished she did.
She checked the time. Four forty-eight. “Where are we headed? Looks like you’re ready to hit the gym.”
Sarah had changed from her usual work clothes—cute skirt, knit top, and Jimmy Choos—to a pair of snug black pants, a black hoodie, and black Nike Shox tennis shoes. “The gym? No, these are my new PI clothes. They’re so much more practical than what you wear, don’t you think?”
Mandy looked her goofy friend up and down. “I gotta say, they do look pretty practical—if you’re going on a stakeout. Which you’re not.”
Sarah’s mouth pursed into a pout. “Why won’t you take me?”
“I have my reasons.” She pointed at her ankle, which was still throbbing—one of the primary reasons why she was feeling so tired and cranky. She shoved the other reason out of her mind.
“I promise I won’t complain about being bored.” Sarah grabbed a backpack she’d evidently been hiding behind her desk. “Look, I brought my own stuff.” She shoved her hand into the bag and pulled out a bag of Fritos. “Snacks.” She dropped the chips onto her desktop and dug into the backpack for something else. “Entertainment.” She slapped a paperback novel onto her desk. “And ...” She dug into the bag for yet another item. “Pepper spray, in case we run into another ankle-biter.”
“You’re definitely well prepared.”
“So, will you take me?”
“I don’t know.” Mandy glanced at her phone a second time. It was almost five. She needed to get a move on if she was going to make it over to Nickerson’s building before he left. “I’m following Nickerson tonight. You’re going to stand out like a sore thumb in that getup where I’m headed. You look like you’re ready to rob a bank.”
“I do not. I look cute. And hot. And don’t these pants make my butt look great?” She turned sideways and ran her hand down her flat ass.
“Yes, they do.”
Sarah beamed. “Let me go. Pretty pleeease?”
Mandy sighed. She hated it when Sarah begged and made those sad puppy eyes. “Okay, fine. I’ll bring you along. But only on one condition—you will do what I say, or this will be the last time. Got it?”
“Got it.” Sarah hauled her backpack over her shoulder. Something metallic clanked as it smacked against her body.
Holding the door for Sarah, Mandy scrutinized Sarah’s big, heavy-looking backpack. “What else do you have in there?”
Sarah’s face pinched. “Nothing.” She scurried to Mandy’s car.
Mandy set the building’s alarm and locked up.
Over the car’s roof a few seconds later, Mandy said, “Hmmm. Tell me that ‘nothing’ isn’t going to get me arrested if we get pulled over.”
“It won’t.” Sarah settled into the passenger seat. “But I would suggest you avoid getting pulled over anyway, just in case.”
Mandy slid into the driver’s seat and plugged the key into the ignition. “In case of what?” Mandy twisted the key to start the car.
“It’s nothing suspicious. I’m just saying ...” A very guilty-looking Sarah shrugged. “You just got your driving record cleaned up a few months ago. Your insurance rates have finally gone down. You wouldn’t want to have to pay those higher rates again, would you?”
“This isn’t about insurance.”
Sarah stared out the window.
Twenty minutes later, as Mandy parked the car in front of Nickerson’s company’s five-story steel-and-glass office building, Mandy asked, “Don’t you have anything better to do tonight than sit in a car with me?”
“Um. No.” Sarah unzipped her backpack and started rummaging through its contents.
“But it’s Tuesday night. Don’t you usually—”
“We broke up.”
“Oh. Ohhhhh.” Now Mandy understood why Sarah had become such a pest.
“Last week.” Sarah’s voice cracked.
“I’m sorry, hon.”
“It was awful. I caught him in bed with another woman.”
“Oh.” Mandy realized she’d been saying that word a lot. But Sarah’s romantic relationships were ... complicated ... and Mandy tended to be speechless whenever Sarah talked about the ups and downs of her love life. For instance, this last boyfriend was bisexual. And Sarah had made it clear a long time ago that she was okay with him having sex with other men. In fact, she’d joined in the fun sometimes, having sex with Eric and his gay lover, Christopher. She (wrongfully) assumed Sarah was okay with sharing.
Evidently, she didn’t care to share Eric with other women, only with men.
“The bastard didn’t even stop what he was doing. Just kept on fucking the bitch like I wasn’t even there.” Sarah sobbed. She sniffled and snorted.
Damn, Mandy didn’t have a box of tissues in her car. She twisted to console her friend, gathering the blubbering mess of a girl into her arms and stroking her back gently while Sarah unloaded an ocean of tears onto her shoulder. Sarah stopped rather abruptly.
“There’s your man,” Sarah said between snuffles.
“Huh?”
Sarah pushed out of Mandy’s arms and pointed over her shoulder. “He’s with Brittany.”
“Oh, shit.” Mandy whirled around, catching them talking as they walked toward the parking lot. She motioned to her bag, sitting on the floor next to Sarah’s. “Camera.”
“Got it.” Sarah rummaged around in her bag. “See? Isn’t it a good thing you brought me along?”
“Hurry.”
Sarah grunted. “It’s so fucking small. Why do you have to carry such a puny camera? Aha. There it is.” She slapped the camera into Mandy’s outstretched hand.
Mandy snapped a few shots of the couple as they entered his Mercedes, then handed the camera back to Sarah. “Okay, here we go. Don’t put that camera away. Hopefully we’ll need it again very soon.” Mandy started her car and shifted into gear. She followed him carefully, making sure to keep a vehicle or two between them so he wouldn’t realize he was being tailed. They stopped at a cozy little restaurant a few miles away.
Mandy parked in the lot, as close to the building as she could get, where she’d have a clear view of the restaurant’s entrance, the target’s car, and the only exit out of the parking lot.
“Now what? Are we going inside?” Sarah asked.
“No.”
Five minutes later, Sarah said, “I have an idea. How about I go inside? With the camera? You can stay out here and... be ready, in case they make a hasty exit.”
“How about you stay here with me?”
Sarah huffed a sigh.
Another five minutes later, Sarah
, crunching on Fritos, said, “I need to use the bathroom.”
“You’re kidding.”
She waved an empty water bottle. “I was thirsty.”
Argh.
“While I’m in there, I’ll try to snap a picture or two with your super-duper spy camera. Don’t worry, nobody will see me.”
Mandy had genuine doubts about that.
Especially ten minutes later.
Sarah hadn’t returned yet.
And a blue police car rolled up to the front of the building.
“Dammit, Sarah, what did you do now?”
Cussing under her breath, Mandy exited the car. She slammed the door a little harder than normal, but, hey, who wouldn’t? She stomped up to the restaurant’s entry. Inside, she looked left. She looked right.
The hostess bounced up. “How many?”
“I’m not here to eat. I’m looking for my friend. She came in here about ten minutes ago. Dressed in black workout clothes.”
“Oh. Sure.” The hostess pointed toward a narrow corridor she hadn’t noticed as she’d entered. “I think she’s back there, talking to the officer.”
“Thank you.”
Mandy turned the corner. Sure enough, Sarah was standing with her back to the wall, a huge patrol officer looming over her.
Sarah batted her eyelashes.
He angled forward, bracing one arm on the wall.
Things seemed to be under control.
Mandy headed back outside, taking a seat on the metal bench positioned next to the entry for guests when the wait was long. Another ten minutes later, a very flush-faced Sarah came trotting out.
“Oh, there you are.” Sarah fiddled with her hair, which was a little on the messy side.
“Yes. Here I am. What happened?”
“Oh, nothing,” Sarah said, making good time back to the car.
“Was there a problem?”
“No. No problem.”
“Why were the police called?”
“Well ...” Sarah got into the car.
Mandy hurried around to the driver’s seat. Sat. Waited. “Yes ... ?”
“I wouldn’t call it a problem.”
“Tell me.”
“I have good news.” Sarah beamed.
“What’s that?”
“You can get paid now. Maybe.”
“What’s that mean? Did you get something on the camera?”
“Um, yes. And no.”
“Huh?”
“I did. But then Nickerson called the police and they confiscated the camera. Or rather, they asked me to voluntarily give them the camera. In return, the meanie promised not to press charges.” Sarah grinned. “But it doesn’t matter.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because Nickerson and Brittany aren’t having an affair. She’s his daughter.”
“And you know this how?”
“Because that’s what he told the police.”
Head smack.
“Hon ...” Mandy swallowed a sigh. “Did you honestly expect Nickerson to tell the officer he was having dinner with his girlfriend ... who just happens to be half his age? Of course he said she was his daughter.”
Sarah’s expression dimmed. “Oh.” Her lip quivered. “I’m sorry. I’ll buy you another camera.”
“It isn’t necessary. Just please tell me you didn’t say who you worked for?”
“I didn’t. At least, I don’t think I did. That officer. I mean, if you’d seen him, you’d see why I got a little distracted.” She glanced out the window. “Oh! There he is now.” She pointed.
“I see him. Please don’t call him over here.”
“Too late. He saw me.” Sarah tugged on her top, pulling it down a little to expose more boobage. She donned a saucy smile and rolled down the window as he came strolling up to the car. “Hello again, Officer. Is there anything else you needed?”
“Sure.” Standing as straight as a marine, he stopped a few feet from the vehicle. “If you’d please get out of the car, miss.”
“Sure.” Sarah broke records getting out. One second she was there, in the seat; the next she wasn’t.
Mandy watched as the two stepped aside to talk. The policeman put his bulky body in her line of vision, blocking not only her view of Sarah but also the restaurant’s door. Not good. On either count.
She shifted positions, focusing on Nickerson’s car.
Oh, shit, they were in it.
Mandy looked at the police officer’s back.
Hurry!
She looked at Nickerson’s car again. It was rolling out of the parking spot.
Dammit.
She opened her window. Cleared her throat. The officer didn’t respond. Neither did Sarah.
Nickerson’s car zoomed to the driveway and sped out into traffic.
So much for tonight.
Mandy’s teeth gritted.
Five minutes later, a bouncy Sarah plopped into the passenger seat and waved out the window. A pair of handcuffs were clamped around one wrist.
“What’s that?” Mandy asked, pointing.
Sarah’s eyebrows waggled. “Handcuffs.”
Mandy swallowed a curse word. She swallowed at least a dozen more. “Tell me you weren’t flirting with that police officer while I watched Nickerson and his little friend speed away.”
“Uh.” Sarah blinked. “Um. Okay, I won’t tell you.”
Mandy jerked the key into the ignition.
“Where are we going now?”
She shifted the vehicle into reverse. “I’m going home. After I drop you off at the office.”
“We’re done doing stakeouts?” Sarah asked, spinning the metal cuff around her wrist.
“Yes, we’re done.” Mandy maneuvered the car out of the parking spot, shifted it into drive, and the car roared toward the street.
Sarah pointed at the clock. “But it’s not even late.”
Mandy stomped on the brake, glaring at the line of cars rolling down the road, blocking her exit. “I’m tired.”
“We could go back to the Clarks’.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because ... I don’t have a camera. The only one I brought with me is in your new friend’s patrol car.” Catching a break in the traffic, Mandy hit the gas. The car lurched onto the road.
“You know what I think? I think Clark-Old-Boy is sneaking into the pool house and doing the nasty with someone in there.”
“That would be asinine. His wife could go down there at any time and catch him.”
“See? Maybe he figures she won’t because she’d think that would be stupid, fucking another woman right under her nose.”
“Just out of curiosity, where’d you catch Eric and his bimbo?”
“In the pool house.”
Oh, God. A thought passed through Mandy’s head, but she wasn’t heartless enough to say what she was thinking aloud.
Sarah’s handcuffs rattled. “It’s worth another look. I brought pepper spray. That little beast won’t get you again. I promise.”
Mandy glanced down at her still-achy ankle. “But we don’t even have a camera. If you’re right, then what?” She looked at her friend’s eager face.
Was there anything to her theory?
She supposed it was possible.
“If we’re right, we can come back armed with everything we need to get the job done. I’ve got my cell phone as a backup camera.” Sarah produced said item and hit a button. A flash blinded Mandy. “It has a flash.”
Blinking to try to clear her vision, Mandy grumbled, “Okay. We’ll take a quick trip to the Clarks’.”
“Yeah!” Sarah pumped her fists. The handcuffs rattled again.
“Isn’t Mr. Policeman going to miss those?”
Sarah shrugged. “He said he had another set in his car. He’ll be picking them up at the end of his shift.”
That made Mandy smile.
If Sarah’s new friend kept her busy, Sarah wouldn’t want to go on any more st
akeouts. That would be a very good thing.
“I don’t suppose you could convince him to give back my camera? I’ve lost too many to count lately, thanks to Zane.”
Sarah’s smile was devious. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem.”
Sarah sang along to the radio as they drove to the other side of town. It wasn’t quite dark enough yet, so Mandy opted to make a stop at the Chicken Shack for some fried chicken and broasted potatoes. They both used the bathroom, too. And with a little help from a squirt of liquid soap, Sarah was handcuff-free when they returned to the car. By the time they’d pulled onto the Clarks’ street, the sky was dark to the east and streaked with salmon to the west. It was another half hour before it was dark enough to risk sneaking into the Clarks’ backyard.
This time, Mandy was prepared. She had a pocketful of chicken for the beast.
They tiptoed around the house, listening for any signs of Clark or his ankle-mangling best friend. Mandy volunteered to climb the fence first. Sarah followed. Side by side, they crept toward the house first, peering in through the French doors, looking for husband and wife.
The little beast was lying on a plaid dog bed next to the door. Mrs. Clark was lounging on the couch. Mr. Clark was nowhere to be seen.
Mandy motioned toward the pool house.
Sarah nodded.
They dashed across the lawn, tiptoeing up to the building. Mandy pressed a finger to her lips. Although there didn’t seem to be any lights on inside, or suspicious sounds, she didn’t want to risk being caught.
She peered into the window next to the door.
Empty.
So much for that thought. Mandy motioned toward the front. Time to call it a night. Sarah nodded. Mandy started across the lawn. She got to the fence before she realized Sarah wasn’t behind her.
What now?
She whirled around.
A shadow, a large one—too big to be Sarah’s—traveled across the far end of the yard. It was headed toward the pool house. Squinting, Mandy made out Sarah’s smaller form, scurrying through the building’s door.
Oh, shit!
Mandy waited a few minutes to see if anyone else was headed out to the pool house. Sure enough, a smaller shadow bounced over the fence adjoining a neighbor’s yard. That person was also going to the pool house.
Now what?
