Chapter 38
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Dana glanced back at Nolan and frowned. “Why so gloomy?” she asked, a note of good cheer in her voice.
He exhaled. “I’ll feel better when I have my car and phone back.”
She grinned. “Everything’s going to be fine. It always is.” She turned to the driver. “I have a feeling that Olive is going to get us home in an hour and a half, and then she’ll get that extra thousand dollars.”
“That’s the plan,” Olive said with a smile.
“See,” Dana said, addressing Nolan. “Everything is going just the way we want it to.”
That’s where they differed. She wasn’t one bit surprised that the first car that stopped for them happened to be someone he’d already met. Not only that, but the driver was willing to take them home, just like that. Olive had just agreed to it without a moment’s notice and without seeing any identification. What were the chances? Nolan got the feeling that good things always happened for Dana, that somehow she willed them or manifested them into being. He’d love to know her secret.
When they reached River Point, Olive turned onto the exit ramp and stopped at the stop sign, then followed Dana’s directions to turn right. Dana seemed almost giddy to be going home. “I can’t wait to take a shower and sleep in my own bed.”
Nolan had a sudden thought. “How am I going to get back to my place?”
“Courtney will take you home,” Dana said, as if this were obvious. Apparently, Courtney was always available and didn’t mind impromptu chores.
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. She’d be happy to.”
Nolan didn’t bother to bring up that his apartment key—along with the key fob for his car—was on a ring that was currently in his cousins’ possession. How was he going to get into his place? Hopefully, Mrs. Moore, the neighbor who held his spare key for emergencies, would be home. Since it was a Sunday night and she was a thousand years old, it was a good possibility.
Driving down the lane to Dana’s house, Nolan craned his neck to admire the massive houses. The wooded lots obscured some of the view, but it would be impossible to completely hide mansions. When Olive approached the driveway, Dana let out an expletive that he hadn’t known she was capable of. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
“The gate is locked,” she said. “It’s always open during the day, but I forgot that Ronald locks it at night.”
Sure enough, a large wrought iron gate with the initials DB across the front was securely closed across the span of the driveway. Stone pillars flanked the gate, and a matching fence spanned the length of the property on either side.
“Can you call and get them to open it?” Olive suggested.
Dana sighed. “No, I don’t have my phone.”
“Do you know the code for the touch pad?” Olive asked, glancing at the time on her dashboard, presumably worried she’d be docked for this unforeseen circumstance.
Dana shook her head. “Courtney always drives. She knows the code. I never bothered to learn any of that.” With a wave of her hand, she dismissed the idea as completely ridiculous.
“Maybe I could climb the fence?” Nolan didn’t really want to, but thought he should contribute to the conversation.
Dana seemed to be considering this option.
“It would be hard to get a foothold,” Olive said, assessing the fence, which was at least six feet tall, all vertical lines. The posts were topped with decorative points aimed upward. Landing on one of those could cause permanent damage. “Maybe if one of us gave you a boost?”
“That fence is designed to keep out intruders,” Dana said. “I don’t think climbing it is in anyone’s best interest. Sorry, Nolan.”
Whew. Nolan was off the hook. He tried again. “Do you know your neighbors?”
Dana turned and looked to him, delight crossing her face. “Nolan, you’re brilliant!”
“Really?”
“Yes! I just remembered that a section of the back is open for service vehicles. We can drive around and enter through the neighbor’s access driveway.”
Olive grinned. “Just tell me how to get there.”