Chapter Eleven #2
I’d have preferred another minute or two for reconnaissance but now I felt under pressure to move so I ran to join her, plastering myself to the ground when two people moved in front of the kitchen window, facing away from me.
I commando-crawled quickly to the side of the house, flattening myself against it, shoulder-to-shoulder with Lily.
“What took you so long and what was that on the ground?” she whispered. “You looked like you were hugging grass.”
I pressed a forefinger to my lips and pointed up to the window. Even as I strained to listen, I couldn’t hear anything, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t hear us. Then came the sound of pipes gurgling before they stopped. The light above us clicked off, shrouding us in darkness.
Shuffling to the edge of the window where the wall joined the porch, I strained to hear. Then voices came closer.
I beckoned Lily to join me. Partly so she could hear. Partly so she didn’t spirit her way through a window while my back was turned.
Slowly, I craned my head until I could just see through the porch railings.
Two men sat on easy chairs, their backs to the window.
I could see a woman’s socked feet stretching out, but the rest of her was beyond my view.
Then one of the men rose and crossed to the window and I motioned to Lily to shuffle back, pressing myself to the wall.
Joel stood there, whiskey glass in hand, gazing out at the dark and I realized the windows were doors that had been opened, allowing the fresh night air in.
A phone rang and after a moment of hearth-thumping panic, I was reassured it wasn’t either of ours.
Harvey came to join Joel at the opening. “I have to go,” he said. “There’s a delivery coming earlier than expected.”
“Oh? Okay. Sure.” Joel’s voice was flat and disinterested.
“I’ll check in on you in the morning,” said Harvey. “Yvette can keep you company.”
“I’ll be okay,” said Joel. “Yvette, you can go.”
“I can stay,” she said, still obscured from view. “I don’t mind really. I’m sure we can both use the company.”
“I’d prefer to be alone.”
“Truly, I don’t mind. I can stay over in the spare room.”
“No.”
“What about me? Maybe I don’t want to be alone,” whined Yvette. “Jessica was my sister…”
Joel didn’t turn around. “Just go, Yvette. Please.”
She joined them at the opening. “But…”
A glass shattered on the floor, a shard shooting across the porch and through the railing. Lily and I exchanged startled glances.
“I’ll clean it up. It was an accident. Of course it was,” said Yvette hurriedly. “It must have slipped from your hand.”
“Leave it,” yelled Joel, turning away from the garden to press his face into his hands.
“Come on, Yvette. Joel needs time alone to process. I’ll walk you to your place.”
“Get away from me.”
I peeked in time to see Yvette wrench her arm away from Harvey and stomp away. A moment later, the front door slammed.
“I’ll make sure she’s okay,” said Harvey.
“Just tell her to keep her mouth shut.”
“She will. No one needs to know anything. It was just a mistake and it’s over now,” said Harvey, then footsteps receded.
Joel slid the door closed and then the kitchen lights came on again. Footsteps on gravel crunched and the door opened and closed again, Harvey calling “Yvette?” but there was no answer.
I was ready to make a run for it across the back of the house to the path, when a figure strode out from the side yard at the other end of the porch.
Harvey hadn’t followed Yvette, or perhaps she’d rejected his offer again.
I pressed my back against the house as Lily pulled down her bank robber mask, covering her face, leaving only the whites of her eyes visible.
“Yvette’s in a snit,” said Harvey as he crossed the yard, pulling on a jacket, his phone pressed to his ear.
“She’s gone home. Yeah, don’t worry about her.
She’ll be home for the night now. She doesn’t suspect a thing.
Uh-huh. Uh, yeah. Yes, that’s right. Joel’s home for the night so we don’t have to worry about him either.
He won’t be much use to us for a while… No, that’s not it.
He’s good. Plus, I just found out his new, nasty, little secret so I own him now.
I told him the delivery was earlier than expected and he didn’t even blink.
I’ll let you through in a few minutes. We’ll unload and then I want you out of here…
No, I don’t care. I just want you back on the road.
Did you do as I told you? Good. Then we shouldn’t have any problems.” His voice faded as he reached the end of the path.
With the living room lights still on, and Joel moving around, I didn’t want to risk darting back across the garden.
So once I’d checked he’d returned to the living room, stooping to sweep up the glass, I pointed towards the kitchen side of the house and we hurried, squeezing through the bordering hedge in a few seconds.
“What was all that about?” asked Lily.
“I think there’s more going on here than we figured,” I said. “Let’s find out what.”