Chapter 251
720 Words
Five hours later, the doorbell went. Cordelia and Sully stared at each other, a bit startled.
“Dallas?” she asked.
“No way.” Sully checked his gun, tucked it into the waistband of his jeans. “He said no direct contact and anyway, if something was wrong, he’d have called. You get your gun, and stay here until I call you. You hear me?”
She nodded and took the gun from her wildly-expensive designer purse. “Got it.”
Sully went to the front door slowly, trying to see through the stained glass window. He squinted, saw what looked like blonde hair. Suddenly, he had a strong intuition who was standing on the step, and he sighed a bit.
He braced himself, swung the door open and sure enough, there stood three women. They ranged in age from maybe twenty-five to about forty, he figured, and they all held plates or bowls in their manicured hands. Their eyes lit up when they saw him, and he took a step back in self-defense. He was a man who could take down a twisted stalker, but he was not even remotely up for nosy neighborhood casserole-bringers sniffing out the newest couple on the block.
“Well,” the blonde one said, her eyes devouring his broad chest. “Hel-lo.”
“Hello,” he said.
“I’m Pamela Francis,” she carried on. “I live across the street. I saw you and your lovely… wife?... arrive last night, and we thought we’d welcome you to the neighborhood.”
“Oh. Thank you.”
“So, is she your wife?” the brunette asked him. “The lady in that gorgeous silk dress?”
“Yes.” Sully seized on the fact that he had backup nearby. “That’s my wife Millie.”
“Oh, how marvelous!” chirped the redhead. “Is she at home?”
“Yes!” Sully said with great relief. “Please come in, and I’ll just go and get her.”
“Thank you.” They stepped in and stared around avidly.
He had just turned when he saw Cordelia standing there, and he thanked the good sweet Lord above. “Hon, these ladies are here to welcome us.”
“Oh, how kind!” she twinkled. “Invite them in, Garrett.” She approached, smiling sweetly. “I’m delighted to meet you all… thank you for coming over to say hello.”
“Well, sure,” said Pamela. “We brought you a few goodies, too. Nothing too fancy – a lasagna and a salad and some banana muffins. I mean, assuming you eat carbs.”
“Oh, we do and with great enthusiasm,” Cordelia said. “Maybe you could stay for a coffee and a muffin? We could chat a bit?”
“That would be lovely,” said the redhead. “We’ll be neighbors for… what? A week?”
“Probably two,” Cordelia said smoothly as she led the ladies to the kitchen. “Garrett’s here on business and the timeline is open-ended.”
The women all gazed at him again and he backed up. “OK, then. I’ll get back to the office and do some work… you’ll be alright without me, baby?”
Cordelia winked. “For a little while.”
He nodded and left the kitchen, listening to the chatter start up right away, thanking Christ that he could escape. His ‘wife’ was good at socializing and setting people at ease, and this skill had been immeasurably helpful back in Foxburg Falls. It had allowed people to relax around them as a couple while allowing Sully to stay alert, and even a bit aloof. But he’d discovered that a man could be that way when he had a gorgeous, bubbly wife who distracted people from his reticence.
He shut the office door and turned on the laptop again. He’d found the place for the meet on Google maps, and he was determined to study the surrounding streets until the layout was burned into his brain. If something went wrong, he’d need to know every shortcut and side street to get them the f**k out of there in one piece.
He settled into the chair, stared at the map, and got back to work.
- Writer
