SHADOWED (c)
by Lina Gardiner
Part One...
Grevellia Ward
stood in the shadows and watched the house currently under her
surveillance. She sighed and wished
she’d thought to bring along a thermos of tea or coffee and something to eat. She’d been here for hours and not one person had
shown up. Her stomach growled and she
dug into her backpack for an old mint or a stale piece of gum. Nothing.
Why the hell had
she been hired to watch this empty place, anyway? The client who had come into
her office yesterday had paid in cash. He
wanted an update on who showed up here tonight.
She leaned
against the oak tree at the edge of the park, directly across the road from the
house under her watch. A perfect
location for surveillance.
Last year at
this time she was making a decent wage.
But now? Okay, so she needed the
money. Sue her.
She cringed at
that thought. Bad choice of words. The reason she was in this mess was because
she’d been taken to court by a citizen.
She’d been a
damned good cop. And the worst part,
she’d done nothing wrong. But evidence
had been found that implicated her. She
gritted her teeth too hard and felt her jaw twinge in pain. The so-called innocent citizen had said she’d
taken a bribe and had threatened their life if they didn’t keep on paying. Luckily the case had been thrown out, but
fiction or not, the department didn’t like that kind of cloud hanging over
them. She didn’t actually have to quit,
but things got so uncomfortable she finally decided it wasn’t worth it any
more.
The worst part,
she’d just bought a new house. She’d met
a guy who seemed a perfect fit. And she
had a little bit of savings in the bank.
Whammo! Everything was pulled out
from under her. No job meant, no way to
pay her mortgage. She’d hung on for
about six months, but then had to declare bankruptcy. She lost everything. Including Beecham Laramy. Apparently, he had a thing for women in
power, and when she’d become more or less powerless so he lost interest.
Bastard!
At least she’d
found out what a jerk he was before it was too late. Hell, she’d been hoping he’d propose before
the shit hit the fan and landed all over her.
She felt like a
fraud in some ways. Mostly because she’d
had little respect for PI’s before she’d become one herself.
She had no idea
how difficult this job could be. Well,
more to the point, how damnable boring it could be.
But the client
paid her a thousand dollars in cash to watch this house tonight. She needed the greenbacks. Who was she to complain if no one showed
up. Made the job that much easier.
A
twig snapped to her left and she stepped further in the shadows of the
tree. Had that been a footstep, or a
roaming cat or dog?
To be continued........
