Shadowed (c)
Chapter One - part two
Another
snap in the shadowy cover proved there was someone approaching. Gravellia
didn’t like carrying a weapon but she’d grabbed her revolver on her way out of the office
without even considering why.
Since, she’d
resigned from the police force she’d stopped carrying a gun. Normally it was nothing but a paperweight in
her locked gun case. But, tonight,
something felt off. She had no idea what
the hell was up. Maybe she shouldn’t
have taken that envelope of much needed cash for a simple one-night stakeout
when it didn’t feel right. This gig
reeked to the sky, but her curiosity got the better of her. Now, she wanted to know what was going on
here.
Yeah, she was packing tonight, and now with
some clumsy oaf trying to sneak up on her, she hoped she wouldn’t have to use
it.
She
slipped around the trunk of the large tree and pointed her revolver at the
shadowy figure in front of her. “Who are
you, and why the hell are you following me?”
“Holy
shit, Gravellia! Don’t point that thing
at me. Is it really loaded?” the familiar teen aged voice said breathlessly.
A long stream of
silent curses echoed inside Gravellia’s head.
Had to be silent, because she never swore in front of her niece, Verbie. “Verbena Ward, I told you to stay at home
tonight. You shouldn’t be here,” she
hissed. “It could be dangerous.”
Worse, If
Verbena could find her this easily, had she been spotted by whomever she was
supposed to be watching. Is that why the
lights remained out in the house she was watching? They’d spotted her?
Her shoulders
slumped and she felt like kicking something.
Verbie huffed a
dramatic sigh. “Believe me, I’d rather
be at home Aunt Gravellia.”
“But…?” Gravellia shoved the revolver back into her
holster and flicked a quick glance at the bungalow still in total darkness.
“But, I’m doing
a report on you for my final world studies class.”
“Verbie, what
the hell….” She bit her lip against the unwanted curse. “What in heaven’s name are you talking
about?”
“I’m supposed to job shadow a
local business person. It’s worth half
of my class mark, Auntie. If I don’t do
this, I’ll fail.” Her eyes flashed in the darkness. “And
mom won’t be very happy if I fail.”
Garvellia pursed
her dry lips. “You can’t use your mother
as a threat, Verbie. She can’t
manipulate me the way she does other people. Now, you go home and we’ll talk
about this when I get back.” Damn it,
she shouldn’t have said that to Jo-ann’s daughter. But the kid was savvy. Maybe more savvy than she should be at
thirteen.
Verbena’s head
lowered and Gravellia felt a weight in the pit of her stomach. Damn it, the poor kid got shifted from
relative to relative whenever her mother found a new boyfriend and flew off to
God-only-knew-where. The kid needed stability. Someone she could rely on.
Verbena had already started stumbling her way back out of the stand of trees. “Verbie.
You can shadow me, okay. But not
tonight. Not on stakeout. Tomorrow, you and I will go to my office and
put in a full day. How’s that sound?”
“Boring,” the teenager
said. “This is the exciting stuff.”
An engine roared
down the street and a car lurched into the driveway of the dark bungalow. Several men got out of the SUV. Light went on inside and curtains were
instantly drawn.
“Go home, now,
Verbie. This is NOT the place for you to
be.”
........ continued in one week
