Sienna and Devin slid into an old vinyl booth at the outdated, home-style restaurant that smelled like a mix of bacon and potpourri. Several people stopped to stare as soon as they’d stepped inside.
This was obviously a small town, one that was wary of visitors.
Sienna ignored them. She’d grown up in a small town, so she knew all about those dynamics.
A waitress with gray hair pulled into a sloppy bun approached them and handed them two ice waters and some laminated menus.
“Specials are on the board,” she said, a smile nowhere to be seen.
It was just as well that the woman wasn’t very friendly. Sienna wasn’t feeling overly social, either.
She glanced at the selections on the menu, not especially hungry yet famished at the same time. She needed to eat if she was going to keep her energy up. She finally decided on a burger and fries. The waitress returned a moment later, and Sienna ordered. Devin got the pot roast with mashed potatoes.
“How’s your leg?” Sienna asked Devin once she was sure there’d be no more interruptions for a while.
“It’s sore.” He rubbed his thigh where the vehicle had hit him.
“That SUV got you pretty hard.”
“It did. But I’ll just have a bruise. Nothing I won’t recover from.”
Sienna played with her straw wrapper, feeling surprisingly comfortable with her once-aloof neighbor. How quickly things could change.
Being in a situation like this really let you see someone’s true colors. And Sienna was glad she had seen Devin’s true colors, because she liked them. Her first impression of the man had been dead wrong.
“You plan on going back to work for the FBI one day?” she asked.
Devin nodded slowly. “Yeah, I do. I love my job.”
“It’s good to love what you do.” She understood because she loved teaching—she loved her students and adored their innocent hugs and wide smiles. It reminded her of how much hope there was in life, even if it was hard to see.
Devin shifted, his gaze steady. “Now my turn for a question.”
“Sure. Go ahead.”
“Have you dated since you and your fiancé broke up?”
Sienna nibbled her bottom lip a moment, surprised at his question. “I have been on a grand total of three dates since then. Two were men my friends set me up with and one was a man I met in the grocery store.”
“No interest?”
She shook her head. “No, no interest. I think after you’re dumped like I was, you realize what you’re looking for in a man.”
“And what’s that?”
Her cheeks heated, though she wasn’t sure why. Or maybe she was. Could it be because Devin’s face had flashed through her mind? “Someone who’s loyal. Stable. Whose emotions don’t toss him all over the place. Who respects me and my thoughts, even when they don’t make sense to him.”
“Your ex didn’t do those things?”
“I can’t say he did.” She rubbed her cup of water absently, moving the beads of moisture up and down. “I’ve just learned to steer clear of that kind of personality type.”
“I see.”
“How about you? Have you dated since…” She couldn’t finish the question. And, even with only the first part leaving her lips, Sienna regretted it. Losing a spouse and daughter to death was different than being left at the altar. She’d opened up a wound that may have never completely healed.
“No, I haven’t. I suppose I haven’t found anyone who interests me. And…well, it’s difficult to put the past behind me.” His words contained a wistfulness that touched Sienna.
“I understand.”
As a moment of awkwardness fell between them, the waitress appeared with their food. The plates looked delicious, and Sienna hoped the dishes tasted as good as they smelled. They joined hands for a moment of prayer before digging in.
Just as Sienna had taken the first bite, she noticed the man sitting across from them. He stared them down, an unmistakably bitter look in his eyes. She tried to ignore him and continue eating, but she couldn’t.
“Devin, this could be nothing, but there’s a man who looks like he wants to rip our heads off. Don’t turn too quickly.”
He nodded subtly, took a bite of his roast and then gazed around the restaurant.
The man nearly snarled at them as soon as Devin’s head turned his way.
The next thing Sienna knew, the man was on his feet and storming toward their table.
She braced herself for whatever was about to happen.
* * *
Devin rose to his feet, quick to put himself between this man and Sienna. “Can I help you?”
“I heard about you two,” the man growled, his gaze stony and accusatory.
Devin bristled, wondering where the man was going with this. “Heard about us?”
The man jutted his finger out toward Devin and Sienna. “You two are with that development company. You want to turn our mountain into a neighborhood.”
Devin exchanged a glance with Sienna. She looked equally confused. Where in the world had the man gotten that idea?
“Why would you think that?” Devin asked.
The man threw his thumb behind him, his posture still looking wound up and ready for a fight. “The man in the parking lot stopped and warned me about you two. He told me who you are.”
Devin’s spine stiffened at his words. “Wait—the man in the parking lot? When did he tell you this?”
“A few minutes ago, before I walked in. Why? What’s that matter? You trying to deflect from the issue here? Because you two aren’t welcome in this town. Do I need to escort you out?”
“Hold that thought.”
Without asking anymore questions, Devin darted toward the door. He knew it was a long shot, but he had to see if the man was still there. Because that man had to be the one following them. He had to be.
As soon as Devin stepped outside, he paused. Bright sunlight hit him, and two rows of cars stared back. No one was in sight—only a lone road in the distance that carried travelers to and from their destinations.
Devin examined each of the windows of the vehicles. He stopped at a truck that had signs and stickers plastered all over it, proclaiming Stop Development.
Go Away Hayman Corp.
Leave Our Mountain Alone.
That had to belong to the man inside. It would have been easy for the man pursuing Devin and Sienna to find the right motivation to enlist this guy into helping.
He scanned the rest of the vehicles. No one was inside the cars.
Whoever that man had been, he was now gone.
But the bad feeling in Devin’s gut remained.
He rushed back inside and saw Sienna still sitting at the table. She talked to the mountain man, who had seemed to calm down. Knowing Sienna, she could make the gruffest of persons warm up to her. She just had that way about her.
“Did you find him?” Sienna asked, her voice nearly breathless with hope as she looked up at Devin.
Devin shook his head, wishing he had better news. “No, he was gone.”
“Your girlfriend here explained to me that you’re not with the developers,” the man said, his demeanor notably calmer. “I apologize for the misunderstanding. It’s a sensitive topic around here.”
Devin didn’t bother to correct his assumption about Sienna being his girlfriend. It wasn’t the most important issue right now. “No, we’re definitely not developers or anything close. That man was just trying to lead you astray.”
The man narrowed his eyes with doubt.
Devin pulled out his badge and flashed it. “I’m FBI. Now, could you tell us what this man looked like and exactly what he said?”
“Sure. He was tall.” He motioned with his hands to illustrate, showing a man around Devin’s height. “Kind of big across the shoulders. Had dark hair and a look of determination in his eyes.”
Devin absorbed the man’s words. It fit the description of the man Devin had encountered at Lisa Daniel’s place and even at Sienna’s on the night all of this had begun. Devin had never seen his face, but he knew the body type, at least.
“And what exactly did he say?” Devin asked. “Please think carefully, because it’s vitally important to a case I’m working.”
“I was about to come inside when he stopped me.” The man rubbed his wiry beard. “He warned me that you’d be inside and told me that, if I was opposed to the development, I should let you know you’re not welcome here.”
“You didn’t think that was unusual?” Devin asked.
“People around here are against development. This has been our mountain for generations. We’ll do whatever we have to do to stop that neighborhood from going in.”
So someone had obviously known that. But why had the man wanted to draw attention to Devin and Sienna? Had he wanted to slow them up so he could get a head start? Did that mean he was headed to the Brightons’, as well?
The questions churned inside Devin, and suddenly his appetite was gone.
“Thank you for your help.” Devin pulled out his wallet and dropped some cash on the table. “Sienna, I think we should go. Now.”
* * *
Sienna was still shaken from the confrontation in the restaurant. Her mind kept replaying it as she and Devin headed down the road.
She just couldn’t figure out this person’s game plan, no matter how much she turned it over in her mind.
“These people know our every move, it seems,” Sienna said, glancing at Devin. His profile showed that he was equally distracted by the earlier scene. He had that determined look in his eyes. His jaw kept flexing as if he were deep in thought.
“I know. But I’m certain we weren’t followed. I kept my eye on the road. That’s why this doesn’t make sense to me.”
“To me, either.” She crossed her arms and leaned back, exhausted from all the running and all the questions and worry. She glanced over at Devin again, a new question rising in her mind. “You mind if I check on Colby?”
“Not at all.”
He handed her his phone, and she dialed Trina’s number. She answered on the first ring, sounding breathless but friendly.
“I was wondering when you’d call,” Trina said.
“Is everything okay?”
“Oh, everything is fine. Colby is having a great time.”
Relief filled Sienna. She’d suspected he was, but it was good to hear a confirmation. “Great. I’m so glad to hear that. Thanks again for taking care of him. It means a lot.”
“It’s no problem at all. Sarah is happy to have a friend to play with. And if Sarah is happy, I’m happy. We’ve already built a monster tower of blocks, we’ve made cookies and I’m toying with the idea of finger painting next. Pray for me.”
Sienna smiled. Trina was the kind of friend she wanted one day when she had kids of her own—if that ever happened. Sometimes it didn’t seem like it would. Being dumped by Jackson had shaken her self-confidence, she supposed.
“There is one thing.” Trina’s voice changed from lighthearted to serious.
Sienna’s spine stiffened as she sensed bad news coming. “What’s that?”
“Colby accidentally pulled his diaper bag down from the table today, and everything fell out all over the floor.”
“Okay…” Sienna had no idea where she was going with this, but so far it didn’t sound too serious.
“Anyway, as I was putting things back inside, I noticed the bottom of the bag liner was loose. I tried to readjust it, but the whole thing came out. There was one of those tracking tiles beneath the plastic insert there.”
Sienna knew a little about the devices. They were little plastic squares that a person could connect with their phones. People usually attached them to keys or cell phones or other objects that they didn’t want to lose. That way, if they did lose something, they could ping the tile, which would show them where it was located.
“What?” What sense did that make?
“I didn’t think it was yours. I did a little research, and this particular brand pings off other Bluetooth tiles in the area, so it has a broader tracking range. Up to a few miles, if what I read was correct.”
“So someone could track the location of the diaper bag even from far away,” Sienna muttered, a sick feeling in her gut.
“Exactly. The device was wedged in so tightly that I can’t imagine it got there by accident.”
“Thanks for letting me know. I worry that someone might trace it to you—and Colby—there at the Jennings Center.
“I understand. I already researched how to disable it, but I didn’t find a lot of great ideas. I could burn it.”
“Don’t do that. The police may be able to use it to track back to the person who placed it there originally. Just…” What could she do?
“There’s an area here where cell service is restricted. I’ll store it there. Nothing pings in that area. Believe me.”
“That sounds great. Thank you.”
“Of course. Anyway, I just thought you’d want to know, in case it was important.”
Sienna ended the call and relayed the conversation to Devin.
His jaw visibly tightened. “Now we know how they’ve been following our moves. They planned from the start to keep track of us by planting that in the diaper bag.”
“It also means they know where Colby is,” Sienna said, her stomach twisting with disgust. Whatever was going on here, it had been planned. Intentional. Premeditated.
“But they can’t get to Colby,” Devin reminded her. “Remember that.”
That did bring her a measure of comfort.
“It doesn’t explain how they found us today,” Sienna said.
“Maybe he was watching and waiting for us to leave Lisa’s place,” Devin said.
“But you said we weren’t followed.”
Devin let out a long breath. “I suppose once we got out of town and headed down this road, there weren’t very many places we could go. This guy could have hung back far enough that I wouldn’t spot him, continued down the road, and then seen our car here at Louise’s Kitchen.”
It was plausible, Sienna mused. “You think he knows we’re going to the Brightons’?”
“Not necessarily. But we should be careful. Because the more I learn, the more uncomfortable I am.”
Sienna pulled her arms more tightly around herself, understanding his statement all too well. “Me, too. Me, too. And I just can’t reconcile in my mind why he would do this. Was he trying to slow us down? Stop us?”
“I suppose there could be a myriad of reasons. But maybe the main one is that he doesn’t want us to talk to the Brightons.”
“Which means that’s exactly what we should do.”
Devin glanced at her and nodded, admiration in his gaze. “Exactly.”