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Heff watched Sandy’s taillights fade as she drove down the street, noting that she made a left at the next intersection.
What had just happened? She wanted him. He knew that for a fact. Yet she’d balked at a repeat. Why? It didn’t make sense.
Unless perhaps the sex hadn’t been as good for her as it had been for him ...
He shook his head. No, that wasn’t it. She’d been right there with him every step of the way. In fact, it was the connection, that feeling of being totally and completely on the same page, that was most memorable, even more so than the actual things she’d done. The way she’d learned what he liked and what he didn’t by paying attention to his subtle clues. The way she’d responded to the things he’d done to her.
He was vaguely aware of the door leading out of the kitchen opening again. He didn’t think much of it. It had happened plenty of times while he waited in the shadows for Sandy. The bus kid had brought out a few bags of trash and snuck in a smoke or two and some text time.
But this time, it wasn’t the busser.
“Well, hello there. Waiting for me?”
He stiffened at the voice. Shit. Standing as he was beneath the light of the lot lamp, there was nowhere to hide.
She stalked closer, exaggerating the sway of her hips. The predatory gleam in her eye was scary. As a sniper, he recognized it. She was on the hunt, her sights set right on him.
The Southern gentleman in him made him offer a polite smile. “Thought you didn’t get off till ten.”
“Technically.” Her grin widened. “But I bet you could get me off way before then.”
True, but there wasn’t a chance in hell of that happening.
“How old are you anyway? Nineteen? Twenty?”
She stood up a little taller, thrusting out her chest in the process. “Old enough.”
Not for him, she wasn’t. And even if she were, it would still be a hard no.
“Sorry, sweetheart. Not happening.”
She pouted and then looked genuinely confused. “Then, why are you here, skulking around the employee parking lot?” Her eyes narrowed. “It’s because of her, isn’t it?”
“Who?”
Her lips thinned. “Sandy. What’s so great about her anyway?” she mumbled the last part. “Well, you’re wasting your time.”
He disagreed. “Yeah, why’s that?”
“Because she’s living with someone. When you come to your senses, you know where to find me. And maybe I’ll even still be interested.”
With that, she went back into the kitchen, letting the screen door slam behind her.
Sandy? Living with someone? Heff replayed the words in his head as he made his way back to his car. It didn’t make sense.
Either the girl had just said that to throw him off, or he’d completely misjudged Sandy, and he was rarely wrong when it came to reading women.
That was how he found himself cruising the quiet streets of Sumneyville. Darkness was just settling in. He scanned the driveways and the people out and about, walking their dogs, watering their lawns, looking for either Sandy or her car. He could just call Cage and know everything about her in a matter of minutes, but that would raise questions he wasn’t willing to answer.
He spotted her dark blue Honda Civic toward the edge of town, parked in the driveway of a stucco double block. A Sumneyville police cruiser sat in the driveway on the other side.
Great.
Heff slowed down to get a better look. He caught sight of Sandy talking to an older woman next to boy wearing a backpack. His heart sank. Did Sandy have a kid?
No, she couldn’t. Not unless she’d had him when she was a kid herself. He was as tall as she was, probably fourteen or fifteen.
Not wanting to be seen, he continued down the street and stopped at the Stop sign. In his rearview mirror, he saw Sandy crossing the street with the kid. A stocky kid who kept his head down and walked with a shuffling gait.
Heff turned right, drove a few blocks, and then turned into the parking lot of the motel. He picked a spot in the darkest corner where the streetlamps didn’t quite reach and got out. The place wasn’t far from Sandy’s house at all, he realized, with only a thick patch of trees separating the areas.
He slipped into the woods, appreciating the cooler air and scents of earth and pinesap and leaves.
When he got to the edge bordering the residential neighborhood, he moved east. Thankfully, it was an older neighborhood, and each house wasn’t an exact replica of the one beside it. The double-block stucco was easy to find.
A light went on, and Heff was able to see Sandy moving around in what looked like a kitchen. She opened the window and the inside door and then popped her head out and spoke. Heff heard the conversation clearly in the still night air.
“Hey, Lenny, we’ve got marsala tonight. Want some?”
Movement to the side caught his eye.
“Thanks, but I’ve got to head down to the station in a few. Save me some?”
“You got it.”
Sandy went back inside, but in the light that spilled out onto the porch, Heff saw the guy stand up and look out toward the woods, sucking on a vape pen. Heff stilled. He recognized the guy as one of the local cops who’d been hassling Smoke.
After a few moments, the guy turned and went back into his side.
Through the open window, Heff saw Sandy moving around the kitchen along with someone else, the clang of plates barely audible above the sounds of the natural symphony warming up around him as the nocturnal creatures began to awaken.
Heff watched for a short while longer and then went back to his car, processing this latest bit of information. It left him with more questions than answers, but one thing seemed perfectly clear—he needed to suck it up, head back to the Sanctuary, and forget about pursuing anything with Sandy.