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Sady fell asleep and later awakened with a groan, feeling like she'd been shoved into a body slimmer and a gown two sizes too small. She tried stretching, but that proved impossible in the cramped seat.
"Problem?" the amused voice asked from the side seat.
She overlooked his question, asking one of her own, "Is this thing EVER going to stop so I can get out and stretch? I wouldn't mind something to eat even if it's from a vending machine."
"You missed it," he told her as he munched on a granola bar.
"Missed what?" She rubbed her head and tried to look over the seats to see what she missed.
"The break to stretch your legs and get a snack." His innocent gaze didn't fool her.
"And you didn't wake me?" Sady gave him a disgruntled look in return.
"I didn't think it was wise. My mother always told me to never wake a sleeping woman."
Sady howled in derision. "I doubt that advice came from your mother. That sounds more like a drunken buddy's advice on how to sneak out of a woman's life."
"I didn't realize you were familiar with the niceties of one-night stands," he retorted with a smug grin.
Sady counted to ten- twice. "I'll take the high road here and make a request. Can you please wake me up if I happen to be sleeping at the next break?"
"Does that include bus transfers or would you like to sleep through those?" He seemed determined to antagonize her.
"Never mind." With a sigh she turned to look at the now dark scenery blowing past the speeding bus. She ignored the tap on her shoulder. When his hand appeared offering her a granola bar, she took it and mumbled, "Thanks."
"Was that so hard?"
You have no idea she thought to herself. When she finished the granola bar, she turned back with a smile and handed him the wrapper for spite.
"You're high maintenance, aren't you?"
"I'm on the wrong bus," Sady muttered. "This one is supposed to be heading to Sinful, not Hell."
"Did you say Sinful? As in Sinful, Louisiana?" he asked with a look of surprise painted on his features. "Isn't that a coincidence?"
Fate was fickle and cruel. After a month spent basking in the glow of European male admiration she had somehow landed this guy as her sidekick for the next who knew how many hours of this trip. It was like getting ready to sink your teeth into a delicious cream puff only to have it taken away and replaced with a celery stalk because you were a pound overweight. "Didn't I also mention Hell?" she asked through clenched teeth.
"Yes, but that's in Michigan." He held out his hand and introduced himself. "Matt Meadows. Nice to meet you."
Sady unwillingly shook his hand and jokingly introduced herself as Sassy Monroe. The lie flowed off her tongue like butter, but she didn't feel bad because he was distracting her from working on a cover story, in case she needed one.
"Sassy? Really? That's unusual. Does it stand for something?" he asked.
"Sassafras." It was too late to take it back, and she wasn't about to confess her real name, Sandy-Sue. "I'm sure you can see why I insist on Sassy. The alternatives aren't pretty." Don't say it, she inwardly cautioned him. Unless you want to learn how I got top marks in my self-defense class.
He turned his laugh into a cough and politely agreed when her eyes narrowed. "So, Sassy. What do you do for a living?"
He seemed determined they were going to be buddies, so she lied again. "I'm an editor."
"No kidding! I imagined something more exotic." Her brows went straight, and he hurriedly added, "Any famous authors I might know?"
"I doubt it. I edit books on travel." As long as she was spinning a tale she decided to make it a good one.
"Well, this just gets better and better. It's like destiny just threw us together," he grinned. "Guess what I do for a living?"
Destiny sucks! She closed one eye thoughtfully. "Professional dancer, lingerie designer, wedding planner?" she asked hoping to insult him. "No? Opera star, nanny? Wow, not those either! Well, I really can't guess."
"I write travel books! Can you believe that?" he asked, ignoring her attempted insults.
Not at all, Sady thought while she bared her teeth and said, "Gee, isn't that a surprise?" Like a toothache on a Saturday night. "So are you writing a book about Sinful, Louisiana?"
"Oh, no. It's a book on Louisiana in general, but I'm stopping off in Sinful to see an old friend. Why are you headed there?" He appeared casual but his body language spoke to Sady and she wasn't fooled.
"I'm looking up a distant relative." Part of that was true. She'd really be looking down since Great Aunt Marge was in the ground, but he didn't need to know that. He studied her and Sady still sensed something, but she felt puzzled because he didn't give off stalker vibes. She reached for her bag to get a stick of gum. And there it was, proof her suspicions were right. Matt Meadows had gone through her bag while she slept. He was good, but she was better. Being an OCD purse packer, she always kept pepper spray and her cell phone at the top of the bag, along with a whistle in a little loop. The pepper spray and cell phone were where they belonged, but he must not have noticed he had knocked the whistle out of place. It was now at the bottom of her bag and she wasn't responsible. Sady automatically checked the purse before falling asleep. So he knew she wasn't really Sassafras Monroe but he couldn't say anything unless he wanted to confess his own sins.
"Is anything wrong?" Matt asked, and she froze, knowing he watched her expressions closely.
You have to be more careful. Sady's senses went to high alert as she gave him a smile. "I'm just looking for the chewing gum." She finally pulled out the pack of gum and offered him a piece. He took two, of course. He probably needs two because of his big mouth, she thought. He unwrapped both pieces and handed her the wrappers.
Out of spite, she asked him about his travels and he literally bored her to sleep. As far as bedtime stories went, they were good she thought as she drifted off, the purse under her left arm and against the side of the bus. Not that it would matter now but she wasn't leaving it on the floor again.
When Sady woke up, it was dark and quiet on the bus. Everyone seemed to be sleeping, including Matt. His eyes were closed and his face relaxed. She saw his cell phone peeking out the top of his T-shirt pocket and her fingers flexed. She wanted to look at his phone and wondered if she'd be able to lift it from his pocket.
Fortunately, the beauty pageant circuit taught her a set of life skills that couldn't be learned elsewhere. Like learning to control her facial expression when she wanted to gloat or throttle someone, but couldn't because she was on stage. Acting surprised when she won and happy for the b... big winner when she didn't. The talent acts improved her dexterity and acting ability, and those acts had to change frequently or she would be left behind. Learning to glide improved her ability to move smoothly without attracting the wrong kind of attention. And memorizing answers to every ridiculous question one could imagine had improved her ability to think fast and improvise quickly.
Finally, sneaking out after curfew and returning without getting caught- that was a special talent one at which Sady had excelled. Feigning sleep and fooling the chaperon was part of that package.
It was time to put those skills to work. She shifted slightly in her seat, eyes closed, trying to get comfortable. Then she stretched and brushed Matt's arm. He sat up and looked in her direction. She shuffled around, accidentally kicking him in the shin, knowing he was staring at her, just like all those chaperons she'd fooled during a prolonged shoot. Matt's response was that of a suspicious person. Now why would a man she met by chance on a bus have reason to study a person trying to get comfortable in their seat?
A short while later he lay back with his eyes closed. Sady waited ten minutes before drifting over and letting her head rest on his upper arm while she wrapped her arm around his. This would help check his reactions. She knew without looking his eyes just opened because he tensed slightly. He shook his arm as if to check her alertness. She stayed put with a soft sleepy mumble.
After a half hour of testing her, he quit coming to attention every time she shifted, touched him or bumped him. He didn't even flinch when her left hand came to rest on his chest. With a sleepy yawn she dragged it lightly across his chest, half expecting him to grab her wrist. She kept her hand there for a few minutes, but his heart rate hadn't changed. It was the same steady pace it had been, so she removed her left hand along with his phone.
She positioned herself with her purse on her lap and she dropped the phone, letting it rest there a few minutes. Carefully she touched a button to make the display light up, trying to keep it the screen covered. She hit the button for Contacts, surprised the phone wasn't password protected. Those were the actions of a confident, or in his case over-confident, man.
There were two numbers in his contact list, one under Home and the other under Office. She opened the contact info, memorized the numbers, then let the phone slide between their seats and cuddled closer on his arm again. It was firm with muscle, but since this wasn't an opportunity that came along every day, or any day for that matter, Sady didn't see why she shouldn't enjoy the experience. She could appreciate his muscles without liking the guy.
An hour later she felt him stiffen and his heart rate increased. He moved, looking for his phone. He peeled her off his arm and gave his seat a pat down while she shifted back to her own side. A few seconds later he found his phone. "Fool the chaperon" kept her in place for another fifteen minutes. She was good at the fake wake, slowly opening her eyes and acting slightly disoriented at her surroundings. She knew he observed her closely but there was a reason Sady won so many beauty pageants over other hopefuls. She was a master of expressions and Matt didn't even know she just beat him.
"What time is it?" she asked him rubbing the sleep from her eyes and sitting up with a groan.
"Almost time to change buses," he finally responded.
"Thank God!" she said with heartfelt conviction. "I feel like I've grown roots. I'm starting to think I should have flown part way." She must have been convincing because he quit boring holes with his eyes and shifted his attention to the compartment above the seats. Sady enjoyed the view as he pulled his bag from the overhead storage.
"Would you mind getting mine as well?" she asked as soon as he settled back into his seat. "Please?" She added an insincere smile that made him bristle.
Matt gave her a mutinous look but did as she requested. He didn't offer to help her carry it for the bus change though. Instead, he sprinted down the aisle and exited the bus before anyone else. After Sady collected her small stored bag from the driver, she looked around the bus station. No sign of Matt. The schedule board showed their connecting bus wouldn't arrive for a half hour.
She wondered if he was camping in the bathroom. Add strong bladder and knowing when to limit fluid consumption to her list of accomplishments. She avoided the bus bathroom but took advantage of the lay-over at the station to get ready for the next part of her trip. Feeding the vending machines produced a bottle of water and protein snacks, which she stuffed in her purse. She sat down in the station to wait for the bus, gathering her thoughts to plan her unannounced arrival in Sinful.
Plans that should have already been made but weren't thanks to Matt. Thinking of Matt started her wondering. During her modeling days she'd seen law enforcement from local traffic cops to the Feds. Bomb threats and kidnapping attempts... nothing stopped the shoot from going on. While Matt didn't give off that air of authority, Sady was positive he wasn't just a fellow traveler either. So not a creepy stalker and not a cop. Which left what? And equally important why?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the bus. After confirming it was the bus to Louisiana, she climbed aboard and found a seat part way back. Matt almost missed the bus, appearing at the last minute, banging on the closing door. Sady shot him a snotty smile as he passed on his way to the back of the bus.
He grinned, stopped in the aisle, and said loudly, "By the way, Sassafras. You left before I could tell you how much I enjoyed last night." Heads turned in Sady's direction and her smile grew. A junior miss contestant could shoot that one down.
She winked and replied, "It was my pleasure. And I promise not to tell your mother you were a bad boy." There was snickering from the appreciative audience and then the heads swiveled back in Matt's direction. He continued staring, his expression unreadable. When he realized he was the center of attention, he flushed and made his way to an empty seat.
Aw, that was no fun. But it was probably a good thing he was out of sight. Now maybe she could put together a plan. Her internet search had yielded two choices of accommodations when she got to Sinful. There was an old motel that probably smelled like mold, and a bed-and-breakfast. Someone named the motel the Sinful Inn. In and out was more like it, Sady thought. It looked like the kind of place that rented rooms by the hour.
If she had a choice, she'd take the latter, the Sinful Bed and Breakfast. Neither place scored points for originality but if it was clean and had a decent bed she didn't care. She hadn't called to make a reservation because that would have required a credit card deposit using her real name. She hoped the innkeepers of Sinful didn't have a problem with good old-fashioned cash for payment.
Could she pass herself off as a wandering tourist? Probably not, thanks to Matt. He'd become more of a nuisance than she'd originally thought. Maybe she could switch gears and pretend to be working on her family tree. A local newspaper and a quick walk through the cemetery might prove useful in backing that story.
Small towns were notorious for their suspicious attitude toward outsiders. It didn't matter if that small town was north or south of the Mason Dixon. The mentality crossed all boundaries- geographic, political, social, and religious. It was an all American pastime for those folks. Sady would have to be on her toes and she hoped Matt would garner his share of unwanted attention from the fine citizens of Sinful.
Sady stood and glanced around the bus. Now was as good a time as any to check those phone numbers she'd retrieved from Matt's phone. She reached into her purse and turned off her phone.
Pulling it from her bag, she said, "Oh, darn!" The nice lady sitting by her side glanced over and Sady shrugged saying, "Wouldn't you know my battery had to die now. I need to call my daddy and check on him. He's been sick." She finished on a pitiful note.
"Here, dear. Just use mine." Sady took the offered phone and thanked the woman with tears in her eyes. She called the office number first since it was still during business hours. It took an unusual amount of time for her call to go through, but someone answered after the first ring.
"I swear, Matt, if you're using someones phone to tell me you lost another cell phone... How many times do I have to tell you to stop carrying them in your shirt pocket?" Sady disconnected, no doubt in her mind. The man who'd spoken on the phone was the same one who arranged for her European trip- her uncle.
She smiled at the woman and gave her a shrug, still keeping the phone to her ear. When the woman turned back to her magazine Sady deleted the number from the call log and set the notification to silent mode before she handed it back.
"I guess the nurse must be in with daddy now. Thank you ever so much though." With any luck, she'd be off the bus before the lady figured out someone had changed her settings.
Well, she now had proof Matt and her uncle were connected, and Matt wasn't on this bus by accident. His presence could only mean he was watching her. At least there was no need to worry about blowing her cover story. He couldn't challenge it without revealing his own involvement. The big question now was why?