She gave me a broad smile, with no hint of mischief in those bright eyes. The girl was good. Too good. I reminded myself never to play poker with her.
“Good night, Titus. I hear there’s a bonfire planned for Tuesday night to celebrate Hazel’s birthday.”
“I saw the text. I’ll be there. You want a ride?”
She wrinkled her nose. “Yeah, I better. I plan to get Hazel doing shots with me. It’s like a birthday ritual, you know?”
I cringed. “I do know. Except I see it more as Amelia’s birthday hangover ritual.”
She made some weird noise with her lips. “You sound like an old man, T.”
“Just ’cause I like my liver working doesn’t make me old. Makes me smarter than you. See ya.” I headed out the door to my truck, whistling like I was headed home from a good day’s work. Another week and I’d have all the repairs done on the hotel. Only one more week of sharing space with Amelia.
I threw my tool belt in the box in the back of my pickup truck and climbed in. The engine let out a racket as I fired it up and left the parking lot, just to pull around the side of the hotel to idle at the curb. I’d have to keep the engine running because starting that sucker would give away my presence. Even the dead in the cemetery across town probably heard my truck start up every morning. I’d never minded the noise before, but then again, I’d never stalked anyone before either.
“Bingo,” I said quietly, seeing a figure in all black leave the hotel not even thirty minutes later. I couldn’t see well enough to know if it was Amelia, but I had a hunch it was her based on how she kept darting behind each parked car before continuing her walk. The damn woman looked more guilty than a bank robber walking out with a bag full of money spilling on the ground.
As soon as she got in her car, I followed, careful to stay as far back as I could and still keep her in my line of sight. She didn’t go far, parking on Brinestone Way by Lucy’s sperm bank. I parked behind the Hardware Store and shut the engine off. I had no idea where she was going, but I’d have to go on foot from here.
I thought I lost her when I didn’t see her outside Lucy’s place, but a soft yelp snagged my attention a minute later. There she was on the side of the road, nearly falling down into the weeds that sprouted waist high there. I rolled my eyes and headed in that direction. I didn’t know where she was going with a backpack on, but I was along for the ride.
It wasn’t easy hanging back and not alerting her to my presence, but I wanted to see what she was up to. The lengths that she would go to get the gossip on the mayor. Much to my surprise, she wasn’t headed in the direction of Mayor Bennett’s house. Right as she got to the town limits, she crouched behind a bush for a long while, her head popping up occasionally to scope out the area.
“What the hell are you doing, Lia?” I muttered on a whisper, about a hundred yards behind her, hiding behind my own cluster of bushes.
Friday night was bingo night at city hall, which meant most citizens who participated in such activities were already there, whipping out their red daubers and leaving the roads light. And it was too early for the younger kids to be out and about yet.
Finally, she popped up and darted across the road to hide behind a tree. Damn, she was fast for a girl who never exercised. I stayed where I was, too entertained to show myself now. A few seconds later, the light that lit up the Welcome to Auburn sign went dark. I frowned.
A dark figure came out from behind the tree and knelt in front of the sign. I stood quickly, my legs tingling from staying crouched so long. Stepping as lightly as I could, I crept closer.
A weird psfttt noise broke the still night air and I frowned, trying to place it. There it was again. And again. The second my brain figured it out, I dropped my chin to my chest.
“Dammit,” I muttered, barely making a sound.
I staggered out from behind the bush and walked up behind Amelia. She didn’t seem to hear me over the rush of graffitiing the Welcome to Auburn Hill sign with spray paint. Mystery solved. Amelia was our resident tagger.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked out loud to the back of her head.
Amelia whirled around so fast, she fell on her ass, the spray paint can hitting the ground with a metallic clunk and rolling toward my feet. Her mouth froze wide-open and she stayed mute, just staring up at me like a deer in headlights. I always wondered what it would take to stun Amelia into silence.
“Caught you red-handed,” I deadpanned, seeing the stain of red paint on her gloves.
It hit me like a punch to the gut. The woman I was in love with could be arrested for pulling this little stunt. What the hell was she thinking?
She snapped her jaw shut and got back on her feet in a crouched position. “Hand me that can so I can finish and get out of here.”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I think what you meant to say is,” I continued in a falsetto voice, “damn, Titus, I’m really glad you stopped me. I’ve come to my senses and I’ll stop graffitiing public property so my own father doesn’t have the shame of arresting me. I’m so grateful for your valuable counsel.”
Instead of arguing with me like I expected, Amelia looked down at my boots like a reprimanded child. When she looked back up at me, her eyes grew wide again, this time in a plea that hit me right in the heart.
“Just help me finish and I promise I won’t do it again. You know I keep my promises, T.”
I sighed and dropped my arms, crouching down so I didn’t attract attention should anyone be driving by or looking this way. Irritation was still forefront, but I had to admit, I didn’t want her to actually be caught, and the woman did keep her promises. Maybe I could keep this information in my back pocket to strong-arm her into giving up her deviant ways. Or maybe I could convince her of other deviant ways to get her rocks off…like, say, with her best friend?
I blinked hard to get my head out of the gutter. Seemed I’d taken up permanent residence there lately when it came to Amelia. Rolling the can back toward her, I resigned myself to my fate.
“Hurry up. I’ll hold you to that promise, you know.”
Her face transformed into a huge smile and she snatched the can up before I finished blinking. She just needed one more L on the sign to complete the word “HELL” so she was done quickly, packing the can away in her backpack. She waved at me to follow her, sneaking out the way she’d come, stopping behind the large bush to mess with a cord.
“What the hell is that?” I asked, leaning close to see what she was doing.
She snickered softly. “I felt bad cutting the electrical line to the light illuminating the welcome sign, so I learned how to fix electrical wire. I mean, this cord should be underground, so I think that’s the fault of the city for being careless, not mine, but either way, I figured defacing the sign was enough damage.”
I shook my head at her explanation, watching how she carefully wound electrical tape around the cord to fix whatever she’d spliced previously.
“You’re lucky you haven’t fried your hands doing that,” I muttered, wondering when she’d stop being such a daredevil.
“I have, actually. That’s why I wear these thick cloth gloves now.”
I rolled my eyes and yanked her away from the scene of the crime as soon as she was done with the electrical wire. Of course, she’d thought of everything a criminal would need.