Tommy lifted his eyes. “You can’t say any more because of privilege, right?”
I smiled. “You got it.”
“I get it.”
“Thank you. Guys I’ve dated in the past didn’t understand.”
“Same for me. I usually couldn’t even tell girlfriends where I was going when we got sent out of the country. Some people don’t understand that a job requirement is to keep our lips sealed.”
I’d never really thought about Tommy and me having things in common because his job had been so different from mine. It was a relief to not have someone press me for answers simply because they were curious.
And I was really glad I would never have to worry about Tommy being sent out of the country without me knowing where he was going.
I closed my eyes.
I was thinking about him in future terms way too much, and I needed to make it stop.
“You okay up there?” he asked.
“I’m fine.” I pressed on his shoulders. “But we’d probably better get up. I have some work I have to do today.”
That was just an excuse. I really didn’t want to lie in his arms and think about how much I was going to miss him.
39
Tommy
Sunday afternoon, I dropped Olivia off at work. She had insisted on going in to work on a few things, and I had insisted that I would be the one to take her. I worried about her being in her office building on the weekend, but she assured me many lawyers worked seven days a week and she wouldn’t be alone.
That was reassuring information, but what made me feel even better was when I talked to the security guard near the entrance. I took him for former military and knew just how to make him a new friend of mine. By the time I left, he was more than happy to keep an extra eye out for any suspicious activity, especially regarding Olivia.
I headed back to her neighborhood and parked in her driveway. Then, I took out a notebook and began writing down house numbers. After that, I strode up to the front door of the house directly across the street and knocked firmly.
A woman who was old enough to be my grandmother answered.
I gave her my best golly-gee-whiz smile as she eyed me through the screen door.
I took off the baseball cap I had been wearing and said, “Afternoon, ma’am. I was wondering if I could talk to you real quick.”
She looked down at my notebook and then back up at me. “I don’t want to buy anything.”
“Oh, no, ma’am, I’m not selling anything.”
“Then, what are you here for?”
I pointed to Olivia’s house. “Do you know the lady who lives there? She’s my friend, and recently, someone has been causing her trouble. Did you happen to see any activity late Friday night or early Saturday morning?”
The woman shook her head. “I don’t know her. She’s rarely home. And I didn’t see anything.”
Before I could get another question out, the lady slammed the door in my face.
“Nice speaking with you, too.” I crossed her house number off my list.
The next two neighbors to the right hadn’t seen anything. Neither had the house two doors down from Olivia. Her next-door neighbor wasn’t home. I walked to the other side of Olivia’s home and knocked there, too.
I was feeling defeated when I knocked on the door on the other side of the grumpy, old biddy. I had successfully made a full circle without a single thing to show for it.
The door opened to a man about my age, but I no longer had the energy to give him a hundred-watt smile. My half-assed one was going to have to do.
“Can I help you?” he asked.
“I’m not selling anything,” I said first. The old lady wasn’t the only one who’d thought I was soliciting. “I just have a few questions for you, if that’s okay.”
“I can sure try. It depends on what you’re asking.”
I pointed to Olivia’s house and asked him if he had seen anything the night before.
He shook his head. “Sorry. No.”
“Thanks anyway,” I said and turned on my heel to leave.
“But you’re more than welcome to check my security cameras.”
The neighbor, Troy, not only had a camera pointed at Olivia’s house, but he’d also caught the whole incident. The best part was that it was all uploaded to the cloud. All he had to do was send me the link.
The image showed an individual in black, carrying a bag to Olivia’s front door and dumping it out. They were covered from head to toe, so I couldn’t see any identifying features, but from the person’s height, build, and walk, I’d bet my left nut it was a woman.
The frustrating part was that the car was parked on the street. From the angle, there was no way to get a full license plate. It was an Iowa plate that started with a six. But I did know it was a dark Mercedes.
I hopped in my car, ready to show the evidence to Olivia to see if she recognized anything and then send it on to the police. I left the neighborhood, following the same direction the car had pulled away from her place, and I wasn’t far when I noticed a cluster of businesses. A bank, some restaurants, a few other miscellaneous stores.
I made a quick right turn and headed into the parking lot. I really wanted to check the bank’s surveillance cameras because banks always had the highest security, but it was Sunday, and they were closed.
Unless…
The bank was part of a large chain, and those big banks often had twenty-four-hour customer service. Figuring
