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“You two hop into the back seat. Beau sits up front.” Mason pivoted and strode back to the dark Jeep that must have been twenty years old, at least. Beau, a large golden retriever, panted in the passenger front seat. Brody glanced around and then scurried to the vehicle. He opened the door and waved for Jenna to climb in, then clambered in after her.
Mason had put some cardboard sheets in the back seats. “Those are to block the windows, so no one looking in will see you two sitting there.”
Jenna and Brody set them in place and leaned back. Brody sniffed. He smelled food.
“Kenny said you two might be hungry, so I went into a drive thru. I hope you’re not picky. Help yourselves. And don’t worry about me. I already ate.”
Brody hesitated. “I can pay you back—”
Mason waved the offer away. “Don’t you worry about it. I kept the receipts. Kenny will have the department reimburse me later. I was glad to help.”
Jenna waited until he said to pick whatever she wanted. Then she grabbed a chicken sandwich, some French fries and a bottled water. After a few bites, she sighed. “This is the best food I’ve ever eaten.”
Brody grinned and nodded, his own mouth full. It had been a long time since they’d stopped at the diner. It was after eleven at night now.
His phone rang. It was Cameron. “Hey Cam. What do you have for me?”
“Your instincts were right, as usual. I got the phone records. There have been five calls from an unlisted number in Illinois to the Anderson’s Accountant’s office.”
Brody frowned. “Strange that they wouldn’t use their cell phone.”
“This makes it seem like it’s a business call. I am looking for more information. Just because a number is unlisted doesn’t make it criminal, but the timing is suspect.”
“Keep me posted.”
Brody disconnected the call. When he turned his head, Jenna watched him from her side of the Jeep, still chewing her food.
“That was my partner.” He told her. Then he shifted his gaze to Mason and shook his head. He would tell her everything, but not here where someone else could hear.
She nodded and her gaze drifted toward the front window.
It was nearly twenty-five minutes later before they arrived at Mason’s house.
“Here we are!” He pulled the Jeep into the garage. Once the doors were shut, he showed them inside. “I stocked the kitchen just last week. My wife and I plan on coming here for Christmas with our families before we advertise it as open for business. Kenny said to tell you that he’d have a rental of some kind here in the morning for you all. Help yourselves to anything.”
“Thanks, man.” Brody held out his hand to Mason. “I appreciate this. If you could avoid mentioning that you let anyone use the place, that’d be great.”
Mason scoffed. “Yeah. Kenny already read me the riot act about keeping all of this off social media. Not a problem. I don’t do that stuff much, anyway. Waste of my time.”
Brody smiled. Someone who shared his views. It was refreshing.
After Mason left, Brody did a quick check to make sure the area and the house were secure.
When he looked out the back window, he saw that the garbage dumpster had been broken into. The sign to keep out nearly ripped in half.
Great. Not only did they have to worry about human killers, but apparently they had dangerous wildlife in the neighborhood. If he had to guess, he’d say there were bears nearby.
He ran another check to be sure all doors and windows were secured.
“Don’t go outside. There might be bears.”
She sighed. “Of course there are. Look, I’m going to charge my hearing aids, then go to sleep.”
“Great idea.” He pointed to the living room area. Several couches were set in a u-formation in front of the fireplace and the large screen television. “I’m going to sleep out here, so you take any bedroom.”
She paused. “Won’t you be uncomfortable?”
“I’ll sleep better here than back there. Trust me. Don’t sneak up on me, though. I’ll be armed.” He wouldn’t explain that he wanted to be the first line of attack if anyone came through the doors. She didn’t need to think about that tonight.
