Read Online The Good Neighbor by Kimberly A. Bettes - Free Book Online Page B

now.
    Until I got to work.
    As I pulled into the parking lot, I was
overcome with nausea. I didn’t even make it to my parking space. I
had to slam the brake and throw open the door. I leaned out and
barely avoided ruining the interior of my car. I struggled to undo
the seatbelt while leaning my head out the open door, and keeping
my foot on the brake.
    That was me; always multitasking.
    When I was sure I was finished. I pulled my
head in and shut the door. I turned the air conditioning on full
blast and turned all the vents toward my face. The cool air made me
feel better, but I was still weak and shaky. I continued on to my
parking space. I sat in the car, unsure what to do. I should go in.
I hated to miss work. But I couldn’t work like this. Vomiting every
few minutes was not library etiquette. And even though I felt a
little better now, I could feel that the worst wasn’t over.
    I called my boss, telling her I couldn’t make
it. She was worried, but I assured her I’d be fine. It was probably
just a bug that would go away in a few hours. At her insistence, I
agreed to go to the doctor. I wanted to go home and go back to bed,
but I was already dressed and out. I knew my boss wouldn’t let up
until I agreed to go. She worried too much. But I finally agreed to
go just to shut her up.
     
     
     
15 Owen
    Andy was careful to not be obvious as we
followed Jenson up one street and down another. We kept a few cars
between us when possible, and when that wasn’t possible, we stayed
a few car lengths back.
    “Where the hell is he going?” Andy asked,
more to himself than me.
    “I don’t know.” I yawned.
    “I’m glad we don’t live in a big city. This
would take all day.”
    “You’re the one who wanted to stalk him,” I
reminded him. Then I yawned. “Nobody said stalking was easy. If you
want, we can go up to the prison and you can ask someone. They’ll
tell you.”
    “You don’t even know anybody in prison,” Andy
said.
    “I know somebody who’s about to be in
prison,” I retorted.
    “Oh, you know you’re having fun. This is the
most excitement you’ve had in a long time. At least, that I know
of.” He looked at me and winked, which told me he was referring to
Carla.
    I was getting ready to tell him how big a
pervert he was, but before I could, he hit the steering wheel and
cussed.
    “What?” I asked.
    “We lost him!”
    “We what?”
    “I looked at you for a second, and when I
looked back, he was gone. We lost him. Damn it.”
    We looked for him for quite a while. We
circled the block several times where we’d last seen him. Then, we
started working our way around to nearby streets. Finally, we
spotted his car.
    Andy straightened up, both hands on the
wheel, eyes locked on the road ahead of us. “I’m not losing him
this time.”
    Andy didn’t have to be so tense for very
long. Jenson pulled into a parking lot and parked his car. We
parked at the far end of the lot where we could still see him, but
he would never suspect us.
    “Am Vets?” Andy asked. “Is he a veteran?”
    “I don’t know,” I said, yawning. “Maybe.”
    I struggled to think of what war he would’ve
been in. Apparently, Andy was doing the same.
    “Korea?” Andy pondered aloud.
    “Maybe.” Then I added, “Maybe he just knows
some veterans and comes here to see them.”
    We were silent for a while, watching the
door. Jenson remained inside.
    “This doesn’t solve our puzzle at all. We
must’ve missed something. He must’ve ditched the bag when we lost
him.”
    “Andy, he didn’t know we were following him.
It’s not like he saw his opportunity and hurried up and ditched it.
He didn’t have time to go anywhere far. Besides, how do you know he
doesn’t still have the bag in his car?”
    I could see Andy mull this over. “Yeah, maybe
he still has it.” He slowly turned his head toward me, and I knew
what he was thinking.
    “No,” I said. “I’m tired. We’re not going to
sit here and wait for