Love's Cruel Redemption (The Ghost Bird #12)(47)

Mr. Morris and the woman returned again, this time with different boxes. I considered it was possible they were empty boxes, maybe they recycled them.

But with the way they lifted them into the truck, it seemed those boxes were full. The men bent at the knees to pick them up and put them one at a time into the truck, replacing the ones they'd delivered.

This went on for a while, with the men trading boxes and Mr. Morris wheeling them in. They worked quietly. It felt like they’d all done this before.

The men took longer to get boxes out of the truck. I imagined they were getting to the back and were out. The men finished loading the wagon. Mr. Morris said something that I couldn’t hear. The men followed Mr. Morris inside the building this time. One of the large doors closed. The other remained open.

North shoved the backpack aside instantly, dropped his binoculars. He grabbed at the material at my turtle neck and pulled me close. The move left me breathless.

“Wait until the truck clears,” he said, his voice deep and his breath warm on my face. “Follow the tree line the way we came and go back to the Jeep. My keys are in the bag. Wait for me.”

He leaned in and he kissed me. Hard.

I closed my eyes, confused by the kiss and what he’d been saying. The kiss distracted me, with the coarse hairs on his face scratching at my cheeks and chin. His tongue darted out for one second, and he nipped once at my bottom lip.

He released me quickly.

I didn't have time to question him before he was crawling forward. Once he was out from under the trailer, he bolted for the truck.

He kept himself low. My heart raced with him as he dove at the back of the truck, through the opening. Within moments, he'd disappeared from my view.

He left me! What was he doing? He was going to get caught. Was it worth it to take a peek at what was inside the boxes? Did he assume he'd get caught and then he'd have to talk his way out?

I stayed where I was, too terrified to do anything other than what he said. But...what he said was...

Mr. Morris and the men returned. The men went to the truck, lowering the door completely and blocking any chance for North to escape.

My heart was in my throat and remained there as the men checked in with each other and headed to the cab to get in. Mr. Morris remained by the open doorway, watching as the men got into the truck and drove off. The truck followed the bus lane back out to the road and took a left.

Mr. Morris scanned the perimeter. After a minute, he closed the door.

I breathed slowly. North. He's gone.

How was he going to get back?

The truck was gone for a few minutes and I still waited, because I wasn't sure Mr. Morris wouldn’t come back out while I was on the move.

Eventually, I turned underneath the trailer and crawled back out, dragging North's pack with me. I shoved our binoculars into it as I moved. I considered a flashlight, but at this point, I didn’t want to draw attention to myself. Mr. Morris and possibly someone else could be nearby.

I carried the pack over my shoulders on my return trek. I went the same way he'd brought me, taking the long way around the brick outer building until I could get to the trees. And because someone could be watching, I slipped into the trees further, keeping an eye on the school.

When I returned to the back of the shopping center lot, I stopped for the first time to catch my breath. I gripped the straps of the bookbag, gazing back into the woods, hoping North would appear behind me.

Was this all worth it? Was it worth jumping in and risking a lot of trouble to find out what was inside?

Rain started to come down in a drizzle, more like mist falling from the sky.

It still wetted my skin and clothes and my nerves started to shake.

“Don’t flip out,” I whispered to myself. My heart was racing, but I did my best to focus. I couldn’t faint here.

I lowered the hat more and stepped into the trees for some protection. I shifted the pack to cover my head.

I blinked rapidly, fighting the urge to run to a building. I needed the Jeep. Get inside. Get out of the rain.

Don’t faint. Don’t stress out so much that it happened. Calm down.

I bit the inside of my cheek but then started to move again, keeping to the tree line to follow it back around the lot. My clothes were dirty. My hair was falling out of the hat. The parking lot was dark and quiet.

I still tasted North on my lips.

I was going to get after him about doing something so dangerous. I was pretty sure Mr. Blackbourne wouldn’t have approved of it.

It was probably why he kissed me. To distract me from protesting.

I was wary of the possibility of cars as I moved around the lot. It made sense to me to park here now when we could have parked in the front. Coming back so dirty did look suspicious.

With the rain now, I needed to do what North said, get to the Jeep and wait.

I went to the edge of the lot, and for a moment, I wondered if I’d somehow walked past the Jeep in my anxiousness. I slowed down, stepped into the lot, checking the cars nearby and scanning through them.

North's Jeep wasn't among them.





Line of Sight




Nathan

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Nathan was in Victor's BMW, watching Ms. Johnson sit in her own car. She’d been early, and he’d been parked for hours now waiting for her, just in case.