The Voyeur Next Door (24 page)

“Ali doesn’t like talking about herself,” Gabriel said. “I’m convinced she works for the CIA.”

“There just really isn’t anything to tell,” I said. “I’m very boring.”

“Nonsense,” Lydia said, waving a dismissive hand. “Earl and Tammy speak very highly of you. Plus, I saw the costume you made for her play. It’s very lovely.”

“Oh…” I felt my face warm. “Thank you.”

Lydia wasn’t about to let it go though.

“How are you liking the shop?”

“It’s great,” I answered.

“Are the boys treating you nicely?”

Not wanting to lie, I stuffed the chip into my mouth and nodded while making incoherent noises.

“Is Gabriel being nice?” his mom cajoled with a teasing frown at her son. “I know he can be quite … intimidating when he wants to be.”

I said nothing.

What the hell time did school end anyway? Why was it taking Carl so damn long? I felt like I was being interrogated by the government. Any minute now, they’d bring out the waterboarding.

“Gabriel!” his mother scolded.

“No!” I blurted. “I mean, yes, he’s being very nice.”

It wasn’t entirely a lie. The last few days with Gabriel had been nice and I had actually come to enjoy them.

Lydia eyed me, clearly not believing me.

“Are you seeing anyone, Ali?”

I thought of Q and the exclusivity we both promised the other and I wondered if not seeing someone qualified as seeing them?

“Uh…”

I was saved by a very quirky rendition of
I like big butts and I cannot lie
whistling from my purse. My choice in ringtones made me want to facepalm. But since no one ever called me, it had been my secret, guilty pleasure.

Had I not been expecting a call from Carl, I would have pretended like I had no idea what that sound was, or where it was coming from. As it were, I dove for my purse and ripped it open. The song only seemed to increase in volume.

I looked at no one as I fished my phone out and hurriedly hit talk.

“Hello?” Even to my own ears, I sounded breathless.

Carl chuckled.
“Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No, no, no, I was just … no, not a bad time.” I blew out a breath. “Did Alyssa know anything?”

“She’s with me right now. One sec.”

While he passed the phone to his daughter, I put my phone on speaker and set it on the table for everyone to hear.

“Hello?”
The girl sounded like every girl I had ever hated in high school, high pitched with just enough bitch to make my teeth clench.

“Hi Alyssa,” I said, struggling to keep my voice even. “I’m Ali. I’m a friend of Tamara’s. I know you and she aren’t friends, exactly, but I’m hoping you might have overherad her mentioning something about a camping trip.”

“Yeah, I heard her telling everyone they were going to River Canyon with some college guys. It’s like the backway into River Port National Park so you don’t have to pay.”

“Do you know how to get there?” I asked, even as Gabriel dug out his phone and pulled up Google Map.

“You just turn off before the park entrance,”
Alyssa said haughtily, like I was an idiot.
“Everyone knows how to get there. You just hike up like twenty minutes until the trees clear.”

“I got it,” Gabriel said, showing me his phone.

“Okay, thank you, Alyssa,” I began, but the girl had already hung up.

“College boys?” Lydia squeaked, wide eyes darting to her husband. “She told me they were in high school.”

“Not really,” Jonas interjected. “She only mentioned they went to another school. You assumed it was another high school.” He reached over and took Lydia’s hand. “Which is an absolutely understandable mistake.”

“I’m such an idiot!” Lydia exclaimed. “I should have done more to stop her. if anything happens to her, it will be my fault.”

While Jonas consoled her, I turned my attention to Gabriel. “What’s the plan?”

“It’s a two hour drive from here,” Gabriel stated, also ignoring his mother. “I can get there and back by tonight.”

“It’s raining,” Lydia pointed out. “How will you ever find her in this? Oh, Gabe, it’s too dangerous. We’ll just have to—”

But Gabriel was already moving towards the doorway. “Maybe it’ll stop before I get there. Even if it doesn’t,” He stuffed his phone into his back pocket. “I’m bringing her home. Then I’m going to strangle her. Possibly in that order.”

“Wait!” I grabbed my purse. “I’ll go with you.”

He stopped and turned to me. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I know.” I slung the strap over my shoulder. “But you can’t drive and follow the map in this weather and it’s not safe to go into the wilderness alone at night.”

I wasn’t so sure about that last part, but it must have been convincing, because he nodded.

“Okay, but keep up.”

I followed him to the door before remembering my manners and hurrying back into the kitchen.

“It was nice to meet you,” I told Lydia and Jonas. “Thank you for the bean dip. It was delicious. Bye Earl.”

With a wave, I jogged back to the door where Gabriel was standing, waiting for me.

“You’re a strange little thing, you know that?” he said.

I blinked. “What? Why?”

He just shook his head. “Do you have a jacket?”

I peered down at my sweater, jeans and sneakers. “No … we might need to make a stop at my apartment.”

“No need. I have an extra coat in the jeep.” He bent down and grabbed a pair of gumboots off a plastic rack and set them down in front of me. “They’re Tammy’s so they should fit.”

I wasn’t sure if I should be insulted, or flattered that he thought my feet were those of a sixteen year old. Yet, oddly enough, they fit so I made no comment.

I tucked my jeans into the boots and hooked my shoes onto my fingers.

The rain pounded the ground in a waterfall of pure rage, its deafening rumble muting all other sound. I contemplated the wisdom of driving in such conditions, but I knew Gabriel would go with or without me and I wouldn’t sleep that night if I let him go alone.

“Okay, on the count of three,” I said.

Gabriel looked at me, his brows furrowed over eyes shining with amusement. “Come on.”

He took my hand—the one not holding my shoes—and plunged headlong into the mess. I gave an unflattering squeak as the shards of ice penetrated the wool of my sweater and plastered my clothes to my skin in the ten seconds it took to get to the jeep. My glasses fogged and I had to rely on Gabriel to get us there without faceplanting in the begonias.

He opened my door first, propelled me into the seat before slamming it shut and disappearing in the rain. I was panting and wiping my glasses on my sweater hem when he threw himself behind the wheel. The rain continued to pummel us from all sides, sounding impossibly loud in the tight confines of the cabin.

“Wow,” I breathed, shoving my glasses back into place on my face.

“Yeah,” he said, stuffing a hand back through his damp tresses, shoving the thick strands away from his face.

I watched as he punched our directions into the GPS built into the dashboard and wondered why he agreed to let me come along if he had a machine to tell him where to go. I didn’t bother pointing this fact out, not wanting him to come to his senses and leave me behind. Instead, I reached up and released the band knotting my hair. The long waves tumbled down around my face and back. I fluffed a hand through the wet strands before scooping it all back up and twisting it into its usual bun.

“Has your hair always been…?”

I glanced over at Gabriel’s unfinished question. “Sorry?”

He watched my hand as I finished putting my hair up and shook his head. “Nothing. Ready?”

I nodded and strapped in.

We drove the first hour in silence broken only by the elements beating against the jeep and the splash of water under the tires. Most of my clothes had dried, but I continued to shiver despite the heat blasting from the vents.

“There’s a blanket in the backseat,” he said without taking his eyes off the road.

I shook my head. “I’ll fall asleep if I get comfortable.”

Gabriel chuckled. “I’m going to be pulling over soon to gas up. Want anything?”

Again, I shook my head. “Nope.”

“Are you hungry?”

“No.”

“Do you have to pee?”

I looked at him. “Do I look five?”

I could have sworn there was a hint of a grin twisting around his mouth. “No ma’am, you do not.”

I didn’t know how to take that, so I said nothing.

Sure enough, ten minutes later, he pulled into a rundown gas station and hopped out. I watched through my side mirror as he filled the tank. The overhead awning kept him dry, but he didn’t seem bothered by the lashing winds.

He returned several minutes later with two bottles of water and two bags of chips, both original.

“I figured you can’t go wrong with regular,” he said when I stared down at the bag he offered me. “Since I don’t know what kind you like.”

“I don’t have a favorite,” I murmured, feeling like I was divulging something intimate.

“Huh.” He tore open his bag and popped a chip into his mouth. “I would have pegged you for a ketchup chips type of girl.”

“I used to like those when I was younger,” I confessed. “I liked how it would make my lips red, like lipstick.” Which, saying it out loud, made me feel really stupid. “I haven’t had chips since I was seven.”

“Really? What made you stop?”

My mom did by telling me the way I chomped my chips made me sound like a little rat and if I kept eating that garbage, she would have to get a crane to get my fat ass out of the house.

“Just outgrew them, I guess,” I mumbled, feeling my gut tightening.

“Outgrew chips?” He chuckled. “Never heard that one before.”

But he didn’t push, to which I was eternally grateful for, nor did I open my chips.

“We’re almost there,” he said, motioning to the GPS screen.

“The rain is slowing down, too,” I added, noticing the thinning in clouds.

“Maybe we’ll get lucky and be back on the road before it starts again.”

Maybe, I thought, squinting up at the roiling smear of gray. It was barely five o’clock and already it felt like nightfall. Even if we found Tamara in time and started straight back, we would be stumbling around in the dark. I was about to tell Gabriel so, when something else stuck me.

“Oh no!” I gasped.

“What?” Gabriel shot me a quick, panicked glance. “What’s wrong?”

I dug out my phone, knowing it was pointless.

“I had to call someone tonight.”

“Don’t you have a signal?”

I did, but I didn’t have Q’s number. It was programmed in my house phone and the paper with the number on it was folded away in my nightstand.

“I don’t have his number,” I mumbled, stuffing my phone back into my purse.

He didn’t ask who, or why the call was so important and I didn’t tell him. I just made a mental note to explain what happened when I called Q tomorrow.

The rain had slowed to a light drizzle by the time we reached the muddy little trail barely visible amongst the dense wall of trees flagging either side of the highway. Gabriel drove past it and kept going almost five minutes before pulling into a wide clearing reserved for resting. There were signs telling people not to park their vehicles there overnight and that the park wasn’t responsible for lost or damaged property. There were other cars already there, nine in total and I wondered if they belonged to Tamara’s friends.

“What’s the plan?” I asked, unsnapping my belt.

Gabriel did the same and yanked his keys out of the ignition. “Hike back to the trail and follow it to Tammy. Then you’re responsible to keep me from killing her and burying her body in the woods.”

I squinted at him. “Is that why you brought me?”

“Mostly,” he answered with a slight shrug.

I laughed and shook my head. “We better hurry. It’s getting dark fast.”

Nodding, he threw open his door and hopped out. I did the same and joined him on the other side as he yanked open the back door and rummaged through the assortment of garbage tossed carelessly into the backseat. He withdrew a heavy wool coat and handed it to me after shaking it out.

It smelled like him, with a hint of Thai food and musty fabric that had been in a damp place too long. He drew out another one, shook it out once before slinging it on himself. That one smelled worse.

“How long have these been in there?” I wondered, gingerly pushing my arm through the sleeves.

He shrugged. “Since winter, maybe spring.”

I wrinkled my nose. “Ew.”

“It’ll keep you warm,” he stated, slightly offended.

I refrained from commenting by slinging my purse on over the jacket. I grabbed all the water bottles I could find and stuffed them into my purse, too.