Mistress

Chapter 96

Anne’s place is a straight shot up 15th Street, only about half a mile or so. We reach the intersection with T Street in the time it would take me to unlock the chain on my Rockhopper.

Sean pulls over on the west side of the street. This is all residential housing around here, so we got lucky with the spot.

He hands me an earbud. “Stick this in your ear.”

Check. Like Jennifer Garner in that old Alias show.

“Now put this around your neck.”

“What is this?”

“It’s a Bluetooth loop. You ever sync a Bluetooth up to your cell phone? Same thing, but put the loop over your head like you’re wearing a necklace and run the cord under your shirt.”

I do what Sean says. He hooks himself up the same way. He’s excited about this. This is fun for him. I wish it were for me.

“Now hook the plug into your cell phone. I’ll do it, too. Then we can talk.”

I look over at Sean. “Remind me never to piss you off.”

He checks his revolver. “Sorry I don’t have a spare gun.”

I wouldn’t know how to use it, anyway. I’d probably shoot my dick off.

“I’m going to scout the place first,” I say.

“I’m the one with the gun, sport. I’ll go.”

But I’m the one with the guilty conscience. Enough people have died for something that’s my problem. If I can help it, I’m going to be in the line of fire before him.

“I’m going.” I push open the door and step outside. Sean calls my cell phone and we do a test. We’re hooked up.

“Hey,” he says to me before I shut the door. “When I was a cop, we had a saying. ‘Don’t get dead.’”

I look at him, waiting for more. “That’s it? ‘Don’t get dead’?”

“That’s it.”

“Good advice, Sean.” And I’m on the move toward Anne’s house. I cut around the block to come up through the alley.

Alias is my favorite of Jennifer Garner’s roles, though she was excellent in Juno. Didn’t love Daredevil other than the motorcycle, but she was smokin’ as Elektra.

When I’m halfway there, Sean’s voice comes through my ear. “You said she answered real quick, like? And she sounded like she was expecting someone else?”

“Right,” I say as I jog toward the alley leading to Anne’s back door and fence.

I approach the back alley cautiously, my heart in my throat, moving as silently as I possibly can, walking on tiptoes and stopping after every single step to listen.

I can see her place right now…

Can anyone see me?

I jump at the sight of movement in the back of Anne’s apartment, the kitchen. Can’t make out the features, just a figure quickly passing by the shade over the window. Was it Anne? But if she were being held by somebody in there, she wouldn’t be walking around freely.

I move a few more steps. I’m hiding behind someone’s garage now. It’s the last structure between me and the fence at the rear of Anne’s building, about ten yards away.

Garner played slutty pretty damn well in the Arthur remake. I love it when actresses decide to branch out and play slutty. See Jennifer Aniston in Horrible Bosses-

Focus, you moron. Once I move past this garage, I’m exposed, out in the open. The lighting isn’t great back here, but it’s good enough. If anyone’s looking, they’ll see me.

Here goes nothing.

I step out from behind the garage and tiptoe toward the fence, feeling as visible as a neon sign. If they’re looking, I’m a goner, so my money has to be on them not keeping a vigilant watch. They shouldn’t be expecting me, after all. I told Anne over the phone that I was miles away in Maryland.

I walk along the brick wall on the side of her building. Anne has a window in her bedroom. The shade is drawn, but there’s no light behind it. That room is dark.

I silently creep forward. There is light coming from the front of the house. The shade on the window isn’t drawn. If I stand on the balls of my feet, I might be able to see in. But will they see me?

Only one way to find out. I slowly rise from my crouch.

“So that sounds more like she’s waiting to hear from someone.”

I jump at Sean’s voice in my ear. I’m not used to this spy stuff.

“You almost gave me a heart attack!” I whisper.

“I’m saying, it sounds like she’s waiting for someone, either for a call-”

“Or for someone to drop by in person. Good point. Watch for cars, okay? Any car would have to travel north up Fifteenth, past you. Got your camera ready?”

“Oh, yeah.”

I take another breath. I stand up slowly, raise up on my tiptoes-

“She’s by the window.”

I jump back down. “Jesus, Sean. What?”

“She’s by the front window, looking out over Fifteenth. I’m out of my car and I got an angle with my zoom lens. The lady’s looking out the window. She’s waiting for someone, Ben. Believe me. She’s looking down the street. She’s waiting for a car.”

Then so will I. But not here in the alley. Too conspicuous.

I do a crab walk forward a few steps toward 15th Street, so I can see the front yard of the building next door to Anne’s without revealing myself to Anne. As I remembered, there’s shrubbery bordering the small parcel of grass in front of that apartment building. Most of the buildings around here have some kind of small grassy lawn, and most of them put up some shrubbery or garden on it. There isn’t a whole lot of cascading acreage here in the U Street Corridor, so any plot of grass, no matter how tiny, usually gets dolled up.

That shrubbery isn’t much, but it’s about three feet high, which should be enough. If someone’s really looking for me, they might spot me. It’s a risk. But hey, I left risky back in the dust long ago. I’ve been walking a tightrope for days.

“Tell me when she’s not standing by the front window,” I say. “I’m going to stake out a spot, but she’ll see me from the front window.”

A pause, but not a very long one.

“Go. Go fast. She’s pacing around, and she’ll be back at the window soon.”

I dart from my position and almost dive behind the shrubbery next door. I must have looked ridiculous doing so. And I probably look ridiculous now.

“Nice swan dive,” says Sean.

But I made it.

Now let’s see who comes a-callin’ on Anne Brennan.