The Girl In The Dirty Shirt Noel Version

Chapter 129

I grabbed a set of keys from the kitchen for one of the cars in the garage taking care to make sure it wasn't the Rolls.

I left Noel a note on the counter, he was only upstairs with Jack putting him to bed, but if I told him what I was doing, where I was going, he would try to stop me, tell me it was a bad idea.
Which it probably was, but it was something that I needed to do.

I grabbed my wallet out of my purse and my sunglasses, purposely leaving my phone sitting out on the counter and slipped out the garage door.

I unlocked the driver's side door of the Cadillac and climbed in behind the wheel.

**

I had been driving around for over an hour before it occurred to me where Nathan would be tonight; it was May 10th, his birthday; he would be at the bar.
Nathan likes the same kinds of bars Mike used to, so I knew exactly which bar to go to.

The clock on the dash said it was just before nine, last call wasn't for another couple of hours.

I turned the engine off and settled back in my seat as the sun started to sink behind the clouds; it was gonna be a long night.

**

It was after midnight when he finally stumbled out of the bar...I had been gone for hours; Noel was going to lose it when I got home.

I pushed Noel from my mind and focused my attention on the reason I was out here in the first place.

I turned the key in the ignition watching Nathan stumble up the block with four or five other drunks.
I kept my headlights low as I eased away from the curb and out into the relatively empty street.
I hadn't realized how hard I was gripping the steering wheel until my hand started to cramp up.
I loosened my grip and kept my distance following them up the sidewalk.

They disappeared down an alley after another half a block and I decided to follow them on foot.

I sped up and turned around the corner pulling next to the curb and killed the engine before climbing out from behind the wheel.
I pulled Noel's jacket tighter around me as I walked quickly up the sidewalk, stuffing the keys in my pocket.”

Lucky enough for me, they turned left up the street when they came out of the alley, so none of them noticed me following close behind.

The wind blew my hair off my face as I followed behind them for another four blocks...they were loud and obnoxious the whole way.
They finally turned up a side street and now I had to be really careful, it was more obvious they were being followed now, we were the only ones on the dark street.

I fell back a few more paces and slowed to a stop after another couple of feet.
I stepped just off the sidewalk, keeping myself hidden behind a tree watching them closely.

They were close to the end of the street before they stumbled up a driveway to one of the dark houses.
One of them answered my silent question, it was Nathan's house.

I looked up towards the rooftops, faintly lit by the moonlight. His house was the third from the corner; I counted twice just to make sure.

I wrapped my arms around myself as I shivered against the cold night air, stepping back out on the sidewalk as a car turned onto the street.
I stuffed my hands in my pockets and walked back towards the main road; memorizing every street sign on the way back to where I parked the car.

Once I got back to the car I dug the notepad and pen from the glove box.
I turned on the interior light and jotted down the street names before stuffing both back in the box.