The Opposite of Love

Ch 27

I waved at Kelly on my way out the door. I had noticed her a lot more since her job shadow. She wasn't lying before; she did come here a lot.

My shift was over, and I had two hours to go home and change before Dad showed up to take me to the funeral. Not that I would need nearly that much time. Five minutes was really all I needed.

I made a mad dash to the loaner that the mechanic had provided, glad I had brought an umbrella this time. The wind nearly yanked it out of my hands as I ran, though.

I wasn't in a hurry or anything, but I really wanted to be home. Sadly, traffic had other plans for me. Aside from it being rush hour, I was stuck behind a freight truck that was moving at turtle pace. This was Brommendale, so there were only three traffic lights in town, but they were all on my route home. And the truck was going the same way I was. As we approached the first light, it turned yellow, and the truck driver slammed on its brakes. I nearly rear-ended the truck, but I was trying extremely hard to not get into a new accident each day, and so far, it had been working. There was no way I was going to jinx it now.

The same thing happened at the next light, so when the truck passed the third and final light while it was green, I was excited. However, while he was crossing, the light turned yellow and then red. Sighing, I stopped the car and then put my elbow on the door and leaned my head on my hand. Stupid truck.

Movement across the road caught my eye. There was a hotel on the corner, and an awning around the whole building. I had a good view of the back and side, where patrons often smoked, especially when it rained, like now. But I didn't see any smokers. After all, it was only noon. Most of the customers from the night before had checked out, and those staying the next night hadn't checked in yet.

I didn't see any smokers, but I did see a person in the smoking area. Two, actually. And I recognized them both.

Mr. Harrison was one. His presence surprised me. I got to know his schedule pretty well since we started investigating him. It was noon on Saturday. He worked every single Saturday, and while he would technically be on his lunch break around this time, he never actually went anywhere. Ever. He brought a lunch with him or had something delivered so he could work through his meal. Yet, there he was, miles from the Berg building, standing behind a hotel.

The other man was Mr. Creepy. The man I had seen at The Bromm when Lilly Stuart died. The man who came into The Shoe Shoppe looking for size twelve shoes: the same size, I just realized, as the footprints left at William Hale's murder scene.

The two were having a conversation. Papers were passed between them, and they walked away from each other.

A million questions swarmed my head.

Had I just stumbled across the murderer I had been looking for? How was Mr. Harrison involved in any of this? What possible motive would either of them have? Was Mr. Creepy the one who Mr. Harrison was communicating with via dead drop? If so, why didn't he get the watch last night? And why were they meeting midday and not in the evenings as per usual? Or was this the new usual? Did that mean the watch in the park was a trap after all? Or that they were onto us?

There was a honk behind me. The light had turned green.

I reluctantly drove forward, but I turned around as soon as I was able and made my way back to the hotel. I wanted answers. Hopefully, I could find some there.

As soon as I pulled into the parking lot, I saw Mr. Creepy getting into his car, and Mr. Harrison into his on the other side of the parking lot. Which should I follow?

Mr. Harrison would usually return home after one if his dead drops, but this wasn't a dead drop. He very likely wouldn't go back home in the middle of the day, but back to work? Or was he making more stops?