Salvage

Eight - Part 2

"He's got to be meeting somebody. Or doing something shifty. You should stalk him."

"What if he sees me? He'll probably kick me out." Aurora leaned her head back on her headrest, cradling the cell phone between her shoulder and her cheek. She was sitting in the car, the sun warming her skin through the windows, and tapping her fingers against the steering wheel.

Rosalind's voice on the other end sounded slightly breathless. She was probably stretching, or jogging, or something. "So, you can come stay with me, like you should've in the first place."

"You know I would if there was room."

"I know, I know. You'd never sleep." There was a pause. "You should still stalk him. You know where he's going, right?"

"He said Starbucks, but he didn't say which one."

"Well that narrows it down."

"I know." Aurora tugged her lower lip, considering. "I doubt I could manage to sneak up on him anyway. He's so observant. Besides, he left like half an hour ago. He might even be back soon."

"If you don't try, you'll just keep wondering and wishing you'd followed him," Ros said. "What's the worst that could happen?"

"You know that's the stupidest thing anybody ever says, right?" Aurora couldn't help but laugh a little. "All right. You're right. As always, you're right. I'm going."

"Call me when you're there."

"I'm not calling you in the middle of a stakeout!"

"Spoilsport. Fine. Call me after."

There was a beep as Ros hung up, and Aurora let the phone drop to her lap. It was Saturday morning, and she should be doing psychology homework right now. She had a paper to write, and twenty pages to read and make notes on. Instead, she was sitting in her car, trying to decide whether or not to stalk someone.

"He shouldn't have said where he was going if he didn't want me to follow him," Aurora muttered, and began backing out of the driveway.

That morning she'd woken late, feeling well rested, though still with that uneasy knot of stress in the pit of her stomach. She'd barely seen Adam as he was on his way out the door, muttering something about being late, and that he'd be back soon. Chinook and Daniel were both gone somewhere already. It would be the perfect opportunity. Swiftly stuffing her feet into her boots, she'd crammed a banana in her mouth and rushed to the car, starting it up and calculating the most likely nearby popular Starbucks Adam would go to.

Then, she'd had a pang of conscience and called Rosalind, looking for some words of wisdom, someone to stop her from doing anything crazy. Her subconscious definitely wanted her to do this, if she was calling up freaking Ros in hopes of discouraging crazy.

There were only three of the popular coffee shops in town, and she assumed he would pick the closest. So, she went there first, cruising along the main street. Due to the sunshine, the streets were fairly busy with lazily moving cars, and lazily moving people filling the sidewalks. It made her feel a little more confident, able to blend with the crowd. She followed a long stream of cars turning in off the main street, and looped around into the Starbucks parking lot. She spotted Adam's truck immediately.

There was a large window wrapping around the building, and a stand of bushes she could park behind that would protect view of the car from inside the coffee shop. She didn't let herself think about it too much, pulling into the hidden spot, and slithering down in her seat as far as she could. Then she craned her neck around, and peered into the building.

Adam was in there, seated at a table in the corner, just visible through the window if she stretched. He was facing angled away from the window, so her heartbeat calmed a little. The woman he was with was angled away from the window, but Aurora could tell from the straight posture and long red hair, it was Jane Derrington.

Aurora could only see the profile of Adam's face, but he looked angry to her, jawline still drawn mutinously tight, brows low over his eyes. He was talking passionately, it looked like maybe arguing a point. He leaned far across the table, and she leaned in to meet him, so they were probably keeping their voices soft. Discussing secrets? But why meet in a public spot to do so? And there was no sign of Chinook or Daniel.

She continued watching, puzzled, as the two talked. Maybe they were dating, and having an argument? Maybe they had to keep it a secret because she was older than him, and his guardian. 

Jane put up a hand, placing delicate fingers on Adam's shoulder. He stopped talking and looked at her expectantly. It seemed she was comforting him, her fingers stroking his shoulder lightly, then she reached down into the briefcase at her feet. She unlocked it, pulled out a large yellow envelope, and slid it across the table towards him.

He picked it up and opened it, his eyes still fixed on her, his movements angry and jerky. He peered inside the envelope, and his face went still. Slowly, he looked back up at her, face completely slack with shock.

Jane spoke to him, a few more brief sentences, and gave him another pat on the shoulder, then stood, snapped her briefcase closed, and gathered up her coffee cup. Aurora abruptly scrambled around in her seat and fumbled for the keys, starting up the car and pulling out quickly. She didn't want to wait until Jane came out. She didn't know what the other woman's car looked like, she could very well be parked right next to it. As swiftly as she dared, she pulled out of the parking lot, and back onto the main road.

Her mind raced with possibilities, but only one thought truly stood out. She had to know what was in that envelope. It was nosy, it wasn't her business, could be dangerous. Red flags and warnings raced through in tangled tandem with ideas, and she blinked rapidly, needing to focus. She wanted to talk to him. But every time she asked a question, he gave some evasive non-answer. No, she needed to present a calm face, and figure this out on her own.