Thanks for coming back for another chapter. Enjoy!
I'd forgotten all about Jenn being allergic to cats until I reread my manuscript. I guess she can't borrow mine.
Secrets at Midnight
Leona Palmer Haag
Chapter 47
The shopping cart overflowed with diapers, clothes
for everyone, baby toys, a blanket for Katie, a curling iron, make-up and girlie
odds and ends. Matt added a laptop. “You sure this will satisfy your needs for
a few days?” he asked as they strolled to the checkout line.
Jenn nodded, but promptly paused to select jewelry
and a watch. He cringed when he swiped his credit card. Nothing could scream out
their location louder. Half an hour later he swiped the card again at a car
rental agency, securing something big enough to hold Jenn’s booty. After
abandoning yet another vehicle, they stopped at a phone store. To his
astonishment the credit card cleared again. Someone—most likely Curtis—was
probably analyzing his purchases and assembling predictions. They’d be cornered
within minutes.
He handed Jenn a phone. “The office knows where we
are, what we're driving and our phone numbers. Don't answer unless you're sure
it's me.” She nodded and plugged hers into the car charger.
After shopping at a car parts store he deposited
two large plastic bags behind her seat. “I paid cash for this.”
She peeked inside a bag. “Paint?”
“As soon as possible we won't be driving a red Durango.”
She gasped. “You don't spray paint a rental car!”
“If we live through this, and the office forgives
me, they'll pay for it.”
“I'm not helping. It’s vandalism.”
“Yes, and it's also insane, but it may save our
lives. You don't have to help me.”
Beneath a towering stand of maples and out of
eyesight, Matt began masking windows and trim. Jenn watched Katie paw in the
dirt, throwing handfuls of pebbles against a rusted can. When she chucked some
at the Durango she said, “I don’t need to stop her. You’re defacing the poor
thing too.” He held his peace and began painting the far side, taking long even
sweeps. Jenn wandered over to observe the crime, and caved into climbing on the
hood to tackle the roof. He handed up new cans of paint as each emptied.
“This is terrible,” she moaned as the car changed color.
“Not professional, is it,” he agreed.
“It makes me sick. It has less than a hundred miles on it. New, how much do these
things cost?”
“More than they do after a quick paint job.”
They laughed.
As she cleaned evidence off her fingertips with wet
wipes Matt said, “I turned you into a criminal. Sorry about my bad example.”
She shrugged and climbed inside and pushed radio
station buttons. She settled on a Christian station, but when the program about
cheerful thoughts ended and one on repentance began, she switched to country
music, saying, “You could have used that sermon, but I’m not ready for any preaching.”
He chuckled, but said nothing, humming along, then
singing with twanging oldies.
End Chapter 47
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