Page 28 of My Damaged Protector

“Mr. Peele, we are supposed to be meeting this morning,” he says again in irritation.

Shit. I'd totally forgotten all about that.

Jumping into action, I stride to my bag and pull out a shirt and jeans within seconds.

“You'll see me now,” I assure him.

“Mr. Peele, if you can't make it this morning maybe we can reschedule,” he offers.

“No,” I say quickly, knowing that I need to get this over with as fast as I can. “I'll be there soon. Just um… send me the address to the place, again, will you? I can't seem to find the old message you sent.”

It's not a lie. I'm terrible with mobile devices. Give me a radio and you'll see me quickly tuning the stations or a television and I'll be on a series or two soon. But give me an Android device, and I'm clueless on what to do with it for days.

“Sure. See you soon,” he responds, his voice unsure.

He doesn't believe I'm going to show up, does he?

“I'm in town already, okay? I'm at this motel. I don't know the name. Look, I just need to find my way to the property,” I explain.

“Oh, okay. There's only one motel in Glazer Ville, and if you're staying there then you're about five minutes away from here. Would you want me to come pick you up?”

“No, it's fine. I'll manage on my own. Just send me the address. Thanks.”

I end the call before he can say anything else and toss the phone onto the bed. The thought of running into the shower to quickly wash off occurs to me, but I shove it aside, not wanting to easily get rid of Sarah's scent.

This may have been the last time I'll see her again for all I know.

My eyes find the card she left at the edge of the bed for me before leaving, and I pick it up.

Sarah Brown.

My thumb traces the card as I stare at her number. I am about to be sucked into a mental debate of whether to call her or not when my phone chimes with the text from the lawyer.

I take the card with me and shove it into the pocket of my jeans once I'm fully dressed. I grab my phone and exit the room. I get directions from Susie to the place and pretend not to notice the many questions in her eyes about why I'm going to that location.

I ignore them and thank her before I take my leave.

True to Christopher's words, the estate is only five minutes away from the motel, and I'm able to quickly locate it thanks to my truck. Although beat up, the truck has been serving me for years now, and I'm just not ready to give it up. Not that I could afford to right now anyway. Or maybe I can.

Because boy, the property in front of me is nothing like I was expecting. Which is clearly shortsighted from my end, because I was told a billion dollars worth of estate, right?

Whew.

Parking my truck, I walk the shallow road, and that's where I see Christopher at the gate of the estate.

“Oh good, you're here. Let's go in and see everything.”

I want to tell him that I've seen everything from the top and it's totally mind-blowing, but I don't say anything. Instead, I just nod. Just as we are about to enter, he pauses and turns to face me with an apologetic look on his face.

“Forgive my manners. I'm just not myself doing all this. How are you doing?” he rambles, offering his hand to me.

I take it and shake his hand.

Is it me or does he look nervous about entering the property?

Are we not allowed to enter?

“I’m alright.” I say, skeptically eyeing the gate.

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