Page 15 of Forbidden Secrets
He’d managed to pick up on her worry and was questioning her much like she’d done with Addy that morning, though she used a lot more words to communicate.
Melanie shrugged.“Mostly.It’s tough being the new kid in school.”
“She rides the bus with Jordy and Olivia.They’re good kids.”Growly Gage Landry knew the neighbor kids.Why did that surprise her?
“They are.Kids make friends amazingly fast.Addy and Olivia have already declared that they’re besties.When a boy pushed Addy, Olivia called him a pathetic little worm.That’s good backup.”
His gaze locked on hers.Receiving the full force of his attention felt almost like a physical touch.“What the fuck?A kid pushed Addy?”
“Yeah.And took cuts in line.”Melanie laughed when Gage scowled.“You and me, we could take him.”
“Don’t tempt me.”He didn’t exactly crack a smile, but his tension eased, and the corner of his mouth lifted infinitesimally.She really liked that hint of humor, the feeling like he got her on some unspoken level.
Remembering what she’d seen earlier, she asked, “Did you see the guy in a gray Tundra parked on our road?”
“No.Why?”
Wow, that was quick.Razor-sharp intensity replaced any trace of humor.“There was a truck parked down the road near that tree.”She pointed.“I noticed it when I walked Addy to the bus stop.When I came back, I saw there was a guy inside.”She shrugged.“I thought it was odd.”
He waited a beat, then said, “There’s more.”
She crossed her arms over her chest.How did he do that?How did he know she hadn’t told him everything?She huffed out a breath.“Okay, I know it sounds weird, but I thought he was watching me.He had his phone up and it looked like he was taking my picture or maybe recording me.”
“You do anything?”
“Hell yeah, I did.I knocked on his window and asked what he was up to.He got all flustered and sped off up the road.I had to jump out of his way.”
He unzipped a side pocket on his pants and pulled out his phone.“Give me the vehicle information and the man’s physical description.”No-nonsense, direct, clipped delivery.Maybe he was a cop.
She rattled off what she remembered.He stared at her hard, then asked, “License plate?”
“He had a temporary paper plate.I didn’t get the number.The tailgate had a dent on the left side.”
Gage stared into the distance before growling, “I saw him earlier, probably forty minutes ago.”
“Where?Here?”
He shook his head.“When I was running.”
He tapped on his phone and held it to his ear, then spoke when it was picked up on the other end.“Sawyer, take this information.”He repeated what she’d told him about the man and the truck, then said, “My neighbor Melanie Brennan says he was taking pictures of her before she chased him off.”He listened for a second, then said, “Yeah, that’s her.”
His gaze zeroed in on Melanie as he continued speaking.“I clocked him earlier.I was running the ridge trail, came around a bend and he was sitting on a rock.Had binoculars and said he was bird-watching.He wasn’t.Dress and demeanor didn’t track.Physical description matches what Melanie gave me.From where he was sitting, he’d have a view of the back of both my house and hers.”He listened, then said, “I told him to move on and followed him to the trailhead.Truck description matches what Melanie got, down to the dent in the tailgate.I took a picture and will send that to you.The paper plates are fake.”He listened, then said, “Got it.I’ll look on my security feed and see if he shows up.”He disconnected the call.
“The guy is watching me.”Melanie hated the cold feeling in the pit of her stomach.
“Maybe.Or he could be watching me.”
“He was taking pictures of me, not you.”
“True.”Gage opened his phone, then held it up for her to see the image of a Tundra with paper plates and dented tailgate.
“That’s the truck.”She’d felt safe in her house, but that sense of security was now fractured.She pulled her jacket more tightly around her as a shiver snaked down her spine.
He tapped on the screen, sending the photo.
“Was that Sawyer McGrath you were talking to?Is he a cop now?”
“Yeah, that’s him.”
