Cassandra and her mom are still saying their goodbyes when I finish lacing up my second boot, her mom giving advice on what to pack in her carry-on just in case her main luggage gets lost on the way to Mexico tomorrow.
After our little sidebar in the hallway, the rest of the evening was filled with light topics and a surprisingly fun game of Scrabble, which I won.
Cassandra accused me of cheating, but when I won the second game, too, she settled for giving me adorably fake dirty looks.
Scrabble. With my sexy neighbor and her parents. What has my life become?
I brush off my knees as I stand to my full height and find Cassandra’s dad watching me.
I can tell that he wants to ask me something.
He glances at the women, then steps closer to me, keeping his voice low. “Did they catch the people who hurt your sister?”
His jaw is tense, and I can see it in his eyes… the dread that I’m sure every parent holds deep in their chest. The worry of what could happen.
I think of the men responsible.
Bent limbs. Slit throats. Entrails trailing across the floor.
I hold his gaze and answer with the truth. “They got what they deserved.”
He nods once. “Good.” Then he looks over at his beautiful daughter. “Keep an eye on her, yeah?”
I suppress the inappropriate urge to smile but once again answer with the truth. “I do.”
Giving her mom one last hug, Cassandra turns to me. “You finally ready to go?” She laughs at her joke as I pull the door open and usher her out into the hall.
Her steps are bouncy, which is her normal way of walking, so when she bumps into my side for the second time, she doesn’t notice my hand sliding into her bag.
And as she uses her hands to tell me about the time her mom’s suitcase burst open on a baggage carousel, she’s too animated to notice my attention is pulled down low and off to my side.
While she finishes her story, I download my location tracking software onto her phone.
As we exit the building, I place my hand on her back, and she sways into me, just like I knew she would.
The sky is right on the edge of darkness, so when I reach across my body and slip the phone back into her bag between us, the colorful case is hardly visible.
