Apple of My Eye (Tiger's Eye Mystery #7) - Alyssa Day Page 0,41

my cap down low, and slouched in the seat. With any luck, nobody would see me at all.

I smacked myself in the forehead for even thinking it. "With any luck" was just as bad as "what could go wrong?"

We were doomed.

Eleanor drove the short distance into town and started to turn onto Mr. Oliver's street, but Lorraine grabbed her arm.

"What is wrong with you? We can't just drive up to the front of his house!"

"I was going to park a few houses down," Eleanor said indignantly.

Yep. Doomed.

I sighed and leaned forward. "We can park one street over, behind the gas station. They close at five on Mondays. Then it's only a short walk to Mr. Oliver's house."

"And we can make a fast getaway if the hussy sees us," Lorraine added.

"Are you sure you don't want to just call him?" I used my best "let's be reasonable" voice. "I'm betting this could be cleared up with one phone call."

"I'd stab myself in the eye before I'd ever call that two-timer about this!"

So much for reasonable.

We parked behind the gas station, and then I stopped them before they could jump out of the car.

"What's the plan?"

Lorraine blinked at me. "Plan?"

"The plan is we go hide in the bushes on the left side of his house, because those have the most cover, and peek into his living room to see what's going on," Eleanor said firmly.

"How do you know the hussy is even still there? She might have gone home," I pointed out.

"Her car is still there."

"How do you know it's her car?"

Eleanor gave me a surprised look. "It's the only car near his house that I don't recognize. A little red Jeep."

Lorraine and I nodded. One thing about small towns is that you get to know what everybody drives, at least by sight if not by make and model. Nobody on Mr. Oliver's block owned a red Jeep, as far as I knew.

They put their hands on their door handles, but I stopped them again.

"Okay, wait. That's a terrible plan. We can't all three sneak over there—if 'sneak' is even the right word for three women dressed like wannabe cat burglars all walking together—and all hide in his bushes. One of the neighbors will definitely see us and call the sheriff or, and remember this is Dead End, shoot us."

I did not want to be shot before Jack and I had even had a second date. Plus, I'd been shot before, and it was awful.

Eleanor threw her hands in the air. "What do you suggest, then?"

"I suggest we go to my place and make margaritas," I said glumly. "Or even find an actual goat yoga class. Anything but this."

Eleanor's eyes got shiny. "Fine. You can leave. But I'm going to do this, with or without you."

That's what I was afraid of.

"Okay, okay. I'll help, but here's how it's going to go. I will go see what I can see in Mr. Oliver's house, although this is a terrible idea, did I mention it's a terrible idea? And you two will stay here in the car, ready to make a fast getaway when one of his neighbors starts chasing me down the street with a shotgun."

They agreed so fast I was skeptical, but they sat there giving me innocent faces when I got out of the car. I glanced back twice on the walk to the edge of the gas station, but both times they were still in the car, watching me. I sighed, gave a little wave, and cut through Bubba McKee's backyard, hoping his pet boa constrictor wasn't lurking around, and then walked at top speed down the street. I stayed in the shadows of the trees lining the sidewalk as much as I could, but I couldn't exactly skulk from tree to tree without looking even more suspicious than I already did, out walking on this street after dark for no apparent reason, dressed in black.

I'd at least left the sunglasses in the car—a person had to draw the line somewhere on stealthy spy missions, and my line was apparently wearing sunglasses in the dark.

Too bad I didn't have a better line.

Like not being part of this at all.

Sure enough, the red Jeep was parked right in front of Mr. Oliver's house, and his porch light was on. The lights in the living room were all on too, and his curtains and blinds were open.

Whatever he was up to, he wasn't trying to hide it. He could have made the