Busted (Promise Harbor Wedding) - By Sydney Somers Page 0,96
He’s not allowed to drive my wife’s car, but he’s been pretty upset about your grandfather. Kyle thinks he’s with Brent and that the guy committing all the break-ins took the car, but that seems less likely to me. But it’s not like Cody to break the rules either.”
“Why don’t I take a look around town and see if I can spot Cody or the car?”
“I don’t want to bother you any more than I already have—”
“I could use the distraction anyway. It’s better if I have a look for it just in case it wasn’t Cody that decided to go joyriding. What kind of car does your wife drive?”
“A dark blue Camry. A 2007, I think.” Mr. Carmichael hesitated. “If you’re sure…”
“I’ll call you back shortly.” She hung up then, after grabbing her keys and locking up behind her, she set out to look for the missing car and teenager.
An hour later and she’d been down nearly every street in town and had come up with nothing. Not until she turned down Jackson’s parents’ street did she realize she’d unconsciously left this neighborhood and this street in particular for the end. She slowed as she passed the dark house with the porch light on.
She’d spent all day avoiding him until he’d given up and kept his distance. When she hadn’t been pulled into one conversation after another to reminisce about her grandfather this afternoon, she’d spent the time wondering if she’d made a mistake acting as though it hadn’t hurt when he left town or saying it was nothing more than a good time.
But he’d left.
She had no right to hold that against him. She knew that. Leaving had always been part of his plan, but she hadn’t counted on falling in love with him. Hadn’t realized that being left behind—again—would be almost more than she could stand.
She’d downplayed her feelings out of self-preservation and then spent the rest of the day alternating between bouts of sadness and frustration about the entire situation. He’d been there for her at the funeral, hadn’t asked her for anything, but let her lean on him when she needed to, and she’d turned around and ignored him.
Any thoughts of apologizing for being so cold to him earlier would have to wait until another time. His car wasn’t in the driveway. He was probably with Matt, or maybe Josh since she heard he’d come home after spending a week on Greenbush Island. Josh’s sister, the missing maid of honor, had also turned up.
She pulled in to the driveway to turn around, barely catching a glimpse of a dark colored car down the street in the rearview mirror. She turned the truck around and parked two houses down from the Camry. The florist bumper sticker identified the car as Mrs. Carmichael’s, but there wasn’t anyone inside it at the moment.
Hayley climbed out and glanced around, mentally reviewing the addresses for the other kids on the team, wondering if Cody had come to hang out with one of the other guys. Or maybe a girl was involved.
She wasn’t about to go door to door, disturbing people in her search for Cody. She’d let Mr. Carmichael know she found the car, then she would wait for the teen or whoever came to claim the vehicle.
Decision made, she turned around to get back in the truck, freezing when movement across the street snagged her attention. If she’d been standing two feet in either direction, the house and surrounding greenery would have masked the shadowed figure dropping down over the side of a fence in the backyard.
Chapter Fourteen
Hayley only made it halfway up the driveway before the guy walking in her direction lifted his head and noticed her.
He froze, then took off.
Going on the assumption she’d just stumbled upon her thief, she knew there was no way in hell he was slipping through her fingers a second time. Hayley bolted after him, closing the distance much quicker than she had the last time. She snagged the back of his shirt, yanking hard enough to pull the hood down.
“Cody?” Shock nailed her square in the chest.
Wide-eyed, the teen stumbled away from her and jerked a handgun from the front pocket of his hoodie, pointing it at her.
“Don’t come any closer.” His gaze darted around.
He was panicking and searching for an escape route, Hayley knew, and limiting her options. She didn’t want to give him any reason to pull the trigger, but she couldn’t let him take off on her, not