Free 03 - Organized Grime by Christy Barritt Page A

“Let’s put that away,” he mumbled. “Fussing at each other will get us nowhere.”
    Parker sighed and lowered his voice. “Gabby, we have it on video that Sierra was at the office of Harrison Developers only four days ago. She entered the building with a back pack. She left without it.”
    The information felt like a slap in the face. Finally, I came out of my stupor. “That means nothing. Another coincidence.” But even to my own ears, my words didn’t sound right. “I’m going to prove she’s innocent, Parker.”
    His gaze locked on mine. “Just don’t get yourself killed in the process, Gabby.”
    Riley followed me to the door and said nothing as I charged outside, hoping he was behind me. I climbed into his car and, to my relief, he did also. We sat silently a moment until finally Riley asked, “Well?”
    “Right now I want to track down someone named Bruce Watkins.”
    “Who’s Bruce Watkins?”
    “No one. Just an ecoterrorist.”
     
    ***
     
    We pulled into a parking space at the gas station, and Riley turned toward me. “And your plan is…?”
    I shrugged. “I have no plan. I’m going to wing it.”
    “Winging usually doesn’t equal winning.”
    “Is that court talk?”
    He blinked at me. “Court talk?”
    “You know, what you tell yourself before a trial or something?”
    Riley shook his head. “No, it’s just common sense.”
    I opened my door. “How about this then? Let’s do this on a wing and a prayer.”
    He groaned, but stepped out of the car also. A couple of snow flurries pecked me in the face as I hurried across the parking lot. Just as I pulled open the door to the convenience store, a man breezed out. Just before he was out of my line of sight, I read his nametag. Bruce. This had to be my guy.
    I stopped in the doorway, and Riley slammed into my back. I turned toward him, raised my eyebrows and nodded toward the employee who’d just left.
    Riley silently mouthed, “What?”
    I shrugged and nodded toward the employee again.
    He shrugged, his eyes wide in confusion.
    I nodded toward Bruce Watkins again, wondering why Riley was having such a hard time reading my brilliant body language.
    “Casual,” I whispered. “Come on.”
    I walked back toward Riley’s car, keeping my eyes on Bruce as he climbed into an old clunker of a car.
    Riley leaned toward me, close enough that I could feel his breath across my cheek. “You don’t look casual, Gabby. You look like you were attempting a robbery, but your plan was foiled,” he whispered.
    “We’ve got to follow that man before he gets away. This is no time to worry about if I look suspicious.” Regardless, I tried to relax my shoulders and slow my gait.
    Riley climbed into the driver’s seat just as Bruce pulled away.
    “We’ve got to follow him!”
    Riley put the car in drive, a little too slowly for my tastes. He glanced at me once more, still not moving. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”
    I nodded in fake confidence. “Absolutely.” Yeah, so really I had no idea. “Let’s go!”
    We followed him through Norfolk until he stopped at some townhouses, parked his car and climbed out. I watched as he unlocked the townhouse with the red door, looked both ways, and then went inside.
    “What now?” Riley asked.
    That was a great question. What now? I made a decision. “Now I’m going to go talk to him.”
    Riley arched an eyebrow. “Just like that? Go up to his door and demand he tells you where Sierra is?”
    I shrugged. “Not exactly.” I unlatched the door and waved my head in the distance. “You’ll see.” Before I slammed the door closed, I grabbed a clipboard from the backseat, jammed a blank piece of paper under the clip, and tucked a pencil behind my ear.
    “Do I even want to know?”
    “Probably not. You’re going to need to stand where he can’t see you. Otherwise, he’ll never buy my story.”
    “I’m not sure I want you that close to him alone.”
    I pointed to a bush. “You