Free The Secret (The Scinegue Series Book 1) by S.R. Booth Page B

head and gave her a tender smile. He trailed the back of his finger across her cheek, and after one more quick kiss he was gone. She heard the door to the garage click shut behind him.
    Sarah sat where she was for just a moment, filled with a mixture of love and fear before her features hardened in resolve. She stood up, taking on her role. Whatever those people were involved in wasn’t right, and if there was something she could do to help prevent it, well, she was tougher than she looked.
    Measuring out popcorn, she added it to the hot oil in her popcorn popper on the stove. The opening music from her favorite movie came from the living room, drawing a smile from her at Billy’s thoughtfulness. “And so the show begins,” she murmured.
    “Oh, Billy!” she exclaimed extra loud making sure if anyone was listening they would have something to hear. “You are so sweet to put in my favorite movie. I know it puts you to sleep half the time, but I just love it.” She laughed, quite convincingly she believed, and then proceeded to enjoy a romantic evening with her ‘pillow’ husband after making sure that the blinds behind the couch were closed, but not too tightly. If anyone was watching, she wanted them to have a clear view of her and ‘Billy’ innocently watching a movie.
     
    I nstead of attracting attention to the house by opening the overhead door to the garage, Billy left through the small door that opened into the backyard. He peered around cautiously before stepping out, then ran to the side fence that would take him through his neighbor’s backyard.
    Clouds covered the moon, but with street lights and lights coming from inside the houses, he had no trouble seeing as he passed from one yard to the next until he came to the side street. He looked around, and not seeing anything suspicious, jumped over the last fence onto the sidewalk below and headed downtown at a brisk pace.
    The corner grocery store, conveniently called The Corner Store, where he was to meet the mystery note writer, was just a few blocks away. One of the benefits of living in a small town was a small grocery store within walking distance from his house.
    An easy ten mile drive either north or south would take them to their choice of larger stores with more varied selections, and Sarah made that drive at least once a month. For their everyday needs, The Corner Store was more than sufficient. The man must know where he lived to come up with such a close meeting place, he realized with a start.
    Everything was happening so fast that it just hit him that whomever he was meeting probably knew a lot about him. Where he lived was one thing, but he must know more about him than that to have entrusted him with the bits of information he had. He must have some reason to believe Billy wouldn’t just turn that information over to someone at Scinegue, like Mr. Bryant.
    The thought of an unknown person studying him left Billy with an uncomfortable feeling, although he couldn’t explain why. He didn’t have any secrets he was afraid of having uncovered ; it just seemed intrusive to have a stranger know so much about him.
    He stood on the sidewalk in front of the brightly lit store for just a second and peered through the windows. What if this was a trick to get Sarah alone? he worried suddenly. What if it was a trick to get him alone? What if he was the one missing at work tomorrow? The one instantly replaced and never thought about again.
    Resolved, he walked into the store, grabbed a hand-held basket as an afterthought, and headed indirectly for the bread aisle where the mystery note writer said he would be.
    He began pulling packages of bread off the shelves, pretending to read the ingredients but covertly glancing at everyone who passed by. The store was busy for nine o’clock. His heart thumped in his ears. He tried to act calm, but he still jumped when a woman reached past him for a loaf of bread to add to her already loaded cart.
    Two minutes