I slumped down against the door, hand over my mouth to keep from laughing too loud lest Nora still be close enough to hear. Half a second later, I burst out laughing loudly and heartily. I just couldn’t help myself. The whole thing was funny as hell.
I was a little disappointed that Nora made me but far more amused over the dog swap thing. I just thanked God that the other dog hadn’t been microchipped! The question was what to do next. Probably nothing. I mean, what could I do? Go to Nora and plead guilty to dog abduction? I certainly wasn’t going to do that, nor did I feel it was wise to continue denying it unless I was accused again. If I kept denying it, that would only make me look guilty, wouldn’t it?
I decided that the best course of action would be to take no action.
I was returning from an early morning jog the next day. It was the only time I could stand to be outside since the rest of the day would be like running through a furnace.
Nora’s door opened as I got near the start of her property when the dog sprinted toward the street.
“Farrah, get back here!” Nora screamed.
I saw an oncoming car approaching, but neither that nor Nora’s shouts failed to slow the dog as it made its way to the street. I broke out of my jog and into a run and then scooped the dog up before it could advance any further than the few inches it had gotten onto the street. The car’s horn honked loudly as it whizzed by.
Nora quickly grabbed the squealing dog from me. Looking into her face, I could see the mixed emotions written on it. I saved her dog and she was grateful for it. But she still hated me because she believed I was Kate. And she was right, of course. I just wasn’t going to admit it any time soon, if ever.
“Thank you, Kate,” Nora said in a curt tone and a quick nod.
“It’s Jennifer, and you’re quite welcome. I hope she’s not too traumatized by that close call.”
The dog settled down, and Nora glanced between it and me. She still seemed to have an unsure expression on her face. “Well, we best be going,” she finally said. “You have a good day.”
“You too,” was all I said, as an idea suddenly came to mind. I headed for my place, glad my back was facing her so she couldn’t see the evil grin that had spread across my face.
A few days later, I was exiting the electronics shop with my new purchases. One of the things I bought was a tiny listening device with a battery that should last for months, since all it did was transmit sound. Wearing gloves, I pulled it from its package. I then tore up the package and buried it deep within the trash bin because I didn’t want Brennan to find it.
Then I registered the device under a phony name and created an account through Tor. This would be where I would log in to listen to whatever it picked up. It was supposed to be high-tech and wouldn’t create recordings of what it heard unless it was audible enough to create a transcript. So anything unintelligible that resulted in garbled mumbling if a person didn’t speak loudly or clearly enough would simply be ignored.
I knew I was taking a huge risk, but I just couldn’t resist. First, I had to think of a good reason to get into Nora’s house. Then I had to plant the device without being seen and hope it wasn’t discovered. I may not be able to do it right away. I would first have to learn the layout of her place and what was around.
The mornings were getting chilly, which would give me an excuse to wear a pair of light gloves, which would keep my fingerprints off of the device.
Even though my heart was hammering in my chest, I couldn’t stop myself from doing what I was about to do. I secretly loved living on the edge. It was an addiction of sorts. I just loved to see what I could get away with. The biggest thing was that I was genuinely curious to hear what might be discussed inside her house because I was curious about Nora in general. I don’t know if I could say I still had a thing for her but she had aged wonderfully, so yeah, I guess there was something there. Regardless, it seemed like an amusing prank to pull, although I knew that if I got caught, no one else would think it was remotely amusing. I always assumed, or at least hoped, that if I was ever dumb enough to get caught pulling any of the stunts I sometimes pulled that my connections to law enforcement would help bail me out, even if I wasn’t exactly affiliated with law enforcement itself, but simply the dispatcher relaying the messages of despair and destruction that came through.
I donned my hoodie and gloves and dropped the listening device into my pocket and went for a light jog, mentally trying to command myself to calm down. I told myself that the worst that could happen was that I either don’t get inside, or I do but I don’t get the opportunity to make the drop.
Knowing that Nora was home alone at that time, I ran up and rang the doorbell. A second later, Nora opened the door. She didn’t look too happy to see me, but given that I had saved her dog, she was polite.
“Good morning,” I said cheerily.
“Kate,” she said with an almost professional-like nod.
“Jennifer,” I corrected with a smile, “but I don’t mind being called Kate. So many years of being called the same name—”
“Is there anything I can do for you this morning?”
Thinking quickly, I said, “Sure. How about inviting me in for a nice, warm cup of coffee or tea? It’s kinda chilly out here today, and I have something important to tell you that I think you’ll want to know.”
I could sense Nora struggling with her curiosity and her desire not to associate with me. Luckily for me, her curiosity won out in the end.
Once inside her place, I gave the space a visual once-over without trying to appear like I was looking for something in particular.
She led me to her kitchen, and now I realized I had to come up with just what it was she would want to know. On the spot, I made up a quick but plausible tale that couldn’t be disproved about a few young guys peering through backyard fences in the neighborhood. “It was as if they were staking the place out, so you might want to be on the lookout.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Is regular coffee okay?”
“Sure.”
“Cream and sugar?”
“Neither.”
I surveyed the large kitchen while she had her back to me, pouring my cup of coffee. There was a fake plant nearby that would be perfect since it didn’t require watering. The artificial palm was large, at about 6 or 7 feet tall, and sat on the floor.
The dog came up to me and gave me the perfect opportunity to bend over and slip the device into the pot. “Well, hello there, buddy,” I said as I slipped a hand into the pocket of my hoodie and quickly made the drop before Nora turned around.
The dog licked my hand, grossing me out a little. “How have you been since you gave your mom such a scare?”
I rose straight up just as Nora set a seafoam green mug down in front of me. “Thanks.”
Again with the wordless nod. Then she called her dog over to her as if I might somehow be harmful to it, and she wanted to get it away from me.
I sipped the hot brew and said, “This is delicious. You know how to make one, Nora.”
“I’m glad you like it,” she said with a degree of hesitation. Then, taking a deep breath, she said, “I don’t mean to sound rude or anything like that, but I do have some errands to run and a busy day ahead of me, so I’ll have to get a move on it in about 10 minutes or so.”
“No problem. I have a lot to do today as well.”
If only she knew!
ns216.73.216.247da2
