Shadow's Turning- Part 10

His car turned out to be a gleaming black SUV, parked in a detached garage in the back.

I got into the passenger seat and buckled myself in.

The ride to my apartment was quiet.  I didn’t know about him, but I needed to get horizontal in the worst way.

I doubted I would be able to sleep at night.

We parked in the not so well lit basement and I led Birch to the elevator, pressing my floor.

And because the universe has a mean sense of humor, the elevator opened up to Mrs. Hendrix.

Birch took in her small, frail form dressed in a lavender sweat suit and her fluffy white hair.  Even her smile broadcasted nice old lady.

I saw him dismiss her as a threat.

Little did he know.

“Sara!  Two nights in a row.  Must be careful now, a young lady’s reputation isn’t easily fixed.”

“Good morning Mrs. Hendrix,” I said with a stiff smile, trying to edge around her walker.

“I waited for you to come help me with my trash, but I suppose you had more important things to do,” she said, eyeing Birch with the glittering eyes.  “I’ll wait for you to come over tonight.”

I mumbled something non-committal and almost ran down the hall to my door.

She muttered something about rude young people as she got on the elevator.

“Make a habit of running away from old ladies?” Birch asked in an amused voice.

“Don’t let her disguise fool you,” I muttered, my face heating from a blush.

He’d just faced one of those…things…voluntarily and survived.

And here I was running away from a confrontation with a senior citizen.

With a silent sigh, I opened the door and went in, throwing my keys on the table in the entryway.

“Make yourself at home,” I said, going into my bedroom.

I pulled out some yoga pants and a t-shirt, wanting comfort.  I was going to take my time in the shower.  If Birch was annoyed, well, it was his choice to come with me in the first place.

I turned the water on to scalding and hopped in.

Twenty minutes later, I almost felt human.

Wiping the foggy mirror, I looked at my face.

I had the beginnings of shadows under my eyes, the dark green dulled from lack of sleep.  With my brown hair slicked back, the signs of fatigue were even more apparent on my face.

I also had bruises all over my body from throwing myself against the door.

Maybe I shouldn’t have looked in the mirror.

I ran a comb through my hair and dressed.  Opening the door to my bedroom, I padded barefoot to the living room.

Birch was seated on the couch with his head tilted back and his eyes closed.

“Hey- can I catch some sleep before we go back?” I asked, nudging his jean-clad leg with my foot.

He opened one eye to look at me.

“Few hours,” he said and closed his eye again.

Ok, good enough.

I went back inside and collapsed on the bed.

Chapter 5

“Sara.”

I grumbled and turned away from the annoying voice that kept calling my name.

“Sara, we need to get going.”

I curled up tighter.

That’s when the covers were ripped off.

“Hey!”

I sat up, glaring at Birch.

“Get up.  We have to get back.  Unless you want me to duct tape you to one of your chairs before the sun sets.”

That got me up.

Blinking the sleep out of my eyes, I stumbled out of bed and grabbed a tote bag, shoving in some toiletries and a change of clothes, just in case.

Just as we were about to leave the apartment, my phone rang.

“Hello?”

“Give it to Birch.”

Geez, no hello or anything.  I handed it to Birch.

“It’s Lieson.”

“Yeah?” he answered.

He listened intently.

His jaw clenched as his eyes narrowed.

Obviously not good news.

“Ok.”

He turned the phone off.

“What?” I asked.

“Who did you tell about what happened?” he asked in a voice that was too controlled.

“Uh, just you guys.  And Mindy.  Why?”

“The police just showed up at our place.”