She looked through her peep hole. What was Ben doing here? It would serve him right if she let him stand out there all night. But she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t be here unless something had…
Her heart stopped. She flung open the door. “Is it Rachel? Or your mom? Are they all right?”
Ben looked a little disheveled but other than that he didn’t seem to be hurt. “Everyone’s fine. I’m sorry, I called and left you messages, but—”
“I muted my phone.” Gus told Viola what had happened at Friday’s meeting, who in turn called Mom, who in turn called Kate. Add in Mimi and Pilar and her phone hadn’t stopped ringing all weekend. She was grateful for the support, but she just couldn’t take another pity call. She invited Ben to come inside.
He set his laptop on her coffee table and opened it up. “I’m sorry to come by so late, but there’s something you have to see.”
“Oh God, please don’t tell me we’re on YouTube.”
“We’re not on YouTube.”
She sighed. “Okay, I’ll bite. Not literally, though.” There was a blade of grass sticking out of his hair, and his khaki pants had a dirt stain on one knee. This was all very un-Ben-like. It was hard to stay mad at him when… Mad wasn’t exactly the right word. “Want some coffee?”
“I’m too wired up for coffee. C’mon. Sit down. You’re going to love this.”
She doubted she’d love anything at this time of the morning. Especially this morning. The city council met again in less than ten hours. This time to decide her fate. But he’d piqued her curiosity enough that she was willing to go along. She sat next to him on the couch.
“Where have you been? You look like you rolled down a hill.”
“Mexico Beach.” He grinned like a little kid on his birthday.
“What were you doing in Mexico Beach?”
“I’ll explain that later.” He pointed to the screen. “Look. It’s about to begin.”
The screen was dark, but she recognized the surroundings right away. “It’s the security footage from the rec center.” Her breath caught in her throat. “How did you get this?”
“Zeke Grant gave it to me.”
“Zeke Grant? Why on earth did he… Ben, please tell me you didn’t bribe the police chief!”
“Hush up, woman. You’re not paying attention.” He pointed to the top of the screen. “See there? The date and time are on the top. According to this frame, it’s now eleven p.m.”
“Okay.” She watched as the camera panned through the empty hallway and around the buildings. An armadillo walked by, sniffed around a column, then went off screen. “Aw, he’s so cute!”
“Do you recognize that column?”
“No, why—oh.” Her cheeks went pink. Her back had been to the wall, but she was pretty sure at one point during their tryst, her foot had been braced up against that column. “Are you sure that’s the same one?”
He nodded. “There’s a no smoking sign on it. See? It was the only sign up in this area.”
“So all that time we were being watched by an armadillo? That’s kind of creepy. Is that what you wanted to show me?”
“Check the time.”
She looked at the screen again. The counter now read eleven twelve p.m.
“That can’t be right. I should be here by now.”
“Patience, grasshopper.”
They both stared at the screen. A few more minutes went by. Then a few more minutes.
Then the armadillo came on screen again.
Jenna’s pulse began to hitch wildly. “Ben, this is like…that thing from the movie Speed! You know where they fool the bad guy into thinking he’s watching live film but it’s just the same footage over and over again.”