Chapter 4 - Following the Shadow
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By three o'clock that afternoon, the rain had turned into a steady, gray mist over Providence.
Corbin watched from his study window as Lianna pulled her plain gray coat around her shoulders, picked up her canvas bag, and began walking down the long, winding estate driveway toward the public bus stop.
Corbin didn't call out to her. He didn't offer her a ride. He knew that throwing money at her directly right now might make her suspicious or deeply uncomfortable. Instead, he grabbed his coat, pulled the keys to his non-descript gray sedan—a vehicle he rarely drove—and slipped out through the garage.
He pulled up to the curb a block past the bus stop, waiting until the public transit bus arrived and picked Lianna up.
Corbin followed the bus at a safe distance as it crept out of the affluent suburbs and snaked its way toward the older, crowded industrial districts of South Providence.
The contrast was jarring. The wide green lawns and stone mansions gave way to cracked asphalt, rusting fire escapes, and overcrowded triple-decker apartment buildings.
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The bus eventually pulled to the curb near an intersection flanked by a liquor store and a laundromat. Lianna stepped down onto the pavement, holding her collar closed against the wind, and turned down a narrow side street.
Corbin parked his car near a broken streetlight, killed the engine, and watched her walk.
