Truth and Justice - Fern Michaels Page 0,49

that didn’t have something mysterious growing on it. Then she showered and washed her hair. After that, she cleaned her tiny apartment from top to bottom and ran to the store to buy more food. She needed energy and stamina.

She went back to bed and slept deeply for six straight hours. A wonderful, restful, happy sleep. She woke full of spit and vinegar, ready to take on the whole world.

Andy Nolan was coming home!

* * *

Sara shook her head to clear her thoughts. She cleared her throat and wiped at her eyes. She knew Bella’s last name. Ames. She’d find a way to locate her through her driver’s license. Or hire a private detective.

Sara stepped through the door when she saw the town car pull up to the side door of the Tulsa International Airport, where she was waiting. She gave the driver the address of the Commodore Hotel on Evergreen Avenue. She was here for two days; then she was heading back to Virginia. Finally, she would be free of the Nolans once and for all. Just one more meeting with their lawyers, sign another batch of papers, accept the generous check, and she was done with this hateful place. She made a promise to herself never to return. This place, this entire state, was going to be erased from her memory.

Sara stared out the side window as the driver skillfully steered the town car past the line of Ubers waiting to pick up their fares. She spotted the two ladies ahead of her in line who had been talking about her. Who were they? Why were they here? she wondered.

She felt frazzled now, out of sorts. When she got like this, she knew she had to find a quiet place, a place with a Zen-like atmosphere, where she could zone out and think and project. For some reason, she felt frightened, uneasy. The last time she’d felt like this, she’d been eight years old. She knew she needed to find that space as soon as possible before she lost control.

* * *

Annie looked over at Myra just as she stepped into the waiting Uber. “I think this is a big mistake. What’s wrong with the two of us? We don’t seem to be able to make up our minds about anything since we got here. I thought we came to the airport to get on my plane to go back to Pinewood after deciding not to go to the hotel. I even called Peter. Then we decided to go to the hotel instead to talk to Avery Snowden. What we know, which is not all that much, we can tell him in a phone call. I think we should go to the plane and head home. What do you think?”

“I’m okay with that, Annie. I was more or less thinking the same thing. Tell the driver to take us to the hangar where your plane is instead of the hotel.” Annie did just that; then she called the pilot and told him to get the plane ready. She listened to him gripe and grumble about the cost of fuel and sitting on the runway and then canceling and the tower bitching at him in five different languages.

Annie grinned at Myra, and said, “Not to worry, Peter, we’ll sit in that crummy lounge and wait for you to call us. Things happen, you know how it is,” she said airily.

“I hope he doesn’t quit on you. No one likes a show-off, Annie,” Myra said.

“Peter won’t quit. He’s been with me forever. I’m his son’s godmother. He hates burning fuel, he’s very frugal, and maintaining a plane is a high-dollar enterprise. He’s just a little too conscientious sometimes.”

It was the Uber driver who started to snipe and snarl when he realized how very close his destination was and that he wouldn’t make any money on the ride. Annie apologized and slipped him a fifty-dollar bill. The driver looked at the crisp bill and grimaced. “We’re not permitted to accept tips.” Annie rolled her eyes and dropped the bill on the front passenger seat when the car came to a full stop at the private hangar.

Annie bounced out of the car, Myra hot on her heels. They headed for the lounge, where Myra ordered two double Kentucky bourbons on the rocks.

“Attagirl, Myra!” Annie held her glass aloft. “Cheers!”

Chapter 11

Myra and Annie ran from the car, the ferocious October wind propelling them forward. They could hear the dogs inside barking an early