When Twilight Comes - By B. J. Daniels Page 0,35

see the future. Of course, everyone in the family thought her just a crazy old bat.

But one time Grandmother Tyler had stared into Charlene’s eyes and said, “You got the gift, too, don’t you, girl?”

Charlene had denied it. Hell, she didn’t need that kind of gift. No way.

And yet even before she heard Jenna Dante’s voice, Charlene knew that her “gift” hadn’t let her down—at least not this time. Answering this call was the smartest thing she’d done in a long time.

“Charlene?”

Jenna Dante. She tried to catch her breath. “Hey, girl.” She felt a sharp stab of regret as she hit the TV’s mute button. She hated missing her show. “You all right?” Jenna hadn’t come home last night and she’d been worried about her.

“You said if I ever needed help…”

Charlene looked toward the heavens and smiled at her luck. “I meant it. What can I do?” She glanced at her soap ruefully and just hoped nothing big happened on it today.

“I’m kind of in a bind,” Jenna said on the other end of the line.

“It’s that ex of yours, isn’t it,” Charlene stated.

“I’m afraid so. I have something of his I didn’t mean to take. Now I need to get it back to him,” Jenna explained.

Something of her ex’s? Charlene held her breath.

“The thing is, this package that I need to get to my ex, I can’t mail it.”

Charlene let out the breath she’d been holding. “We’re not talking drugs here, right?”

“No, no, nothing like that,” Jenna said quickly. “It’s just some papers I didn’t mean to take.” She sighed. “It’s a long story. But I thought if I could get them to my apartment, I could call him and tell him where to pick them up.” She paused. “You know, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea.”

Papers. Right. “Look, are you sure you shouldn’t go to the cops? What am I saying? You already went to them. They can’t protect you from him. Hey, I can get him the papers. Just tell me where to pick them up.”

Silence. For a moment Charlene was afraid Jenna had hung up.

“Charlene, I’m not in Seattle. It’s too far and you can’t—”

“Hey, what are friends for? And it’s not like I’m doing anything.” She glanced wistfully at her soap opera. “I’ve even got wheels. A friend sold me her used car when she traded up.” A small lie. At least for the moment. “And I’m up for a road trip. What else do I have to do? Just tell me how to get to you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.” Charlene found a pen and turned over one of the bill envelopes on her coffee table. “Just give me directions.”

“Well, there is one small problem,” Jenna said, and explained about the bridge and the flooding.

“I’m sure I’ll be able to get through by the time I reach there,” Charlene said.

“It will be good to see you.”

JENNA AND FRANCO. Lorenzo couldn’t believe how well this was all working out. Not that he could see Jenna with Franco. Not in a million years. But if Valencia found Jenna first, then he would find her with the duffel bag full of money. What else would he think? No matter what she said, Valencia wouldn’t believe her.

And if Lorenzo managed to find Jenna first?

Little chance of that happening. Alfredo hadn’t been able to locate her. Jenna could be miles from here by now. But didn’t that mean Valencia wouldn’t be able to trace her, either?

Lorenzo breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn’t have planned this better.

His cell phone rang. He flipped it open, stared at the caller ID and smiled. Lady luck was shining on him today. “Yeah?”

“Mr. Dante?” said the female voice. There was a mocking lilt to the way she said the mister that he didn’t like.

“Charlene,” he said, and waited. The last time she’d called it was to tell him that Jenna had taken off. By that time, he’d already figured it out. He had wondered why Charlene hadn’t phoned sooner with the information. Wasn’t that what he was paying her for?

“I just heard from Jenna,” she said into the silence.

Well, maybe setting Charlene Palmer up in the same apartment complex to spy on his ex-wife hadn’t been such a bad idea, after all. Charlene had befriended Jenna, as she’d been hired to do. But up until this minute, she hadn’t given him anything that had been worth her rent, let alone paying all her expenses so she could sit around on her butt.

“She wants me