husband, said that Roz had called and asked Peggy to join her at the gym.
“That’s strange,” I said when I clicked my phone off.
“What?”
“Peter said Roz went to meet Shashi, but Peggy got a call from Roz to meet her at the gym. How can Roz be in two places at once?”
I was still pondering the issue when my phone buzzed. Caller ID said it was Peggy. Nice timing, I thought. Pushing the talk button, I started in. “Hey there lady, are you with Roz?”
The response was not one I expected. “IF YOU WANT TO SEE YOUR FRIENDS ALIVE, BRING BUNNY BERGEN TO THE WINSLOW BUILDING ON MIMOSA PARKWAY. WE SENT AN ESCORT.”
I think I stopped breathing. I could feel the blood drain from my hands and face. The voice was mechanical and unrecognizable—as if the speaker was talking through a vocal masking device.
The line went dead. “Hello?” I yelled, panic surging. I stared at the phone, not knowing what to do next.
“What’s wrong?” Bunny asked.
How do you tell a woman who’s already on the verge of a nervous breakdown that someone wants her bad enough to kidnap two innocent women?
The little bell on the door announced another customer who told the hostess in an Indian accent that her friends were already here. A moment later, Shashi Kapoor slid onto the sofa next to Bunny. Shashi had lost her usual Sari, and instead, sported blue jeans and a Redskins sweatshirt. A plain brown baseball cap topped off the unusually American ensemble.
“Hello, ladies,” she murmured. She’d also instantly traded the Indian accent for a Georgia Peach Southern twang. OMG as the kids say. I certainly didn’t see that one coming. How had my kind, caring crossing guard been roped into this crime? And while I struggled to understand what was happening, I noticed her right hand stuffed suspiciously in her sweatshirt pocket.
Bunny started breathing hard and looked back and forth between me and Georgia Peach Shashi.
“You can tell Bunny what’s wrong when we get to your car,” Shashi said softly.
“You’re the escort?”
Shashi nodded. “Don’t be obvious, just leave and if anyone asks, say you’ll be right back.”
“Barb, what’s happening?”
“Bunny, whatever you do, don’t lose it. This is no time to showcase your talent for shrill, animals-of-the-Amazon mating calls. Just follow me—quietly. And whatever she says, do it.”
As the three of us stood to leave, Frankie arrived with our food nicely wrapped in a Fiorenza’s bag. “I threw in some bread and salads for you too,” he said.
Grabbing the bag, I suddenly felt very lucky to have befriended an ex-gangster. But I needed a code and I needed it quick-like. The problem was, my stomach churned from fear, and Uncle Ralph was knocking on my esophagus.
“Thanks, Frankie,” I said, hoping my grim, green face alone might throw him a hint. “You’re a great friend. I’m so glad I met you. Remember the night we met? Boy, that was a night, huh?”
Shashi cleared her throat loudly which I took to mean, move your butt or I’ll shoot it off.
“Okay, gotta go.” So far my code seemed totally pathetic and entirely un-decipherable. That’s when I was inspired to spell out the word HELP. “We’ll go HOME now,” I said. “And we’ll EAT these LITTLE ziti and . . .”
Damn! I didn’t have a word for P. Potato? Pigtails? Pendulum? Then I had it. “. . . and POP open a bottle of wine.”
We were walking through the door with Shashi practically pushing us when I threw one more clue out for good measure. “May the Karma be with you, Frankie!”
Shashi followed us to my rental van. She made sure we were both in, then took the back seat behind Bunny. “Pop a bottle of wine?” she drawled. “Do you think I was born yesterday?”
“Evidently not born yesterday or in India,” I quipped.
“You know where to go—get moving. If we’re not walking through the doors in ten minutes, they drop one. Five minutes later they drop the other.”
“Drop?”
“Kill,” I said as I slipped the key into the ignition and turned over the engine. “They’ll kill Peggy and Roz if we don’t show up on time.”
“Who’s they?” asked Bunny.
I pulled out of the parking space, around the service road and onto Rustic Woods Parkway. “Good question. I’m assuming you are . . . Bunny, who were those other two?”
“Other two what?”
“Dynasty Dames. There was that KiKi person and . . .”
Shashi seemed stymied. “So you really were on to us?”
Bunny picked up the paper we found