Legal Tender by Lisa Scottoline

Author:Lisa Scottoline
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Text Books
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2002-03-24T16:00:00+00:00

20

I got back in the bananamobile with my written directions and Mrs. Zoeller’s homemade map. Bill was holed up in a cabin his uncle owned and kept for hunting. The Zoellers thought it was untraceable to them and also that Bill hadn’t told Eileen about it. I wasn’t so sure. I had to believe Eileen knew about it, and had maybe even been there. A young man and a young girl, not shacking up in a shack? This was still America, wasn’t it?

I studied the map. The cabin was at the godforsaken frontier of the state, probably seven hours north of here and as far west as Pittsburgh. I needed gas, food, and more coffee. I ended up getting it at a minimart far from the Zoellers’ farm, in case there were any cops around.

“Nice car, Jamie,” said the teenaged attendant, who also sold me two bloated hot dogs.

“Jamie?”

“Your license plate.”

“Oh. Right.” I kept my head down, hurried back to the car, and took off.

I drove through tunnels blasted out of stony mountains and around corkscrew highways carved into grassy hills. It began to rain, and I sped by strip mall after wet strip mall. By the time I had gulped down the hot dogs and terrible coffee it was the worst storm the radio disc jockey had ever seen. Thunder rumbled in the western sky and my stomach rumbled, too, but not from the provisions. Finally I couldn’t stand it anymore and made a call on my cell phone.

“Is she okay?” I asked, when Hattie picked up.

“What? Bennie? Is that you?”

“Yes. Is she okay?” Gray rainwater pounded on the windshield. Between the storm and the static, we could barely hear each other.

“She’s fine! Fine!”

“When does she have the ECT?” The signal broke completely, and I waited for the crackling to subside.

“—Saturday morning, eleven o’clock! Bennie? You there? You okay?”

More crackling. It was maddening. When it stopped I yelled, “Why so soon? Can’t it wait until I’m there?”

“You worry about yourself! Your momma’s fine!”

“Make them wait, Hattie! You can’t do it alone!”

“She can’t wait!” she shouted, before the signal broke for the last time.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.