Authors: Fern Michaels

Annie's Rainbow (33 page)

BOOK: Annie's Rainbow

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“No, Elmo, I didn't. I didn't see anyone. A car was behind me. There's no law against that. I managed to scale the ditch. He didn't. He, whoever he is, would say he lost his bearings in the heavy rain. You couldn't see an inch in front of you. I depended on the lightning, and don't think for one minute that I don't know someone up there was watching over me. Clay said there were no license plates on the car and that it was locked. Yeah, my purse is gone. How do I prove he, whoever he is, took it? The police will tell me if I was stupid enough to leave it, I deserve whatever I get. That's the way it is, Elmo. I don't want you worrying about me.”

“Fine, I won't worry about you,” the old man snapped. “What's for dinner?”

“I have no clue. What'd you get Daisy for her birthday?”

“A big red wagon. She'll be able to pull that dog you're getting her around in it. Kids love doing that. Annie, I saw my lawyer last week. I didn't say anything to Jane about this, but I want you to know. I'm leaving everything I have in trust for Daisy. I want her to have a fine start when she finishes college. You aren't upset, are you?”

“Not one little bit. That's so kind of you, Elmo. Jane won't be upset either. She'll be as grateful as I am. Daisy's a sweet little girl.”

“She's a whiz at checkers, I can tell you that. She's starting to come around. She's got a long way to go, but she'll make it.”

“More tea, Annie?” Jane asked as she sailed into the room.

“Sure,” Annie said, holding out her glass.

“Nice guy, Annie. Real nice.”

“Don't you start now. He drove me home is all. His dog is the one who found me. He helped me; that's all there is to it.”

“I saw the way he looked at you. He's interested.”

“I don't believe the two of you. He lives in North Carolina. I live in South Carolina.”

“It's closer than Hawaii,” Jane said.

“I suppose you're going to tell me you don't like Parker, either.”

“If you love Parker, then I love Parker. Speaking for myself, no, I did not like the man. I didn't like his attitude on the phone. I never met him, so that's probably not a fair assessment. I never would . . .”

“Have said a word unless I brought it up. Does that mean Tom doesn't like him either?”

“As a business associate I think he likes him just fine. Personally, I don't think he does. You need to clarify that with him.

“He's sure chatting up a storm with Mr. Mitchell in the garden. They're drinking beer and talking basketball. Man's man. You know, guy stuff. None of that flower necklace stuff,” Jane said.

Annie wasn't touching that one. “What's for dinner?”

“Last of the summer corn. Big garden salad. I went to the market earlier and everything was so gorgeous I bought a little of everything. Chicken on the grill. Ice-cold beer for us grown-ups and lemonade for Daisy. Chicken and rice for the dogs. It's cooking as we speak. Mr. Mitchell is staying, isn't he?”

“For today. I thought I'd let him drive the Rover back and then, when my knee is better, you and I can drive up and get it if that's all right with you.”

“Sure. Name the day. Did you decide on the reunion, Annie?”

“Yes. I'll go if you want to.”

“Are you sure that's wise, ladies?” Elmo asked.

“Wise or not, we're going,” Annie said. “And when I'm there, I'm going to light a fire under someone. I'm going to put a stop to this once and for all. I will not live in fear, nor will either one of you.”

“What about Parker and his nephew?” Elmo asked.

“I'm going to take care of that, too. What happened to me in North Carolina was the last straw.”

“I guess that means you're going to finally kick some ass, huh, Annie?”

“That's exactly what it means.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Annie woke from a terrible dream, her body drenched in sweat, the light summer blanket she'd covered herself with wrapped around her neck. She leaned back into the soft, down pillows trying to figure out if it was the dream or something else that woke her. The dogs were quiet. Late-summer heat lightning could be seen through the Charleston blinds on the front window, but there was no rolling thunder. Where were the dogs? Probably sleeping with Daisy behind closed doors. Jake was probably upstairs with Clay with his door closed. Elmo was sleeping in the small bedroom off the center hallway. His door was probably closed, too. Jane and Tom were on the second floor at the end of the hall. Undoubtedly their doors were also closed. So what was it that woke her? She grunted when she realized her knee was throbbing.

Jane had left a bottle of aspirin and a glass of ice tea, now warm, on the end table next to the sofa in case she woke and was thirsty. Annie tossed the lightweight blanket to the side, grasped the arm of the sofa, and got up, wincing painfully and being careful not to put any weight on her injured leg. She hopped her way through the dining room and down the hall to the kitchen in the dark, only to find Elmo standing in the open doorway to his room, a strange look on his face.

“What's wrong?” she hissed.

“Don't know. I thought I heard something. Sit down, Annie. I'll get you whatever you want. Stay off that leg.”

“Why are we whispering? I don't think there's anything out there, Elmo The dogs would be barking their heads off.”

“The dogs are upstairs at the front end of the house. Jane bought some gadget that plays soothing sounds for Daisy so she can fall asleep. It plays all night long. It's one of those hypnotic, restful things. The dogs are probably zonked along with Daisy. I heard something,” he insisted.

“Maybe we should call Tom to check outside. I can buzz him on the intercom. We have a child in the house, Elmo.”

“It could be anything, Annie. Kids going by, kids throwing stuff over the gate. A raccoon on the roof. It just so happens we both heard something. It doesn't have to mean it's related to ... that other matter. We're both being silly to worry.”

“After my experience in North Carolina, I'm ready to believe anything. You did say that Mr. Newman volunteered the information that the man said he knows all our movements twenty-four hours a day. What am I supposed to think? I'm not going to be able to go back to sleep. Would you like some coffee, Elmo?”

“Coffee would be good right now.”

“Regular or decaf?”

“Regular.”

“Elmo, there's something I want to talk to you about. Remember how I told you there was something about Parker that bothered me? I didn't exactly say that, but 1 always had the feeling something was going on somewhere that I should be aware of. That's the best way I can explain it.”

“So.”

“I read this article about real coffee without the caffeine while I was in the hotel. It seems that certain scientists have learned how to create coffee plants that are missing the caffeine gene. They did some tests on the leaves of their decaf coffee plants and they show only one percent of the caffeine in regular plants. The breakthrough came with the discovery of a gene necessary for production of caffeine by the plant. This was all done at the University of Hawaii. It seems that they can now knock out the gene in certain pieces of coffee plant tissue and regenerate the tissue into new plants. What that means, Elmo, is this. Caffeine knockout means you can produce decaf coffee without putting the beans through the extraction process, which reduces flavor.

“Elmo, this is going to be big business. The commodity market for coffee is a twenty-four-billion-dollar-a-year business. Possibly more. In case you don't know this, it's second only to oil. According to the article I read, it's going to take two years to produce the beans. I think Parker has been doing this all along, and that's why he's turned the everyday part of the coffee business over to Kiki. I never understood why a coffee company had to have a laboratory. I think he's marking genes in coffee plants that involve flavor and yield. If he can do that, it will enhance his coffee flavors, reduce bitterness, and increase the number of beans produced per plant.”

“What does all that mean to us, Annie?”

“If Parker is ahead of the pack, he can win big. Right now he needs my contract and my money to finance this new venture, at which point his price to me will double and I'm dead in the water and the Daisy Shops go under. Now I know why they were so insistent on a long-term contract. I am so glad I had that niggling feeling I was being squeezed. I only signed on for six months. Tom thought I was out of my mind. Parker almost stood on his head to try and convince me to extend it. It wasn't sitting right even then, but I wasn't able to put it all together until a few days ago. Parker sure as hell knew how to play the game, though. Right now he's counting on the fact that we pay on delivery, unlike some firms who take as long as ninety and some times one hundred twenty days to pay up. Scientists are expensive. Laboratories cost a fortune to maintain. I almost fell for it, too. Do you think I'm crazy, Elmo?”

“About as crazy as I am,” Elmo snorted. “So now what?”

“I don't know. We let the contract run its course. It has three months to go. I'm going to talk to Tom in the morning. We need to get ready for Plan B.”

“Do you still love him, Annie?”

“I thought I did. I allowed myself to paint this rosy picture in my mind. You know, life after the Daisy Shops. A family. I always knew there was a shadow in the picture. I'm not faultless here. We both played the game. Unfortunately, I didn't know the rules. The thing that really got me, Elmo, was this. I couldn't get that business with his sisters out of my head. Parker has no respect for women. Oh, he says he does, but he doesn't. When you think you're in love you only see what you want to see. My little affair was a moment in time. Everyone has moments like that. It's a memory.”

“And here I thought you called it all off for other reasons. Reasons we don't need to discuss.”

“That was part of it, Elmo. Fear does strange things to a person. It also opens your eyes to what's around you. Fear for your well-being and your life make you so aware of things it is almost impossible to miss all those things you ignored along the way. Does that make sense?”

Elmo nodded and looked at his watch. “It's four-thirty. Everything seems quiet. I guess our nerves got the best of us.”

“Seems that way.”

“Want to play some checkers or some gin rummy?”

“Checkers,” Annie said.

“I'll get the board.”

“I'm going to use the bathroom. What are we playing for?”

“Money, what else?” Elmo cackled as he headed down the hall to his room.

Two minutes later, just as Annie opened the bathroom door, an explosion rocked the back end of the house. Annie fell backward, reaching for the towel bar and swinging wildly on one foot so she wouldn't fall. “Elmo!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

“What the hell was that?” Elmo shouted as he tottered to Annie, his arms outstretched.

“My God! Call the police, the fire department! Are you okay, Elmo?”

“Scared the bejesus out of me; but I'm okay. Where's the phone?”

Annie hopped over to the bottom of the steps. “Everyone get down here! Tom! Jane! Clay! Hurry! There was an explosion in the kitchen. We need to get outside. Hurry! Hurry!” Annie screamed to be heard over the crackling flames in the kitchen.

Five minutes later they were all clustered together on the sidewalk in front of the house as the fire engine and police cars raced to a screeching halt, the ambulance directly behind the police cars.

Everyone started talking at once, the dogs barking and howling as the sirens continued to wail.

“Oh, Annie, your beautiful house is ruined. Thank God you're okay. Thank God, we're all okay,” Jane dithered as she crushed Daisy to her chest.

“I don't care about the house. If Elmo hadn't decided he wanted to play checkers and if I hadn't gone to the bathroom, we'd both be
dead
now.”

Clay Mitchell stared at the firemen and the police as they raced inside the house. “What the hell is going on here, Tom? Do you have gas in the house?”

“No. Everything is electric,” Tom said as he clenched his teeth and balled his hands into tight fists.

Clay thought about the gun Annie kept near her at all times and the mess she'd been in a little more than twenty-four hours ago. Common sense told him he should take his dog and beat feet. Instead he planted his feet more firmly on the concrete. He'd never run out on a friend in his life. He'd never been one to run from trouble, either. His adrenaline started to boil when he saw the fear on everyone's face, especially the little girl. “Easy, Jake. Stay,” he said calmly to the jittery dog.

An hour later, the investigating police officer offered to drive all of them to Elmo's house with a strict warning not to return to the house until it was safe to do so.

“How long will that be?” Annie demanded.

“It could be days. It could be weeks,” the officer said. Annie groaned.

“Did my birthday cake blow up?” Daisy whimpered.

“I think so,” Jane said. “We'll bake another one at Elmo's house.”

Annie climbed into the police car and sat down next to Elmo. “We were all in the house. The three of us, Elmo. You know what this means, don't you?”

“I'm afraid so, Annie. I don't know if Jane's figured it out yet, though.”

“We aren't going to be safe anywhere. If the only way to get that man off our backs is a confession, then I'm going to the police and cross my fingers and confess. There was a child in the house. Doesn't he care? Clay Mitchell has nothing to do with this. He's an innocent party and he could have been killed and so could Tom. The bastard wants us or one of us three. I'm going to do it, Elmo. I can't take this anymore.”

“You're not going to do any such thing. The police will handle this. Listen to me, Annie. I'm speaking now to you like a father. I want your word.”

Annie clamped her lips shut. She unlocked them a moment later. “Don't tell me what to do, Elmo. I'm all grown-up now.”

“Mind me now, Missy Clark. You will do nothing. That's an order. You are not going to do any talking to anyone today or any other day. That's the end of it.”

It was easier to agree than it was to argue with Elmo. She'd never yet won an argument where he was concerned.

Once the group was settled in Elmo's spacious kitchen, it was agreed, through eye contact, that there would be no discussion of what happened while Daisy was within earshot. Jane and Tom bustled about the kitchen preparing breakfast while Elmo showered. Daisy romped through the house with the three dogs, returning every few minutes to make sure those she loved were safe and secure. Annie sat across the table from Clay.

“For whatever it's worth, I'm sorry.”

“Hey, I've never been blown out of bed before. It was an experience. Sometime when things are dull, I'd like to know what's going on. Maybe I can help,” Clay said.

“If you like, you can drive the Rover back and Jane and I will pick it up at some point. I don't mean to insult you, but I would like to pay you for your time.”

“It's okay. Thank you is good. So, do you want me to drive you to the airport to pick up that special present?”

“Good Lord, I almost forgot. I need to be there by ten. We can keep the you know what in the garage until the party. I wonder if the wagon Elmo bought and left in the garden was ruined. Guess we have to stop and get a new one. Toys