Janet Evanovich - Full Bloom

"Eve, I'm so sorry," Annie began. "I can only guess how hard this is—"

"What in the name of God are you doing here?" Eve hissed. "How can you even show your face?"

Annie had never seen such contempt. "I was his wife."

"You're a cold-blooded murderer is what you are."

"We should go," Theenie said, nudging Annie.

"I did not kill your son," Annie insisted. "I can't believe you'd even think it."

"Go home, Annie. I can't bear the sight of you. Go back to that new boyfriend of yours that I paid for."

"What are you talking about?" Theenie asked when Annie merely stared back at the woman in utter confusion.

Eve looked at Annie, eyes narrowed. "You don't even know, do you?" When Annie shook her head, Eve almost smirked. "You poor little fool. He's a private investigator. I hired him to find out what you'd done to my son."

"I should drive," Theenie insisted as they approached Annie's car. "You're far too upset."

Upset didn't come close to describing how Annie felt. You poor fool. Eve's words echoed in Annie's head. And that's exactly what she was. Wes Bridges had been hired by her mother-in-law to look into her claims that Annie was responsible for Charles's disappearance. Renting a room in her B & B had made it easy. Sleeping with her had provided the intimacy Wes thought would make her more open to a little pillow talk.

"You haven't driven in years," Annie said. Her face and limbs felt numb and her chest tight. She gulped in several breaths. A horn blew and Theenie pulled her from the path of a car.

"Are you okay?" Theenie asked.

Annie nodded.

"Give me the car keys."

"It's a stick shift."

Theenie shrugged. "It's been a while, but I can do it. You need help getting into the car?"

Annie shook her head and climbed into the passenger seat as Theenie took her place behind the steering wheel. She started the car, and it leaped forward and died.

"Clutch," Annie said.

"Oh yeah. It's all starting to come back to me now." Theenie tried again, and the car lurched forward. "You want me to take you home?"

"No. I can't face Wes right now. Take me to a bar."

"Come again?"

"I need a drink."

"Oh dear, I've never really been in a bar. We might look like a couple of sluts, walking in by ourselves."

"I am a slut," Annie said. "A fool and a slut."

"You're not a fool."

They drove a distance, the car bumping along as Theenie tried to reacquaint herself with a four-in-the-floor. "There's a bar," Annie said, pointing to a place called Jimbo's Bar and Grill. "Pull in."

"It looks a little rough to me," Theenie said, but did as she was told.

Annie climbed from the car and marched toward the door. Theenie had to move quickly to keep up with her. They stepped inside and blinked, trying to adjust their eyes to the dark interior. It smelled of stale cigarette smoke. The bartender, a big man in a stained white T-shirt, paused and stared. "We want a drink," Annie announced.

"Have a seat."

"Let's sit in the booth in the back," Theenie whispered, "so nobody will see us."

They headed in that direction, still trying to maneuver their way in the dark. Theenie started to sit, then gave a little yelp and jumped up. "There's a man lying here. He's probably dead. Somebody probably shot him last night and forgot to remove the body. We should leave. You don't need to be seen around dead people on account of you're already up for a murder charge."

Erdle Thorney sat up and blinked. Annie and Theenie blinked back. "What are you two doing here?" he asked.

"Annie needs a cold one," Theenie said. She and Annie took the seat across from him. Theenie began picking at her fingernails. "You look awful," she told Erdle.

The bartender arrived. "This is Jimbo," Erdle said. "He owns the place."

"I need something strong," Annie said. "I've had the worst day of my life." Well, maybe the second worst day, she thought, the first being when Charles's remains were discovered buried in her backyard.

"Give her a tequila straight up," Erdle said, "and as long as she's buying, bring me the usual."

"And you?" The bartender looked at Theenie.

"I'll just have a glass of tea."

"All we got is Long Island iced tea."

Theenie looked thoughtful. "Well, I usually drink Lipton, but I'm open to new experiences."

This brought a smile to Jimbo's face. "I'll be right back."

The front door opened, and a man stood there for a moment, silhouetted by the light streaming in from the outside. He closed the door behind him, blinked several times as though trying to see, and then headed toward them.

"It's Norm Schaefer," Annie whispered.

Theenie squinted. "I didn't know he was a worthless drunk, too."

Norm approached the booth, a menacing look on his face. He pointed to Annie. "You and I need to have a little talk."

"How did you know where to find us?" she asked.

"I followed you from the church." He looked at Theenie. "Where'd you learn to drive? I've never seen such bad driving in my life. Somebody needs to take your license."

Theenie hitched her head high and sniffed. "That would be difficult, seeing as I don't have one."

Norm gave a grunt of disgust. "You old people need to get off the road."

"Would you like to sit down?" Annie asked, trying to be polite but hoping he wouldn't take her up on her offer. She had never seen Norm act so rude, but she was determined not to make a scene.

He ignored her invitation. "What the hell did you tell the police?" he demanded, his eyes boring into hers. "They came to my office this morning and questioned me about your husband's murder. I don't like having cops show up at my place of business."

"I haven't told the police anything," Annie replied. "It's not my favorite place right now."

He sneered. "Then it must have been your biker boyfriend."

Annie hated sneers. She had an urge to slap it right off his face, but she was in no hurry to go back to jail. "Wes is not my boyfriend. He's just somebody I have sex with." The sneer disappeared, and Annie decided it was worth having Theenie and Erdle openly gape at her.

"I don't care if he's your damn plumber," Norm said after he'd composed himself. "Tell him to mind his own business or you're both going to be sorry."

"Are you threatening me?" she asked.

"Don't threaten her," Erdle said. "I'm too drunk to kick your ass."

Norm put his finger in Annie's face, and she decided she liked that even less than sneering. But she wasn't about to let him upset her; that's exactly what he was looking for, and it would be her first time practicing anger management on her own. "Did you have something else you needed to say?" she asked lightly. "Before I ask the owner to throw you out?"

"Yeah." Norm put his hands flat on the table and leaned closer. "Don't blame me because your husband had problems keeping his zipper closed."

Theenie gasped. "That's a terrible thing to say on the day of Charles's memorial service. Especially to his widow," she added. "Didn't your mother teach you any manners? Why, if I had children, which I don't, I would have raised them to be more sensitive to other people's feelings."

Jimbo arrived with their drinks and set them on the table. "Y'all want to run a tab?"

"That's fine," Annie said. She waited for him to leave before she addressed Norm. Instead of lashing out as she was tempted to do, she decided to take the high road. "I'm sorry that you were embarrassed by the police, Norm," she said, trying to sound sincere, "but they're questioning all of Charles's friends. That doesn't mean you're a suspect."

"She's right," Theenie said as though hoping to diffuse the man's anger. "Annie's the only one they want to fry."