reviewed my search. No. I hadn't been careless. Hot Eyes wouldn't get them because the letters hadn't been there. And if they weren't there, someone had gotten to them before me. Maybe that was what the guy I'd seen leaving had been doing. It explained the letter I'd found in the grass. A strange chore for a doctor. Though if Julie had asked him to get her letters, why had she also asked me to do it? Because she didn't trust him to follow through?
It would have bothered me more at any other time. Now I was too shaken by my constabulary encounter to dwell on it. To dwell on anything other than pulling myself together and getting out of there. I'm always amazed at how much fear takes out of me. I put the car in gear and drove home.
Â
Â
Â
Chapter 6
Â
The next morning I took a green plastic trash bag, pulled on rubber gloves, and made my car a safe and decent place. By the time I was showered and dressed and driving to work, I no longer feared being in an accident. The EMTs would find me prepared. I was so conscientious I even carried my Styrofoam cup inside and threw it away and got the crumbs from my chocolate doughnut on my desk instead of the car seat. I was a woman reformed.
I hit the stack of messages waiting for me with all the zeal of the converted. I was hot, I was ready, the world had better watch out. At 9:30 my secretary, Sarah, looked in and shook her head. "Whatever you had for breakfast, I want some," she said. "At the rate you're going, there will be nothing left to do tomorrow."
"There's always something to do. Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to New Hampshire, I've got that meeting at Northbrook, so I have to be sure I leave you enough for two days."
"That's never a problem."
I was working frantically because I was avoiding thinking about Julie, languishing in her cell and worrying about her children. I assumed it was only a matter of time before her lawyer had her out on bail, but the hours must seem very long. My hours were flying. By eleven, I'd had a headmaster looking for advice on handling a pregnant student, another school where a Buildings and Grounds employee had exposed himself, and a third where a minority student had claimed discrimination after being disciplined for cheating. Just another happy day at EDGE Consulting.
Sarah stuck her head in, rolled her eyes, and announced, "Your mother is on the phone. Another crisis." Mom is a bit peremptory and Sarah often runs interference for me, so when she can't, I know I've got to take the call.
I pressed the button, said hello, and got an earful. "They're sending poor little Julie off to Framingham today and you've got to do something."
"Framingham? Why Framingham?"
"It's the only women's prison we've got."
"What about bail?"
"There's a problem... seems she told a guard the minute she got out she was grabbing her kids and disappearing." There was a pause. "You've got to do something," she repeated.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Find some way to get her out of thereâsome alibi or evidence or something."
"Mom, how many times have you told me to keep my nose out of other people's business and not get involved. To stay away from violence and murder?"
"Well, if you've got the experience, you might as well be useful," she interrupted. "It's not like I'm asking you to do something dangerous. And she needs the help. The poor girl has no one."
"The poor girl has her family and her friends. She has her brother. She has you and Dad... I hardly know her."
"I suppose you're too busy gadding about having tea with headmasters to help an innocent girl in trouble."
My teeth were clenched so hard to keep from screaming at her that I was afraid they'd crack. I thought of all the time I'd spent in the last few years helping people because of the "Thea will fix it" flaw in my nature. And all of the grief I'd gotten from her for living so dangerously. But I was a recovering nice girl. I was learning to say yes and no when I wanted to, not when
It would have bothered me more at any other time. Now I was too shaken by my constabulary encounter to dwell on it. To dwell on anything other than pulling myself together and getting out of there. I'm always amazed at how much fear takes out of me. I put the car in gear and drove home.
Â
Â
Â
Chapter 6
Â
The next morning I took a green plastic trash bag, pulled on rubber gloves, and made my car a safe and decent place. By the time I was showered and dressed and driving to work, I no longer feared being in an accident. The EMTs would find me prepared. I was so conscientious I even carried my Styrofoam cup inside and threw it away and got the crumbs from my chocolate doughnut on my desk instead of the car seat. I was a woman reformed.
I hit the stack of messages waiting for me with all the zeal of the converted. I was hot, I was ready, the world had better watch out. At 9:30 my secretary, Sarah, looked in and shook her head. "Whatever you had for breakfast, I want some," she said. "At the rate you're going, there will be nothing left to do tomorrow."
"There's always something to do. Anyway, tomorrow I'm going to New Hampshire, I've got that meeting at Northbrook, so I have to be sure I leave you enough for two days."
"That's never a problem."
I was working frantically because I was avoiding thinking about Julie, languishing in her cell and worrying about her children. I assumed it was only a matter of time before her lawyer had her out on bail, but the hours must seem very long. My hours were flying. By eleven, I'd had a headmaster looking for advice on handling a pregnant student, another school where a Buildings and Grounds employee had exposed himself, and a third where a minority student had claimed discrimination after being disciplined for cheating. Just another happy day at EDGE Consulting.
Sarah stuck her head in, rolled her eyes, and announced, "Your mother is on the phone. Another crisis." Mom is a bit peremptory and Sarah often runs interference for me, so when she can't, I know I've got to take the call.
I pressed the button, said hello, and got an earful. "They're sending poor little Julie off to Framingham today and you've got to do something."
"Framingham? Why Framingham?"
"It's the only women's prison we've got."
"What about bail?"
"There's a problem... seems she told a guard the minute she got out she was grabbing her kids and disappearing." There was a pause. "You've got to do something," she repeated.
"What do you want me to do?"
"Find some way to get her out of thereâsome alibi or evidence or something."
"Mom, how many times have you told me to keep my nose out of other people's business and not get involved. To stay away from violence and murder?"
"Well, if you've got the experience, you might as well be useful," she interrupted. "It's not like I'm asking you to do something dangerous. And she needs the help. The poor girl has no one."
"The poor girl has her family and her friends. She has her brother. She has you and Dad... I hardly know her."
"I suppose you're too busy gadding about having tea with headmasters to help an innocent girl in trouble."
My teeth were clenched so hard to keep from screaming at her that I was afraid they'd crack. I thought of all the time I'd spent in the last few years helping people because of the "Thea will fix it" flaw in my nature. And all of the grief I'd gotten from her for living so dangerously. But I was a recovering nice girl. I was learning to say yes and no when I wanted to, not when
Similar Books
