Double Doublecross by James Saunders Page A

give
you
a call and let you know how far I’ve got with my packing. Good night, Rick. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.” With that she hung up the phone.
    â€˜Yet another excuse for not giving me her number,’ he thought. It didn’t make any difference to him because he already had her number—or to be correct, Carl Regis’s number. She was really trying hard to hide her association with Carl. He started to contemplate what he had done.
    Rick knew his own privacy would be invaded, but that didn’t matter. He could take it or leave it. Somehow, it might be rather pleasant to have a beautiful woman around. He might even get used to it.
    He went down the hallway to the guest suite. It looked fine to him, perhaps a little dusting and sweeping was needed. The bed was already made up with clean sheets.
    There was no trace of his previous female encounters. The bedroom seemed to be in shipshape order to him. The décor had a certain feminine flair about it. The wall behind the bed was decorated with pink and white candy stripe wallpaper, with the other three walls having a pink floral design. The carpet was white and the bed linen cream with yet anotherfloral design. ‘Looks better than
my
quarters,’ he thought.
    He busied himself with tidying up the kitchen, cleaning the cooking range and making a note of the items that he thought should be in the cupboards and the refrigerator. It was well past midnight when he finally went to bed and fell into a deep sleep.
    Sara was awakened by the tormenting jangle of the telephone. She was not an early riser, and the thought of answering the phone at nine o’clock in the morning irritated her. She reached over to the bedside table and picked the annoying cordless instrument up and put it to her ear.
    â€œHello, who is it?” she said in a lethargic voice as she rolled out of bed.
    â€œIt’s me, Carl. Who do you think it is? Have you found an apartment yet? I’ve got something else for you to do. Are you ready? Now pay attention and write this down,” he said bluntly.
    â€œJust a minute. Let me get a pen and something to write on.”
    She sauntered into the kitchen, put the coffee on, picked up a pen and pad and sat down at the kitchen table. “Okay, I’m ready. Shoot!” she said.
    â€œNow listen carefully. I want you to go to a luggage store and buy a black Tourister sports bag. It has to be a black Tourister sports bag—nothing else will do. Have you got that?”
    â€œYes, I’ve got that,” she said with a big yawn.
    â€œ
Now
, repeat what I’ve just said,” he said curtly.
    â€œI have to buy a black Tourister sports bag,” she repeated.
    â€œThat’s right. Write it down so you don’t forget. Now, have you found an apartment yet? You have to be out ofthere within the next few days. Take all of your things and don’t leave a trace that would connect us in any way.”
    Sara hesitated for a moment. She wondered if she should tell him about Rick’s offer. It was better to come clean and tell the truth. He was sure to find out sooner or later.
    â€œThere was nothing out there, Carl. I mentioned to Richard Jacobs that I was looking for something on a short term basis, and he offered me the spare master suite in the south wing of his house. Strictly on a friendly basis.”
    â€œIt had better be,” said Carl vehemently. “No hanky panky, sweetie. Remember, you’re mine—
all mine
. The time’s getting close to acquiring our fortune, so don’t forget it. I’ll talk to you later.”
    Sara knew something was going to happen in a big way. Carl wasn’t usually edgy like this. She had a shower, cleaned up the apartment, put on her makeup and went down to her car. She drove straight to the mall where she purchased the sports bag Carl had requested.
    As she got into her car, her cell phone started ringing. It was Carl