Finders Keepers by Fern Michaels Page B

steal it, but it was such a ridiculous wish she knew it would never happen.
    By most standards she had a wonderful life. Doting parents, albeit obsessive, everything worldly that money could buy, a beautiful home, a generous allowance, a fantastic trust fund, her own car, one friend, and no pet except a tired old goldfish who swam aimlessly in his small tank. She hadn’t even bothered to name the fish because she wanted something more alive, something to breathe on her, something to cuddle with.
    Jessie continued to stare with unblinking eyes at the picture of her parents. Her father was a kind man who seemed dedicated to making her life as worry-free as possible. He was also a wonderful arbitrator where her mother was concerned. She would miss him but not enough to make her want to return. It was her mother that was driving her from the house. She roll-called all the years of her life and the misery she’d endured at her mother’s hands. She resented everything about her mother—right down to her flowery afternoon dresses, floppy hats, and pristine white gloves. She hated the sickly smell of her perfume and the pressed powder on her cheeks. She hated being called sweetheart, darling child, and precious love. She realized in that one brief second that she hated her mother. There was a darkness about her she couldn’t explain, a certain tone in her voice that reminded her of something she could never name. She hated the sensation that her skin was crawling when her mother wrapped her in her arms to smother her with hugs and kisses. She couldn’t breathe then. Even now she felt the darkness, and her breathing was uneven.
    Just a few more hours and she would be free of it all.
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    Barnes watched Jessie walk across the yard. He wouldn’t have seen her if it wasn’t for the moonlight. He felt a tightness settle between his shoulder blades. A cigar found its way to his mouth. Here in this room he’d been relegated to he was permitted to do whatever he pleased. Thea had banished him from the room they shared several years ago when his restlessness prevented her from sleeping. “You reek of cigar smoke, and your snoring is loud enough to wake the neighbors.” He’d welcomed the move because he spent half the night pacing and worrying. Guilt was such a terrible feeling. He longed for the days when it was time to send another package of money to the Larsons. For a few hours he was able to almost wipe the guilt away. He was toying now with the idea of sending a graduation picture of Jessie with the next box. His insides started jumping around when he thought of the FBI tracking the picture. Better to let sleeping dogs lie.
    In a few hours Jessie would be driving alone to Atlanta for Sophie’s yearly party. Sophie’s parties were the envy of all the proper young ladies in Atlanta because they were never chaperoned. Janice Ashwood removed herself from the steaming city to flit wherever the spirit moved her when Sophie’s party loomed on the horizon.
    Thea had taken to her bed when Jessie announced she was attending the party. She’d literally turned blue with anger when Jessie announced, just days earlier, that she was not returning to the College of Charleston. In his life he’d never heard such a screaming match as he heard that day. Jessie’s words still rang in his ears. “You lied to me. You said if it didn’t work out for me, you would allow me to go to Georgia Tech. You promised, Mother. Now you’re breaking that promise. I knew this would happen, so I took matters into my own hands. I registered and paid my tuition. I’m going. If you persist in fighting me, I will never come back here. I need a life. I’m eighteen. I’m a year ahead of myself because I studied all my life. I wanted you to be proud of me. I don’t want to be shackled to you any longer. I feel like I can’t breathe when I’m around you. I did what you