did, and we went there whenever we could. Angelica and her daughters had become good friends to me over the years, and I cherished their friendship.
“So after we finish up here, we go visit Angelica and see who Janet’s eating with. My money is on Billy Briscoe. How about you?”
“I’m not taking that bet after watching the video of the reunion,” I said as I glanced at the notepad the hotel supplied by the telephone. “Grace, come look at this.”
She joined me, and I handed her the pad of paper, covered with hastily scribbled notes.
After a few moments, Grace handed it back to me. “Her husband hasn’t been dead twenty-four hours and she’s already calling about his life insurance?”
“It is a little fast, isn’t it?”
“Fast? It’s supersonic. How did she even know who to call this soon? If I ever got married and something happened to my husband, I hope that I could at least wait a few days before I tried to collect on his life insurance policy.”
“Unless you were the one to kill him,” I said softly.
“Hey, you don’t even know the guy,” she said in mock protest. “That’s no way to act. We could truly be in love.”
“Grace, you haven’t met him either,” I said. “He doesn’t exist.”
“How dare you talk about my future spouse that way?” she asked with a grin as she grabbed a small notebook out of her purse.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m copying this information,” she said as she jotted down the most pertinent facts. I watched her write, “$500,000.00”, and then she added the phone number of the insurance agent, as well as his name.
“Did you have any luck with the rest of the room?” I asked her.
“Not particularly. Janet doesn’t have a very vivid imagination when it comes to her clothing,” Grace said with a shrug.
“Maybe money will improve that,” I said. I felt bad joking about her being widowed so recently, but her decision to pursue a payment took away a lot of the guilt. I suspected that she and Zane had shared a tumultuous marriage based on what I’d seen at the reunion, but I hoped that there had been love in the relationship at least in the beginning.
“I doubt it. Having money doesn’t mean that you suddenly acquire good taste.”
“True,” I said as I looked around the room. “Is there anything we’ve missed?”
“How can I possibly know that?” Grace asked as she looked around, too.
I was about to answer her when I heard a keycard being swiped in the lock outside.
“Hide!” I said frantically.
“Where?”
“In the bathroom,” I said as I shoved Grace in ahead of me. As we closed the bathroom door, I could hear the main door to the room open.
Someone was in Janet’s room.
The real question was, though, was it Janet, or had someone else gotten the same idea that we had?
I put my ear to the door to try to hear who was out there, but I didn’t pick up any voices, so chances were that whoever it might have been was probably alone.
“Who is it?” Grace whispered in my ear.
“I don’t know,” I said softly.
“Should we hide in the shower?”
I thought about being discovered in the bathroom with Grace, and wondered if being found in the shower could possibly make things any worse.
Probably not.
“Sure, why not?” I asked.
We stepped into the tub, and then Grace quietly pulled the shower curtain shut.
“What do we do now?” she whispered.
“What can we do? We wait.”
It felt like forever, but it couldn’t have been more than three minutes. I was about to tell Grace we should see if the stranger had gone yet when we both heard someone start to open the bathroom door.
It appeared that we were about to get caught, and I didn’t have the slightest hint of an idea about what excuse we could possibly use to explain what we were doing there.
I could see the door begin to open around the edge of the curtain, and I grabbed Grace’s hand for moral support. At least I wasn’t
“So after we finish up here, we go visit Angelica and see who Janet’s eating with. My money is on Billy Briscoe. How about you?”
“I’m not taking that bet after watching the video of the reunion,” I said as I glanced at the notepad the hotel supplied by the telephone. “Grace, come look at this.”
She joined me, and I handed her the pad of paper, covered with hastily scribbled notes.
After a few moments, Grace handed it back to me. “Her husband hasn’t been dead twenty-four hours and she’s already calling about his life insurance?”
“It is a little fast, isn’t it?”
“Fast? It’s supersonic. How did she even know who to call this soon? If I ever got married and something happened to my husband, I hope that I could at least wait a few days before I tried to collect on his life insurance policy.”
“Unless you were the one to kill him,” I said softly.
“Hey, you don’t even know the guy,” she said in mock protest. “That’s no way to act. We could truly be in love.”
“Grace, you haven’t met him either,” I said. “He doesn’t exist.”
“How dare you talk about my future spouse that way?” she asked with a grin as she grabbed a small notebook out of her purse.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m copying this information,” she said as she jotted down the most pertinent facts. I watched her write, “$500,000.00”, and then she added the phone number of the insurance agent, as well as his name.
“Did you have any luck with the rest of the room?” I asked her.
“Not particularly. Janet doesn’t have a very vivid imagination when it comes to her clothing,” Grace said with a shrug.
“Maybe money will improve that,” I said. I felt bad joking about her being widowed so recently, but her decision to pursue a payment took away a lot of the guilt. I suspected that she and Zane had shared a tumultuous marriage based on what I’d seen at the reunion, but I hoped that there had been love in the relationship at least in the beginning.
“I doubt it. Having money doesn’t mean that you suddenly acquire good taste.”
“True,” I said as I looked around the room. “Is there anything we’ve missed?”
“How can I possibly know that?” Grace asked as she looked around, too.
I was about to answer her when I heard a keycard being swiped in the lock outside.
“Hide!” I said frantically.
“Where?”
“In the bathroom,” I said as I shoved Grace in ahead of me. As we closed the bathroom door, I could hear the main door to the room open.
Someone was in Janet’s room.
The real question was, though, was it Janet, or had someone else gotten the same idea that we had?
I put my ear to the door to try to hear who was out there, but I didn’t pick up any voices, so chances were that whoever it might have been was probably alone.
“Who is it?” Grace whispered in my ear.
“I don’t know,” I said softly.
“Should we hide in the shower?”
I thought about being discovered in the bathroom with Grace, and wondered if being found in the shower could possibly make things any worse.
Probably not.
“Sure, why not?” I asked.
We stepped into the tub, and then Grace quietly pulled the shower curtain shut.
“What do we do now?” she whispered.
“What can we do? We wait.”
It felt like forever, but it couldn’t have been more than three minutes. I was about to tell Grace we should see if the stranger had gone yet when we both heard someone start to open the bathroom door.
It appeared that we were about to get caught, and I didn’t have the slightest hint of an idea about what excuse we could possibly use to explain what we were doing there.
I could see the door begin to open around the edge of the curtain, and I grabbed Grace’s hand for moral support. At least I wasn’t
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