She hugged the loose-fitting cashmere coat around her slim body. It was so cold the heater in the cab felt like it wasn't working. January in Switzerland, what did she expect?
When she climbed out of the cab at the hotel she hoped the distaste she felt wasn't evident in her expression. She registered and handed over her passport for safekeeping. She wondered if she should register with the U.S. Embassy. In the past Marcus had always done that even before registering at their hotel. He said it was paramount. She'd bet her last dollar he hadn't done it this time, though. Nor would she do it. What if she was wrong, and Marcus wasn't here at all? Then what would she do? As Scarlett said, I'll think about that tomorrow.
The room was plain and clean, the bed soft and comfortable. A standard hotel room like any room in a Holiday Inn back home. Brown-and-orange spread that matched the drapes. Dark green carpeting, small television, digital clock, desk, round table with two club chairs. The bathroom was even more plain. The towels were white but thin. There was no fluffy robe, no makeup mirror attached to the wall, no blow-dryer. A bare-bones hotel. There was, however, a bar under the television. She popped a cola and swigged from the bottle.
Betsy rummaged in her purse for her cell phone. Marcus had said he paid extra for the phones to be compatible in foreign countries. Marcus did like the best of everything, but then so did she. She sat down on the edge of the bed and dialed Eric Savarone's number. When the call didn't go through she cursed until she remembered she had to dial the country code first and then the number. The moment he said hello, she went into her speech. “Mr. Savarone, my source tells me that Marcus is in the Cayman Islands. He was there as of yesterday at seven o'clock in the evening. What do you mean, where am I? Cell phones are always scratchy-sounding. It might need to be charged. I'm walking in Central Park, not that it's any of your business. I'm on my way to the hairdresser. No, I have no message for my husband. Look, don't call me again. Our business is finished. Let's be clear on that. I kept my end of the bargain. Good-bye, Mr. Savarone.”
She kicked off her shoes and flopped back on the bed as she dialed her New York apartment. The nanny assured her that everything was fine and the girls were happy. The cell phone snapped shut and went back into her purse. Damn, she was going to have to get an adapter if she wanted to charge the phone. She couldn't remember the last time she'd charged it. What did it matter? She'd made her two most important calls.
It was noon when she left the hotel, her carryall and purse secure in her grasp. She shivered, her teeth chattering as she waited for a taxi. “Take me to the closest bank, and I'd appreciate it if you would wait for me. I won't be long. Can you do that? I'll pay you in dollars. Thank you.”
She was in and out of the bank in less than thirty minutes with two keys to her newly rented safe-deposit box. The Swiss were so efficient. No dillydallying there. Strictly business. She liked efficiency.
Back in the cab, she showed the driver the vacation picture she'd taken of Marcus pointing at the bank. “Can you take me there?”
“But of course, madam. Do you need me to wait there for you, too?”
“Yes, please.” Betsy put the picture back in her purse. What if the money wasn't there? What if she was wrong? If it was there, what was she going to do? How could she transfer all that money? Where would she transfer it to? Another bank? Here in Switzerland? Back to the States? Definitely not the States. The Caymans? Possibly, but not likely. She felt a wave of dizziness at what she was doing. What if she screwed up? If only she knew more about intrigue. It wasn't enough to be greedy. You had to be brainy in the bargain.
Betsy felt herself jolt forward when the taxi driver swerved to the curb and stopped the car. “This is the bank you wished, madam. I will wait for you here.”
“Yes. Thank you. This may take a while.” She handed him a twenty-dollar bill. “I'll pay the rest when I come out. I'll want to go back to my hotel.”
“Very good, madam.”
Her heart thundering in her chest, Betsy walked through the doors of the bank. She had an instant recollection of the day she and Marcus had entered the bank and opened the girls' accounts. She walked over to the same desk and sat down. She smiled as she wrote the account number for Alice's account. She flinched when a slip of paper was handed to her showing a balance of $196.14. She did her best to conjure up a smile as she filled out the second slip. She knew she was sweating as she waited for Andrea's slip to come back. When she lowered her head to stare at the slip she almost fainted. It was all there and more.
Oh, Marcus, you poor, dumb fool.
“I'd like a cashier's check for the full amount, please,” she said coolly.
“It will take just a few moments, madam.” Betsy nodded. She needed to take a deep breath. Lots of deep breaths. Many, many deep breaths. She also needed to get out of there as soon as possible before she did something stupid, like throwing up all over the place. When would Marcus find out? What would he do? He'd come looking for her; that was a given. How long would it take him to figure out that she remembered about the accounts? Weeks? Days? Hours? Not weeks. Maybe a day or so.
Betsy slid the check into the change compartment of the Chanel purse and zipped it shut. She marveled that her legs were steady as she exited the bank and climbed into the waiting taxi. “Take me back to the first bank, please.”
Inside the bank, Betsy filled out the required bank forms and waited while the paperwork was processed, which took all of fifteen minutes, thanks again to Swiss efficiency. Now all she had to do was go back to the hotel and decide what she was going to do with all that lovely, lovely money.
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“How do we look?” Lily asked.
“I think you look as good as I do. I do love bright colors. You don't think we look like parrots, do you?” Sadie giggled.
“No, not at all. Island wear is supposed to be colorful. I hope that suntan stuff starts working soon. We're fishbelly white. Blue is definitely your color,” Lily said, referring to the shimmery silk sheath with the mile-high slit going up the side of the dress that Sadie was wearing. “I hope Matt doesn't choke on the price.”
“Never mind choking. Let's hope he and Dennis get to see us in these dresses. I never owned a $700 dress before or $300 shoes. That sea-green dress brings out the color of your eyes and does great things to your complexion. I think you're starting to color up,” Sadie said, peering at Lily's arms. “Won't it be a hoot if we start to tan while we're sitting there at the bar? I didn't think that suntan stuff worked, but it does. Oh, we are going to be a glorious bronze just like all those beach bunnies.”
Lily giggled. “I think we're ready so let's get this show on the road. I hope I remember how to flirt.”
“It's instinctive. We're going to do just fine. It's going to be a boring time if they don't show up. For all we know they might have latched on to some babes by now.”
“Guys like the free-food bar at happy hour. If they're here, they'll show. What did we agree on? Cool and aloof and accessible but not available, right?” Lily said
“Yeah. We're definitely turning color now. I can see the difference,” Sadie said as she led the way through a maze of shrubbery and short walkways to the outdoor bar. It was crowded with couples and very few singles. “Let's sit at the bar and cross our legs. We have great legs. Guys like legs. In another hour we should be a beautiful golden bronze.”
“There are only five single guys here, and none of them are the Laroux brothers. The singles are looking us over real good because we're fresh meat,” Lily muttered. “I could never do this bar scene to catch a guy. How about you, Sadie?”
“Probably not. Most of them are married with wedding rings in their pockets. Smile, here come two of them.”
It was eight o'clock when Lily and Sadie climbed off their barstools. “What a bust! Now what?” Sadie grumbled.
“Now we go to our room, call Matt and Dennis, and go to dinner. We'll have to take a cab to wherever it is. First, though, I think we need to stroll past the villa where the brothers are supposed to be staying. There's no point in going through with this charade if they aren't here. We can't ask at the desk because it would be suspicious, and one of the desk clerks might mention it to the brothers. Just a little pre-evening stroll. Everyone is out walking around, so we won't stand out.” Lily mopped at the perspiration dotting her brow. “Does this suntan stuff wipe off?”
“It's not supposed to. The brochure said each application is good for three full days. Maybe the brothers party all night and sleep all day. They have all that money now, so they can do whatever they want. One day is just like the next, party and spend. Go slow, we're almost there. Just look out of the corner of your eye. Laugh and smile in case they're outside, and we can't see them,” Sadie instructed.
“I can't see a thing but I can hear music. It sounds like it's coming from the back on the patio. Night owls. If we go back to our villa and sit on the little front patio, we'll see them when they leave. They've got to go past our villa to get to the parking area. My guess would be they'll head out around nine. It will be dark by then, so they won't see us sitting there. I can call Dennis to tell him to lie in wait somewhere, so he can follow them. Do you think that's a good idea?”
“Yeah, great. Guess we better keep these outfits on then. Are we golden or are we golden?”
Lily peered down at her arms. “We are golden. Amazing.”
“We're just two beach bunnies without tails.”
“You're taking this very lightly. Why is that?” Lily demanded. “Damn, I keep thinking about that Wish Keeper. What if it finds its way back to the kitchen table and Minnie Figgins sees it?”
“I'm trying to take this lightly because I'm scared to death. People kill for a few hundred dollars. What do you think these guys are going to do if they get wise to us? As for Minnie Figgins, if it's there, I don't think you have to worry about her touching it.”
“They aren't going to get wise because we are going to be supercareful. We're just two chicks on the prowl. Matt and Dennis are within lurking distance. I'll call them to see if they're okay with all of this,” Lily said, pulling out her cell phone.
“Okay.” Sadie hiked up her dress and sat down on the stoop.
They waited.
At ten minutes to ten they leaned farther back into the darkness as voices drew near. “It's
them,”
Lily whispered. “I can smell them from here, and they are ripe! You follow them, Sadie, and get the make of the car they're driving. I'll be behind you but at a distance. I'll call Matt and keep him on the phone until you report back. They're waiting right outside the gates to this place.”
Minutes later, Sadie whispered, “It's a champagne-colored Crown Victoria. I couldn't read the license plates.” Lily relayed the information to Matt.
“Okay, here's the deal. Matt and Dennis are going to follow them. As soon as they land in one spot, and let's hope they aren't in the mood to barhop, Matt will call us and we'll take a taxi to where they are. Hopefully there will be some food there. My stomach is starting to rumble. I'm also starting to get nervous. Matt couldn't get a look at them in the car. It's entirely possible it isn't them.”
“Anything is possible, but my gut tells me it's them. I could really go for a good burger right now. With the works and a nice cold beer.”
“Stop it, Sadie. Don't talk about food.”
“What should we talk about then? Lily, why do you suppose Matt okayed Dennis to give Betsy Collins a hundred grand?”
“He's like that, Sadie. The guy would give you the shirt off his back. He's probably thinking Marcus got Betsy used to the good life, then he left her. They have kids. That's what Matt sees. He doesn't want the kids to suffer because of something their father did. It's going to take him a long time to get over Marcus's betrayal.”
“How are you feeling about giving up the Wish Keeper, Lily? Any second thoughts?”
“No second thoughts. I just feel relief. It's really weird the way that thing made me feel. This is nice, isn't it? It's quiet, the air is scented. I think it's jasmine I smell, isn't it? I like the walkway lighting. It looks so cozy nestled in the shrubbery. I don't think I could live here year round, though. I like the change of seasons. I wonder what it's like at Christmastime?”
“Probably just like Fort Lauderdale,” Sadie said.
“That pretty much covers our immediate concerns. Do you want to talk about Dennis?”
“Nope. Do you want to talk about Matt?”
“Sure. I could talk about Matt all day and all night. I just know we're going to have a wonderful life together. I can't wait for him to get involved in the community. I hope he joins the Fare Coffee Club. It's a tradition if you live in Natchez. All you have to do to join is show up. They meet at that little shop on the corner of Pearl and Cotton Alley. What if he loses it, Sadie? He's obsessed with those guys.”