“How’re you doing?” she asked softly.
Megan continued to stare at the pitch black of the sky. “The weekend was too short.”
“You must be looking forward to seeing Will.”
She was, but not unequivocally. She wished she were coming home under different circumstances. “Susan’s right. Life has become very complicated.” Her eyes filled with tears and her chin trembled. “Oh, Savvy,” she whispered, “what am I going to do?”
Savannah grasped her arm firmly. “You’re going to go back home and take control of your life.”
“Fine for you to say. You’re the master of control. It’s your forte. I’ve been trying to get it all my life, but I keep coming up short. How do you do it? How do you manage to make everything work?”
“I don’t. I have problems just like everyone else.”
“But you end up on top.”
“That depends how you defineon top.I look at you and see how close you and Will are. I’ve missed that, Meggie. I’ve missed the loving. I have a super job, but when the job’s done, what’s left? Not much more than the silence of an empty room.”
“You have Jared now.”
“But for how long? How long can I keep him?”
Megan was surprised by Savannah’s doubt. “As long as you want.”
“I don’t know about that.”
“You’ll keep him.”
Savannah shrugged.
“Where’s your optimism?” Megan asked.
“Giving way to realism, I guess. I’m trained as a lawyer; I’ve never had much experience holding a man. So what’s down the road for me? More empty rooms? If that’s what you call being on top, you’re crazy. But look at you. You have Will. Do you have any idea how sick with worry he was when you were gone? He worships you, Meg. In that sense,you’rethe one on top.”
Megan brushed the corner of her eye with the side of her thumb. “He’s a good man.”
“Yes, he is. So you’re going back to Providence. You and Will are going to do what’s necessary to put the business back on its feet.” She paused for a fast breath. “And you’re going to work with me to find the men who hurt you. You need that, so you can put the kidnapping behind you, and I need it, but I can’t do anything without your help. You’re the one in control.”
The pleading look on Megan’s face was a precursor to silence.
“Don’t clam up on me, Meggie. I need your help.”
But Megan had already turned her eyes back to the window.
“Please,”Savannah whispered. “Anything, Meggie. I know how painful it must be to think about, but I need you to do that. For me?” When Megan said nothing, she pushed. “Foryou.Do it for you. So many times you’ve said you wanted to be in command of your life.Do it,Meggie. This is your chance.”
Savannah’s words sunk in, but it wasn’t until the following morning that Megan acted.
CHAPTER18
Megan made the call from a phone booth on the outskirts of town. Her palms were damp; her stomach felt tied in knots. But she forced herself to punch out the number and sound fully in command.
The voice that answered the phone wasn’t the one she wanted. “I’d like to speak to your boss,” she demanded.
“Hold on,” she was told seconds before the phone clattered onto a hard surface. Amid strains of Mahler, she heard a distant shout, and the ensuing wait seemed interminable. When she heard voices again, her stomach twisted so sharply she actually feared she’d throw up. But she breathed in through her nose and steadied herself.
“Hello?” came the male voice she knew she would detest until the day she died.
Slowly, distinctly, and icily, she said, “I want my money.”
