“I’m off. You’re both horrifying your neighbors.” Edie marched off the porch, but she hadn’t gotten far before Simon bellowed at her.
“Edie!”
She paused and turned back. “Did you call the electrician about the barn lights?”
Edie didn’t respond and turned away from him, moving toward her car.
“Edie!”
She hesitated. She turned back once more. “Are youleavingleaving?” he asked from the top step of Linda’s porch.
She opened the door to her car, held up a middle finger, got in, and gunned it, driving far too fast on a residential road.
She’d just crossed into Arkansas when she realized she’d left her list behind. She called Bernie in a panic.
“Here it is, Mrs. Kessler,” Bernie said soothingly. “What would you like me to do with it?”
Edie closed her eyes and breathed a sigh of relief. Such a dumb, rookie thing to do.Careless careless careless.Irene would tell her how stupid she was, Joan would shake her head with disappointment, and Frances would sigh as if it pained her. “Will you put it on my chest of drawers in my closet? And Bernie—can you tell me the address I wrote down?”
Bernie gave her the address. “I’ll put it away, Mrs. Kessler. Not to worry. Have fun on your trip!”
“Thank you,” Edie said, and clicked off. She leaned back against the headrest. “Don’t be an idiot,” she whispered. She sincerely hoped that was not a portent of things to come. They were all much older now, their memories not as sharp. And God forbid they find a digital safe in their way. But most of all, Edie did notwant to do something stupid and be responsible for them being caught. She would never forgive herself. She already couldn’t forgive herself for Simon.
But come on.There was no way they were going to pull this off. No way.
And yet, she continued driving to Dallas. They may not pull it off, but she was not going to let them down a second time.
Twenty
Irene and Joan picked Frances up at the Dallas Fort Worth airport, then waited outside the gates of a paid parking lot off the airport property, where they’d decided to park Edie’s sports car. “Fifty thousand cars parked in and around the airport. Can you imagine?” Frances asked, reading her phone. “No one will notice Edie’s car.”
“Lord,” Joan said. She was leaning forward, over the steering wheel. “They may not notice her car, but they will definitely notice Edie.”
Frances looked up. Edie had just stepped off a parking bus and was striding toward them. She dressed in a pure white pantsuit, her hair a sleek bob, her face nearly covered with enormous designer sunglasses, a designer bag draped over one arm, a matching designer carry-on bag behind her. Irene hopped out to help her load her Louis Vuitton luggage into the trunk. Edie climbed in the back seat next to Frances.
“Do you have a towel? I’m afraid to sit on this … leather.”
“I do not have a towel, the car is clean, and really, Edie, are you trying to get attention, or is it just really that hard for you to turn down the bright lights?”
Edie reached for her sunglasses with a hand glittering in jewels. “What are you talking about?”
“I am talking about the fancy clothes.” Joan put the car in gear and began to drive. “I thought we were all on the same page about being inconspicuous.”
Edie glanced down at her togs and picked a piece of lint or dirt from her pant leg. “I’m sorry, it’s all I have. I don’t dress in middle-class casual.”
“We’ll fix that,” Joan muttered.
They drove about forty minutes north and then pulled into the parking lot of a ubiquitous Motel 6 off the massive Dallas freeway.
“You have got to be kidding,” Edie said, peering at the rundown location.
“Did you think we were going to stay at the Four Seasons?” Irene pulled a sun hat on. “Stay here. I’ll get the room keys.” She got out and walked briskly through the lobby doors. When she came back, she directed Joan around to the backside of the motel. Across the parking lot was a row of warehouses. Two semi rigs were parked along the fence, lengthwise. The only other vehicles were a few heavy-duty pickup trucks and a couple of small sedans.
“This doesn’t look safe,” Frances said, peering out the window. “Anyone could attack us back here and no one would hear us scream.”
“Do you prefer to be safe, or hidden?” Joan asked. She didn’t wait for Frances to answer—she got out and walked up to a door, waved a key in front of the pad, and opened it. Irene was right behind her, opening the room next to the one Joan had entered. Frances and Edie, still in the back seat, a little slow on the uptake, looked at each other. “I forgot how frugal Irene is,” Frances said. “And how no-nonsense Joan is.”
“I forgot how much I hate anything below first class,” Edie said.
