Page 122 of No Headlines Please

I was squinting now. "Yeah, but…I don't recall parking next to that pillar."

Walt chortled. "And I don't recall what I had for breakfast, but you don't see me complaining."

I snorted. "Liar. You had donuts. I know, because I saw you eat them."

"Yeah, you know," he said. "That doesn't mean I know."

He was full of it. Walt was sharp as a tack. When I replied with only a sidelong glance, he looked back to the car. "You really think it was moved? If it's been here for a month, how can you be sure?"

"I'm not," I confessed. Still, I pointed at the concrete column near my driver's side door. "But I normally hate those pillar things. I always ding my door on them, so I try to avoid them if I can."

Then again, I'd parked the car ages ago, and that whole day had been a blur. The hotel had refused to check me in, and the frantic app-checking that followed was how I'd discovered that my credit card was over its limit and my bank account was drained.

I'd ended up slinking away from the front desk in disgrace while the other people in line watched with varying degrees of sympathy or amusement. With my face burning, I'd dragged both of my suitcases back to the parking garage and shoved my second one into the trunk, with plans to retrieve it later.

Afterward, I'd set out for Tessa's on foot, dragging suitcase number one behind me.

And now, here I was, back where the whole fiasco had begun.

Sort of. Because I still wasn't convinced that I'd parked next to that concrete pillar.

Still, I dug into my purse and pulled out the remote for my car. Bracing myself, I pressed the button to unlock the doors.

Nothing exploded.

So far, so good.

As the lights blinked and the locks clicked open, I let out a long, relieved breath.

Walt said, "Hang on. Lemme check the back seat."

I tried to joke. "For what? A dead body?"

He looked at me like I was crazy. "No, a live body that might want you dead."

Yikes. And now I was sorry I'd asked.

At something on my face, he laughed. "Relax. Just better safe than sorry, right?"

Probably. But I wasn't about to let him check it alone, so I tagged along as he took a good, long look into the back seat.

There was nobody there.

Not even Janet.

Together, Walt and I then checked the trunk. Aside from my second suitcase sitting exactly where I'd left it, the trunk was blissfully empty. I reached out and gave the suitcase a tentative lift, noting with relief that it felt just as heavy as before.

As I closed the trunk, Walt asked, "So, do you know where you're going?"

He'd asked me the same question yesterday, and the answer hadn't changed. Sheepishly, I admitted, "Not really."

He gave a slow nod. "I've been thinking."

"Oh, yeah? About what?"

He grinned. "I don't know where I'm going either."

"Really?" I cocked my head. "But I thought you said you were heading to Florida. You know…because of the fishing?"