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“Me, too. Ashley is a nervous wreck. I think with us there she’ll settle down.”
“That’s what Ethel said when she called and offered the plane.” Sylas zipped up his bag.
He folded the sofa sleeper, which had been his bed last night, and placed the cushions back on the seats. His own apartment was already packed up. The movers were arriving to load Sylas’s stuff on their last day at Braxton. Sylas had suggested that instead of moving to a hotel he should stay here until the move. Made sense, since they were going to end up at the same place, Phoebe’s rental house.
“How about a beer before we head out?” Sylas asked him. “We’ve got a few minutes before the cab arrives.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“I wasn’t surprised when Mr. Jenkins agreed to us taking the three days off next week to be with Ashley while she takes her exam.” Sylas handed him a beer, holding one of his own. “He’s really been good to us, Nic.”
“He sure has. We can work remotely while Ashley is taking her exam, and I told Mr. Jenkins he could reach us by phone if anything came up.” Nic drank the beer. “I can’t wait to see our girl, Sylas. God, I know it’s only been a few days but I miss the hell out of her.”
“Me, too.”
“But tonight we not only get to see her, but we also get to hold her again.”
Sylas smiled. “I know what you’re thinking, Nic, because I’m thinking it to.”
“She needs to relax.” Nic held up his beer. “Right?”
“I completely agree.” Sylas clinked their bottles together. “To the woman of our dreams.”
“Here. Here.”
* * * *
The burner phone rang, startling Anna. “Friday fucking night, Trollinger.”
“Calm down, Ms. Banks.”
“Calm down?” Rage rolled through her. “You?
?ve got to be kidding. It’s way fucking past time that you called me. I’ve been held up in this shack with nothing but fruit and beef jerky since Tuesday, not to mention I haven’t had a shower. When in the hell are you going to send someone to get me the fuck out of here?”
“Do you want to be a millionaire or not, Ms. Banks?”
Anna was shocked to hear that. “I thought that chance was over for me when that bitch, Ashley, found out what I did to her computer.”
“Only a small setback, so of course I’ve had to rearrange some things.”
“What about the code that I put in at TBK? Has Jena discovered it?”
“I don’t know yet. So far, our code is still working. And even though I no longer have remote access to the computers at the law office, I was able to get all of Phoebe’s files for the Steele Ranch case before Jena shut our virus down.”
“You mean we still might win?”
“Might? We will win, Ms. Banks.”
Anna’s mood lightened. Hope for her future was renewed. When she’d met with Trollinger last year, the woman had showed her a secret government report. How Trollinger had acquired it, she didn’t know and hadn’t asked. But the facts on the pages were clear. There was a fortune sitting beneath the Steele Ranch. Billions and billions of cubic feet of natural gas were just waiting to be pumped out of the ground.
Once the man posing as Walter Steele got title to the ranch, the money would start flowing. Anna’s share was ten percent, which would give her the life of luxury she’d only dreamed of. She planned on moving to a house on the beach of a Caribbean island. It would be paradise all day, every day.
There was little doubt that Trollinger had more in mind than just making money from Steele Ranch. Anna was very aware of the havoc the woman had caused the town. But she didn’t give a damn about Trollinger or Destiny. She only cared about the money. Let her burn the town to the ground. Good riddance.
“When can I expect your man to come get me, Cindy?” She was fairly certain that Trollinger hated being called by her first name, which was exactly why she did it. Very satisfying.
“Ms. Banks, Sheriff Wolfe put out an APB on you. It’s too dangerous for you to leave. Every road in and out of Swanson County is being watched. You must stay put for a few more days.”
