Annie's Rainbow - Fern Michaels [104]
“Annie, it’s Elmo. Are you okay?”
“I think so. Why do you ask?”
Elmo told her about his conversation with Peter Newman. “You need to come home, Annie.”
“I was just thinking that myself, Elmo. I’ll leave first thing in the morning. I want to be home for Daisy’s birthday. I heard sleep-away camp was a roaring success. How are the dogs? Are you just saying they miss me because you think I want to hear that or they really do miss me? Tell me, Elmo, did you believe Newman?”
“Yes, I did. He sounded worried. Maybe scared would be a better choice of words. The dogs do miss you, Annie. They sleep on your bed with your pillows. They run right up there as soon as we come in the house. I want you to be real careful driving home. It’s a long stretch. If you get tired, stop and rest.”
“I will, Elmo. How are you feeling?”
“I have good days and bad days. There was a sense of urgency in Newman’s voice, Annie.”
“If the case is closed, and we knew that when we tried to file suit six weeks ago, then he’s out of our hair. When I get back, we’ll file another police report and tell them what Newman said to you. It pays to stay on top of stuff like that. Any mail?”
“No mail from Hawaii if that’s what you mean. There’s a ton of other stuff here.”
“Any calls?”
“None from Hawaii if that’s what you mean. A list of calls to be returned is as long as my arm. Nothing pressing.
“Annie, you need to be extremely careful. I didn’t like what Newman said about the Pearson man saying he knew what the three of us were doing every minute of the day. That means he has someone watching us or he’s following one of us. I want you to call me when you start out and call along the way, every few hours. Jane and I will stay close to home until you get here. I don’t think we need to worry about Tom, he’s out of the loop. All that stuff with Mona was just to make us crazy. It worked for a little while.”
“All right, Elmo. I’ll see you late tomorrow night.”
Annie popped the lid of a Diet Pepsi. She paced as she drank the diet drink. She was off the hook as far as the bank and the insurance company went. All she had to contend with now, according to Peter Newman, was a deranged young man bent on vengeance. She shivered in the air-conditioned room. Maybe she shouldn’t wait until tomorrow morning to leave. Since she hadn’t unpacked, she could settle her bill and get five hours worth of driving in before she called it a day. If she drank coffee along the way, she might even be able to do six or seven hours.
Twenty minutes later she was on 1-81 heading south, where she would pick up 1-70, then 1-270, which would take her to the Beltway and 1-95 and home. By leaving now she would miss the Washington, DC rush-hour traffic.
It was ten minutes past eleven when Annie crossed the state line into North Carolina. She cursed under her breath when she whizzed past the Roanoke Rapids exit. Now she had to drive another fifteen or so miles to the next turnoff. It all just went to prove she was beyond tired. She was exhausted, and on top of that it was starting to rain. She hated driving in the rain, hated the double headlights reflected on the asphalt road, hated the fact that she had to drive defensively on the busy interstate, where eighteen-wheelers and speed demons were kings of the road. She eased up on the gas pedal as she turned on the windshield wipers. She could feel the tension start to build between her shoulder blades as she leaned closer to the steering wheel for better visibility. Her eyes went to the rearview mirror. She wondered if it was her imagination that a pair of headlights behind her had stayed with her since Richmond. When she first became aware of the lights, she’d sped up and then slowed down to see what the car behind her would do. The driver had followed suit. As near as she could tell, the same car was still with her.
“Damn!” She needed bright lights and human beings, not this endless stretch of highway with torrential rain. She drove steadily, staying in the right lane, praying