Annie's Rainbow - Fern Michaels [4]
Five hundred thousand dollars, the news anchor had said. Two hundred thousand of the five in bearer bonds. Untraceable bearer bonds. In her car. Call the police. Turn it in, her brain shrieked over and over. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. If she didn’t turn it in she could move her mother to a nursing home with rolling green hills and flower beds. She could help her brother Tom. She could set Jane up in a little studio. Call the police. Turn in the money.
Annie walked out of the apartment in slow motion, her brain whirling in circles as she contemplated the contents of her car. The bank robber must have thrown it through her open car window when he was running from the police. Surely they searched the area. Would they come back and do a more thorough search? Should she cover it up? Should she pretend she hadn’t seen it? What should she do? The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Her pot of gold. The news anchor had said the money was in small bills. It wouldn’t be traceable. Her battered gym bag found its way to her hands from the trunk of the car. She tossed it on top of the money bag. No, no, that won’t work. If the police do a second search, they might see it in my car and realize that I covered up the money bag. Better to move the gym bag and running shoes to the other side and just toss the easel on top of the money bag. It’s dusk. I’ll say I didn’t look inside. I’ll say I just put the easel in and didn’t look. How many people look at the floor of the car? I never do. Most people don’t. The pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. No one will ever know, not even Jane. I won’t tell a soul. Call the police. Turn in the money. I can make Mom’s days happier. Tom will be able to spend more time with his wife and kids. Jane needs a chance. Do it. Make a decision. Keep the money or give it back. Keep it or give it back. Yes. No. Call the police. Turn in the money. Decide now before it’s too late. Decidedecidedecide. I’m keeping it. No, I’m not. I’m giving it back.
“Annie. What’s wrong? I waited and waited. Then I got scared and decided to come back,” Jane said breathlessly. “You look funny. Is something wrong?”
“Kind of. I lost my dinner. I feel kind of wobbly.” It was the truth.
“It could be the excitement. I didn’t get sick, so it wasn’t the food. Stress will do it every time. Do you want to forgo the ice cream and the walk around the campus?”
“No, let’s do it. Maybe the ice cream will help. You’re probably right, it’s stress. I thought it was going to be so easy to walk away from here. We will miss this place.” Good God, was this trembly voice hers?
“Any trouble with the easel?”
“No. Actually, there’s room to spare. All I have left to put in the backseat is the bedding and my carryall. How about you?”
“I’m crammed to the ceiling but that’s okay. Boy, the cops are everywhere. They’re checking all the cars on campus. They even went through mine.”
“No kidding.” Annie thought her heart was going to leap right out of her chest.
“If you don’t want them going through all your stuff, leave your car parked here on the street. Just lock it.”
“Okay, that sounds good. I probably wouldn’t be able to wedge everything in again the way I did the first time.”
“Tell me about it. That’s what took me so long getting back here. The cop was really nice, though. He said they think there was a third guy, and the one who got shot passed the money to him. Guess it makes sense.”
“They didn’t say anything about a third man on television.”
“It’s a theory. If the guy just tossed it, don