Annie's Rainbow - Fern Michaels [51]
“Okay, Rosie, you have to stay here. I’ll put down some papers for you. There’s enough food and water to last you till I get back. I’d take you, but someone might remember seeing us together. You stay here and keep your eye on things.” The big dog stared at her with unblinking eyes. At one point, Annie thought the dog nodded.
A baseball cap jammed on her head, and wearing an old windbreaker, Annie loaded up the car. At the last moment she stuck her wallet with her license and registration in the hip pocket of her jeans.
Ten minutes later she was headed south on the interstate.
Five hours later Annie cruised past the Georgia National Bank. She drove up and down the street twice to get a feel for car traffic as well as any pedestrian traffic on their way to an early-morning job. On her third cruise-by, with no traffic behind her, she pulled into the parking lot and. around to the back of the bank. She turned off her lights, waited five minutes to see if anyone had noticed her. Satisfied that she wasn’t the object of anyone’s attention, she moved like lightning, wedging the bags as close to the door as possible. Janitors always reported early for work. She crossed her fingers that the janitor assigned to this bank was an honest man.
At 6:35 she was back on the interstate, headed north.
Annie walked in the door of her house at 11:10 to be greeted boisterously by Rosie. She tussled with her for a few moments before she hooked the leash onto her harness and led her outside. “A quick one, girl. I can’t believe you held it in this long. That’s what the paper was for. God, I wish you could talk. Did anyone call or stop by? Good girl. Okay, time to go in.”
The phone rang just as Annie pulled some eggs and bacon from the refrigerator. It was Jane. Annie made her voice as cheerful as she could. “Hi, how’s it going? Did I hear what? I didn’t have the television on this morning. Why? Wow! No kidding! Are you sure? Wait, I’ll turn it on. What station? Wait a minute, you’re three hours behind me. I’ll catch the next newscast. I can’t believe it! Somebody just left three bags of money at a bank in Georgia. Only half but with interest, too? That’s amazing. Oh, well, it’s not our problem. So, how’s the weather out there? You lucky dog. It’s thirty-six degrees here. I’m going to light the fireplace. I’m working one to nine today. Do you ever miss the shop, Jane? No, no word from Parker Grayson. I haven’t seen Daniel either. I can’t worry about that now. Those six new shops we’re opening are taking up all my time. Oh, Jane, listen to this. Tom had a brilliant idea, and he had these little cards made up asking customers what they liked about the shop and what drew them to it. Guess what they said! The daisy awnings over the doors and the daisies we painted on the walls. The coffee, of course. Since it was your idea, I thought you’d like to know. Okay, I’ll let you go. I have to get ready for work. I’ll turn on the news tonight when I get home. It’s good news, Jane. I know you were worried. Rest easy now. Talk to you soon.”
Annie literally tripped up the steps to the shower where she sang at the top of her lungs. Rosie howled her distress at her off-key singing. “Can’t help it, Rosie. I feel like the weight of the world has been taken off my shoulders. We are almost home free, my friend. Now we can concentrate on living our lives instead of a lie. The best part of this whole deal is I never spent one penny of that money on myself. Yes, yes, I used two hundred dollars of it that first week, but I paid it back in a few days. It wasn’t for me personally. I didn’t let greed take over. I suppose they could