Seaside Avenue (Cedar Cove #7)(41)

“Not?” Bobby was certain he’d misunderstood.

“We seem…I’m afraid, sir, that Miss Christie has taken a dislike to me.”

That wasn’t the impression Teri had gotten. “Is there any particular reason?”

James shifted and raised both hands. “I believe she doesn’t like men who are formal in manner and who are employed as drivers.”

This was shocking news. “I’m s-sorry to hear that, James,” he stuttered, wondering if Christie was really such a superficial snob. If that was the case, she was nothing like Teri at all.

“Yes, sir,” he stated crisply.

The two men sat in the car for a few more minutes, neither of them speaking, before Bobby realized that James expected to drive him somewhere. “That will be all, James.”

“Very good, sir.”

His driver emerged from the vehicle, came to the back door and opened it for Bobby, who returned to the house. He was in front of his computer, eating a cheese sandwich, when someone pounded hard on the door.

Bobby answered it and discovered James standing there. Looking pale and shaken, the driver handed Bobby an envelope. “One of Vladimir’s men dropped this off. He said I was to give it to you.”

A chill went down Bobby’s spine as he tore open the envelope—a chill that intensified when he saw what was inside. A gold medal imprinted with the image of an angel, similar to one Teri owned.

All at once Bobby’s breath caught in his throat.

It wasn’t similar to Teri’s; this was hers.

For a moment his vocal cords refused to work. When he finally managed to speak, he looked at James. “We have to contact Teri. Now.” Uttering those few simple words required monumental effort.

James fumbled for his cell. It seemed to take him an inordinate amount of time to press the appropriate number in the speed-dial function. Bobby held his breath while he waited for Teri to respond. As soon as she did, he was able to breathe again, to speak. To move.

“Bobby!” Teri sounded excited to hear from him. “Did you talk to James about my sister?”

“Where’s your angel necklace?” he asked, ignoring her question.

“Oh, Bobby, for Pete’s sake, I’m wearing it.” She muttered something he couldn’t understand. He could hear some rustling and then she gasped. “Bobby! I seem to have lost it. I can’t believe I’d misplace that. I distinctly remember putting it on….”

“This morning?”

“Yes, right after I got out of the shower. I wear it quite often. Did you find it? Is that why you’re calling?”

The chill he’d experienced earlier became an icy blast that froze his blood. Bobby understood the message. Vladimir had expected him in Los Angeles, and Bobby’s efforts to thwart him hadn’t gone unnoticed. This was his way of telling Bobby that he could get to Teri whenever he wanted.

“Bobby, you’re not answering me.”

He couldn’t. Instead he passed the phone to James. The only option he had was to await further instructions. When the time came, he would do what was asked of him, even if it meant walking away a loser.

Sixteen

Linnette McAfee’s eyes stung as she pulled away from her parents’ home on Harbor Street

. The farewell with her sister Gloria earlier in the afternoon had been just as hard. They’d all kept her with them as long as they could. Her mother, especially, didn’t want her to leave Cedar Cove, but in the end had accepted Linnette’s decision. It might be an unreasonable one, but it was hers to make.

Linnette had listened to all of her family’s arguments and she understood what they’d explained over and over again. Okay, so she was running away. Okay, so leaving town wouldn’t work, wouldn’t solve her problems. She didn’t care.

Linnette didn’t know anything about Will Jefferson other than that he was Charlotte Rhodes’s son and Olivia Griffin’s brother. Will had sublet her apartment and she’d felt like kissing him in gratitude. Even if he hadn’t taken over her lease, she would’ve left Cedar Cove. His opportune appearance meant she wouldn’t lose a chunk of her savings paying rent on a place she wasn’t living in.

What particularly distressed her parents was Linnette’s lack of a destination. She’d drive until she was tired of driving, tired of being on the road. As her mother had repeatedly pointed out, this was the most irresponsible action of her life.

Linnette agreed. But the thing no one seemed to grasp was how freeing that felt, how liberating it was not to answer to anyone. All her life she’d been Ms. Responsibility. She’d gone directly from high school into college and then into the Physician Assistant program. From the age of five, all she’d done was study and work. No big vacations, no time off for good grades—or good behavior. Nothing.

Beyond anything else, the painful breakup with Cal had taught her that this would continue to be her lot in life unless she did something drastic. So she had.

As Linnette entered Highway 16 past Olalla, her cell phone rang. Normally she wouldn’t have answered. She knew it was dangerous to drive and chat on her cell. At any other time she would’ve let voice mail catch the call. Not this afternoon.

“Hi. This is Linnette,” she sang out, doing her utmost to sound completely happy and carefree. She wasn’t, but there was a lot to be said for pretending.