Page 21 of Honeycombs & Homecomings

“Yes, yes, bags are almost packed. It’s just, I haven’t been able to reach Tony since last weekend. He will be there when we arrive?”

Jo clapped a hand over her eyes. That’s right! Tony had promised to be the one to show them around. This was it, brother-in-law or not, she was firing him if he didn’t get his act together immediately! “Yes, of course. He’ll meet you atSticky and Sweeton Thursday night at six-thirty, and I believe he has plans to take you to the Blue Shadow Café for dinner—you won’t be disappointed.”

An open water bottle appeared in front of her, attached to a hand that was attached to Cash. She gave him a weak smile and mouthed “thank you” before downing half the bottle.

He gave her an amused grin that made her all fluttery.

“Good, good,” Cynthia said. “If it weren’t for that young man, we wouldn’t be coming.” It took Jo a second to realize she meant Tony and not Cash.

Cash leaned against her desk, crossing his arms over his chest as he waited out her call. He wanted to know what was going on and why she was such a mess, probably.

“Yeah, he’s great.” She hoped the words didn’t fall flat. Especially since it appeared so much relied on him. The truth was, Tony could be great . . . when he showed up.

A few preliminaries later, and Jo disconnected.

Cash raised his brows, waiting, expecting.

She drank the rest of the water, then gasped for air.

“You all right there, Ariel?” Cash asked.

She glared as she tried to catch her breath before coughing violently. She hated when he called her that. He stepped to her side and patted her a couple times on the back, his closeness doing nothing to help with the labored breathing. “I’m fi—” hacking cough “—fine. But I’m going to kill Allie!”

Chapter 7

Allie led the way through the Casino, bells, whistles, and winning buzzers sounding around her as she guessed at which way she should go, with only a slight tap on the shoulder from one of the two men who’d picked her up from her aunt’s house last night to indicate direction. Honey followed close at her heel, wagging his tail at the fast pace and the new adventure they were on. He loved going new places.

Allie, however, was ticked, and everything in the way she walked, to the high tilt of her chin, to her clenched fists, showed it. Who the heck did these guys think they were? Picking her up and driving her to Atlantic City in the middle of the night?

Whoever’s idea this was was in for an ear full. And if they really ticked her off, maybe a mouthful of Honey’s teeth in their tuchus. She didn’t know. The night was still relatively young. Full of possibilities.

“Take a right,” the big blond guy said.

She glared at him, Honey growled, and Blondie flinched back. She made a hard right on the casino floor. This path lead to an elevator. She stopped and placed her hands on her hips. Wide Nose skirted around her and jammed the up button with his thumb. He glanced at her, and she made and held eye contact. He jerked his gaze away, like he thought she was a wasp about to sting.

He had no idea.

The elevator dinged. Both men jumped, and she hustled on board, her abductors following sheepishly behind her. A moment later, they dinged on the top floor.

She and Honey stepped into the penthouse suite, and stopped, Blondie and Wide Nose squeezing out behind her. Big picture windows filled the far wall, giving a beautiful view of the city. Light furniture and carpet, an enormous bouquet of roses, snapdragons, lilies and other assorted flowers on a table in the center of the sitting room between two sofas that were beautiful but looked uncomfortable.

She lifted a hand. “Well?”

Wide Nose cleared his throat. “This way.” This time, he led the way, and she let him. Down the hall on the left, the penthouse opened to a large office, with large picture windows like the main room had. A short man with a square frame sat behind a large glass desk, sorting through papers that spread across the entirety.

Blondie stepped forward. “Boss?” His tone was nervous. “Miss Alice is here.”

When she’d first gotten in the car with them, they’d tried calling her Alice, but they’d been in the south, and there were manners that a person would follow. She’d quickly demanded they call her Miss Alice, and after one growl from Honey, they’d quickly complied. So what if they were kidnappers, they would act like gentlemen when they were with her.

The man at the desk looked up and smiled a crooked smile over crooked teeth. He stood and signaled to a chair across from him as he bowed his head slightly. “Miss Alice,” he said.

She ignored the amusement the title seemed to give and slowly moved to the seat. She took a seat. “Honey, sit.”

Honey sat.

“Honey, down,” she said.

Honey laid down, but kept his head up, staying sharp in case she called him to action. He’d love that.

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