Page 56 of Closer Than You Know

Vera rushed out the door and through Myra’s office before pressing the phone back to her ear. “Sorry about that. I was in a meeting.”

“I understand. No problem.” A sigh whispered over the line. “Honestly, Vera, I feel like we should do this in person.”

Vera agreed, no matter that the other woman’s statement put her further on edge. “You’re right. We should. Are you available now?”

With Bent’s demand that she be back in his office at noon, she didn’t have a lot of wiggle room. Unless, of course, she put the meeting with Russ off until later this afternoon, and she did not want to wait any longer than necessary. This was one thing she needed to get done ASAP.

“I can be available in about an hour. Does that work for you?”

“Sure. Your office?” That meant a drive to Huntsville. So not what she wanted to do this morning. Not with all that was going on here.

“How about I meet you in Hazel Green at ten? That’s a lot closer for you, and I’m in a meeting close by, so it works for me.”

Much better. “Name the place.”

“There’s a coffee shop, Jackie’s, right on the highway just past the Taco Bell. They always have the best donuts.”

Vera grimaced. The idea of another donut made her stomach roil. “See you there.”

She hurried to her SUV and climbed in. Guilt had her waiting until she was out of the parking lot—thus not staring at Bent’s office—before calling Eve.

“Make it fast,” her sister griped, “I’m working.”

Vera imagined her hunkered over a corpse—excuse me, a visitor.“Russ called. I’m meeting her at ten.”

“How did she sound?” Eve lowered her voice, as if she feared the corpse was listening.

Vera shook her head. “She sounded like she always sounds.”

“So you couldn’t tell if she knows or suspects something.”

She shouldn’t do this, but Eve was getting on her last nerve. “She did say that she felt we should talk in person.”

The silence that followed warned that Vera had made a mistake.

“This is good,” she hurried to add. “If we talk in person, there’s no record. We can come to an agreement.”

“’Kay. Let me know what she says as soon as you’re done talking.”

“I will.” Her sister was really worried. Damn it. “Don’t worry, Eve. We’ve got this.”

“I know. Talk to you later.”

Vera tossed her phone onto the passenger seat. What was one more lie this morning? On top of that, Eric was coming.Today.

Why did it all have to happen at once?

21

Jackie’s Coffee ShackUS Route 231/431, Hazel Green, 10:00 a.m.

Teresa Russ waited at a table as far away from the entrance of the little coffee shop as could be gotten. Russ was an attractive woman, sixty, blond, and trim. Vera waved to her before going to the counter for a bottle of water.

Between the sugar and caffeine she’d already consumed, she was literally vibrating. She figured the additional adrenaline charge still rushing through her veins from Russ’s call wasn’t helping either.

Vera thanked the barista, grabbed her bottle, and headed for the table.

“I appreciate,” Vera said as she settled into a chair, “you meeting me.”

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