Deadly Deals by Fern Michaels Page B

freshened up twenty minutes prior to landing. Other weary passengers looked at her approvingly, but she was oblivious.
    She was the first one off the plane. The time was 7:10 in the morning.
    Early morning travelers took a second to admire the long-legged vision as she strode past the security lines, her gaze raking the limo drivers holding up signs. When she spotted her driver, she waved. Within minutes she was outside and settled in the backseat of the luxurious limousine Cosmo Cricket had arranged for her.
    Lizzie shivered even though the heater was blowing hot, delicious air all around her ankles. Outside, a light snow was falling. She liked snow, and yet she hated snow. A long-ago memory of sitting in the cemetery, with a frozen bunch of violets in her hand, swam before her eyes. Jack Emery had saved her that awful night. She knew now that she would have stayed there and frozen to death if not for him. But that was all a lifetime ago. She had a new life now, thanks to Jack and all the vigilantes. Without them in her life, she never would have met Cosmo. Nor would she have ever married. She was almost positive of that.
    Lizzie blinked away the tears that were pricking at her eyelids. She leaned forward. “Drop me off at the Post first, but I want you to wait for me.â€

 
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    Chapter 6
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    D ressed in a faux white mink coat and hat, Lizzie drew stares as she exited the luxurious limousine, wearing sunglasses to shield her eyes against the blinding whiteness all about her. She looked like a Russian spy in a popular movie as she strode toward the building that housed Baron Bell’s offices. The door was thrust open by a smiling doorman. He watched as the striking woman, her every move choreographed, sailed across the ornate lobby toward the elevator, which opened as though by magic. And then the goddess was gone, and the lobby’s occupants went back to what they were doing before the vision in white had graced their space.
    The only occupants of the old-fashioned elevator were Lizzie and an elderly lady with blue-white hair. The grandmotherly woman carried a cane and was tapping it to the upbeat Christmas music that seemed to be piped in on the top of the elevator. Lizzie’s thoughts were on what she considered the impossible task of finding just the right present for her husband. She leaned forward and pressed the number twelve.
    The elevator stopped on the fifth floor, and the elderly lady moved forward. “Merry Christmas, dear. May I say you look lovely today.â€

 
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    Chapter 7
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    A fter twenty minutes of wrangling, the quartet decided that Ted, Espinosa, Harry, and Jack would make the trip to Rehoboth together in Espinosa’s secondhand Range Rover. Espinosa swore that he could drive through anything but tire-high mud.
    A trip that should have taken no more than an hour and a half turned into a four-hour trek with the bad weather. Even though Espinosa claimed they were making good time considering their current circumstances.
    Harry grumbled and mumbled as he tried to figure out why Maggie wanted them in Rehoboth. “It doesn’t make sense to me if Snowden’s people are going to be there to do the breaking and entering. Are we going there because we don’t trust Snowden and his people? Or are we going because Maggie thinks Bell and Newsom are going to head there to get whatever Maggie thinks is hidden there? Ted and Espinosa I can understand. Photos and the like. I don’t like going somewhere blind, with no concrete plan of action. Been there, done that. Pumpkins,â€

 
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    Chapter 8
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    â€œS omething is wrong,â€

 
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    Chapter 9
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    C harles looked down at his coffee cup and was surprised to see that it was empty. He wondered how many cups he’d consumed. Not that it was important in