Annie on the Lam: A Christmas Caper Read Online Free

Annie on the Lam: A Christmas Caper
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desperate to find someone to act as my watchdog before he has to give up the duty.”
    â€œThat’s not how it is, Annie.”
    â€œThat is how it is. It occurred to me last night that Daddy introduced me to all three men I’ve been engaged to.”
    Tess bent her head and stared down at her lap.
    â€œI’m the same age she was when she died, do you realize that? Maybe if I understood—” Her throat closed and she looked away.
    â€œOkay.” Tess glanced up, wariness in her eyes. “You are like Lydia in a lot of ways. But you’re different, too. You’re your own person. Understanding your mother isn’t necessarily the key to understanding yourself.”
    â€œBut it might be. I need the truth. Why was my mother traveling to New York? I know she wasn’t doing charity work.”
    Tess stared at her a minute then said, “Lydia was bored. At first she did go for the charity, then she resigned her position, but we didn’t know that for a while. Judging by the little your father was able to learn after the accident, we think she might’ve been trying to set things up so that she could move there.”
    â€œYou mean leave Daddy.”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œAnd me.”
    â€œI can’t answer that. Nobody can. Your father did some investigating and found out she’d invested most of her inheritance she hadn’t already squandered in some sort of business venture that never played out.”
    Sadness swam through Annie. “When I think about her…she seemed withdrawn and tired a lot of the time. And not only that last year. I didn’t dwell on it much then. But looking back now that I’m older, I can’t help wondering if she was depressed because she hated her life here.”
    â€œLydia did see a doctor for depression. She had trouble sleeping. But knowing her, I’m not sure she would’ve been any happier doing anything else, anywhere else.”
    Annie didn’t want to believe that. She wanted to believe that her family was wrong about her mother, that they simply had not understood her. “The man in the car…you didn’t tell me his name.”
    Tess closed her eyes briefly. Said, “Milford’s going to kill me.” Sighed. “His name was Fred or Frank…Reno. Something like that. Your father had him checked out afterward. He was just some flashy, loud-mouthed loser who owned a club or two in the city. I can’t imagine what Lydia was doing getting mixed up with someone like him, but we found out he’s the person she invested the money with.”
    â€œYou said ‘was’. Did he die, too?”
    â€œNo, he survived. With little more than a few scratches, actually. It was his car, by the way. Your mother was driving and he was in the passenger seat. We don’t know why.”
    â€œDid Daddy confront him?”
    â€œNo. What good would it do? It wouldn’t bring Lydia back. And, honestly, I think he was afraid of finding out something about her he didn’t want to know.” Tess leaned in across the table. “Whatever you’re thinking, Annie, let it drop. You might not want to know, either.” Blinking, Tess scanned the café and said, “What’s taking our waitress so long?”
    Noting her aunt’s escalating nervousness, Annie said, “There’s something else, isn’t there?”
    After a long stretch of silence, Tess blinked at her, released a long breath and said, “It’s only speculation, but after talking with several witnesses to the accident, the authorities thought Lydia might’ve driven off the bridge on purpose.”

CHAPTER 2
    Six months later
December, New York City
    Unwrapping his meatball sandwich, Joe Brady stepped out of the deli and crossed to the curb. A bite on the run was his usual routine these days. In that respect, driving a cab for a living was not so different than being a cop.
    Weather
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