Free Hidden Memories by Robin Allen Page A

house or take you to mine?”
    “My house.”
    “Good. I want to wake up beside you. You have this crazy habit of going home in the middle of the night.” He kissed the back of her hand.
    “I can’t help it,” Sage said.
    * * * * *
    Marika rushed into her boss’s office. “Sage, come quick. Ramion’s on TV.”
    “He is?” Sage questioned, as she leaped up and followed Marika into the conference room where a large television hung on the corner wall.
    Television reporters and cameramen gathered around Ramion and his client, Sidney Royster, who had been charged with the murder of his ex-wife.
    “Mr. Sandidge, why do you think the jury found your client not guilty?”
    Ramion flashed a grin. “Because he is innocent. The evidence was circumstantial. The prosecution’s case was based entirely on hearsay. And, finally, there was no concrete evidence linking my client with his ex-wife’s death,” Ramion said.
    The cameras zoomed back to the street reporter, and Marika turned down the volume on the television. “Umh, umh, umh, Ramion is really making a reputation for himself. This is the fourth high-profile case he’s won.”
    “You’re right. And I’m going to treat him to dinner. Someplace special. Marika, call the Mansion and make reservations for two for tomorrow night.”
    * * * * *
    The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Sage was awakened by the ringing phone. It was three o’clock in the morning. It didn’t ring two times before she picked up the receiver, her stomach nervously fluttering with anticipation of the voice on the other end. “Hello,” she grumbled sleepily.
    “Hi, Sage!” Ava said cheerfully. “Did I wake you?”
    “What else would I be doing at three in the morning?” Sage growled.
    “Maybe the wild thing,” Ava teased. “Will you come get me?”
    Ava was supposed to be at home in Baltimore, Maryland. Sage sat up in bed and turned on the light. “Where are you?”
    “At the bus station.”
    “In Atlanta?”
    “Hurry! The people here are creepy!”
    “What are you doing here?” Sage asked.
    “I’ll tell you everything when you pick me up.”
    “Give me a half hour.”
    Sage got out of bed and went into the bathroom. She quickly washed her face and brushed her teeth. She took off her blue satin nightshirt and slipped on a sweater and black jeans, then grabbed her purse and keys and went out the door after activating the security alarm.
    A thousand questions turned in her mind as she drove to pick up her sister. She hadn’t seen Ava since July when she came down with her twin brother, Aaron, for their annual summer visit.
    An hour after being awakened, Sage pulled her red two-door 450 Mercedes-Benz in front of the Greyhound bus station. She felt a little nervous getting out of her car, observing the street people lurking around the station. She passed several men passed out on the street, the stench of liquor in the air. An old toothless woman screamed at her, “Take me home, take me home.”
    Another homeless woman spoke with her eyes, pleading for money with a tattered hat in her hand. Sage fished in her purse and tossed a $5 bill into the woman’s tattered bat.
    “What about me, sister?” a shrill voice screamed as Sage opened the door of the bus station and went inside.
    She spotted Ava at once, sitting on the largest of several pieces of luggage in the middle of the terminal, munching on a large bag of pretzels. Seeing Sage coming toward her, Ava jumped to her feet. Despite the hour and surprise, Sage was happy to see her little sister, and the two women embraced warmly.
    “What’s with all the luggage?” Sage asked, staring at her sister.
    “I’m moving to Atlanta,” Ava announced blithely.
    “What?” Sage exclaimed, her heavy eyebrows arched in surprise as she gave her little sister a don’t-play-with-me look.
    “I’m serious, Sage. I want to live in Atlanta. I hate Baltimore.”
    “And when did you decide this?”
    “Yesterday,” Ava replied. “But, you