Free Kiss and Tell by Fern Michaels Page B

get her degree in accounting and finally, after four tries, got her CPA license. They were married six years, and the reason for the divorce was irreconcilable differences. I take that to mean he paid her off big-time because she knew what he was doing. No clue where she is today. She dropped off the grid and didn’t show up in court the day they were divorced. No children; friends said she simply disappeared. People do that when there is a handsome payday. As to what she got as a settlement, that’s sealed, but speculation was, 15 million dollars. True or false, I don’t know. What did you find out on the first Mrs. Macklin?”
    â€œHer name is Mary. No clue where she resides these days. There is no obituary, so I’m pretty sure that she’s alive somewhere or other. She might have remarried, so she could have a new name, but I couldn’t find anything in the marriage records in Virginia, Maryland, or D.C. She divorced Macklin after twenty-two years of marriage. She was nineteen when he married her. They had a son and a daughter, and the son was in college when she filed for divorce. The daughter was a high school senior when Mary walked out on her husband and children. The children elected to stay with the father since he was the one with the money. At least at that time. Mary walked away with pretty much just the clothes on her back. It appears she didn’t look back either. Twenty-two years is a long time to stay married, then throw in the towel. So whatever happened must have been serious. They were divorced quietly. No record of a settlement anywhere that I could find, sealed or otherwise. She didn’t work during the marriage. So I assume she was a homemaker taking care of her husband and children during those years. Macklin met her at a bakery where she worked. That’s the only kind of job she’s ever held as far as I could determine. No housing records, no records of her paying taxes anywhere, property or otherwise. It’s like she disappeared, too, or as Maggie would say, she went off the grid.”
    Annie curled her legs up under her and asked, “What do you make of it, Myra?”
    â€œMary stuck it out for twenty-two years. I assume that means she’s from the old school. The second Mrs. Macklin got a big payday. If you’re thinking he offed them, no, I don’t think so. One just got fed up and walked away, apparently not wanting anything. To me, that cries out dirty money. She found out, and that’s why she left.
    The second wife got her payday and split for calmer waters. That might have been part of their agreement. She leaves and never opens her mouth.
    â€œWife number three lasted all of ten months. She was a stripper. Nothing there. Looks like she got fifty grand, and that’s it. I guess that stripping did not qualify her to figure out that Macklin was dirty.”
    â€œWhat about the two kids? We should see what we can find out about them. I’ll take the daughter, and you take the son, okay?”
    â€œOkay. Let’s finish this coffee first. Wonder what Sara and Tressie are doing right now. I thought they were scared. Did you think that, Annie?”
    â€œNot sure if ‘scared’ is the right word. Certainly they were apprehensive. Who knows?”
    â€œWho knows is right.”

Chapter Five
    M aggie Spitzer paced around her cozy kitchen as she waited for her dinner to warm in the oven. She wished now that she had invited the boys to stay for dinner. She could have scraped something together to make a decent dinner for three big-appetite guys even if it was just scrambled eggs or hot dogs. She peeked into the oven to see the Stouffer’s frozen TV dinner bubbling away. Ten more minutes. She thought about how many times impatience had won and she’d taken out a frozen dinner before it was done, only to find that it was still frozen in the middle.
    Maggie pressed the switch that would turn on the outside light