Free Major Crimes by Michele Lynn Seigfried Page B

hide for the next two weeks. My boat is docked at the Yacht Club Marina.”
    I glanced down at the boat keys. “Thanks, I owe you.”
    “Wait.” Bonnie went to a key rack she had near her garage door and picked a key off of it. She handed it to me. “This is the key to my house. You can’t stay here now, but in two weeks, we’ll be on a cruise for nine nights.”
    “You’re going on a cruise?”
    “Yeah, Jayce surprised me with a trip. We are leaving from Bayonne and sailing to Bermuda, St. Maarten, San Juan, and Labadee with the girls.”
    I was jealous. Bonnie’s husband, Jayce, was a neurosurgeon, handsome, loving, and caring. Her two daughters were beautiful. She had the kind of life I wanted. I felt blessed having my daughter, but Bonnie’s relationship with her husband was unlike most. I wondered if Bryce was a Jayce or a Randy.
    “One last thing. Call my Uncle Freddy. He’ll know what to do.”
    Little did Bonnie know that I wanted to call Freddy, but Bryce wouldn’t agree to it, so I nodded, hugged her, and left not feeling any better about the situation. I thought Bonnie was going to be more supportive emotionally. But Bonnie knew that emotional support for this cause wasn’t what I needed—a dose of reality was. True friends will give you what you need, no matter how harsh it is, and they don’t blow smoke up your butt thinking that’s what you want to hear. Bonnie was a true friend. I resolved to take Bonnie’s advice…by Sunday, when my daughter was back.
     
    * * *
     
    Bryce’s left eye was twitching. “Well, Bonnie was no help. Now what?”
    I wondered if his twitching eye was nerves, lack of sleep or anger. He seemed cool until now.
    “You tell me what you want to do. This is your issue. I’m not sure why I’m even here.”
    “I thought you were my friend.”
    “And I thought you were mine. A real friend would look out for me and know that involving me in a murder wasn’t in my best interest.”
    “I told you back at your house that I’d leave.”
    “And the only thing I can think to do to help you is to have you talk to Freddy, but you don’t want that. So what do you want? Bonnie gave us dry clothes, her boat keys, and her house keys. I wouldn’t say she was no help. Do you want to hide out forever? Continue being a fugitive? Someone is bound to see you sooner or later. We need more help than the two of us can handle.”
    Bryce pressed his lips together. Had I gotten through to him?
    “If I hire Freddy as an investigator, would he keep it confidential?”
    “Yes, he should.”
    “Fine. I concede to your brilliant advice. Please call Freddy and ask him if he’ll take me on as a client. A very, very confidential client.”
    I couldn’t help but smile. It was the right decision, even if Bryce couldn’t see it yet. “I need a phone to call him.”
    “What happened to yours?”
    “I left it at my house. And it’s a good thing, because I don’t think it would’ve survived the plunge in the lagoon.”
    Bryce drove to a convenience store several towns away. He wanted to buy a couple of prepaid cell phones.
    “Is it wise to go in there now that the police are searching for you? I mean, us?”
    “We’re in another jurisdiction. I should be fine. I’ll only be a minute.”
    I offered Bryce a credit card before he went into the store, but he refused. I guess with all the craziness, I had forgotten that the police could track our credit cards and find us. I pulled some wet money out of my pocket and offered that to him instead.
    “I’ve got it.”
    “What? My soggy money’s not good enough for you?” I cracked a smile.
    Bryce winked and ran into the store. He came back moments later and handed me one of the prepaid cell phones.
    “Thanks, but I really need to go back home and get my own phone.” I didn’t mean to sound whiney, but I was starting to get upset.
    “That’s not happening.”
    “Why not?”
    “It will be crawling with cops by now. They’ll be