Burn: A Novel by Linda Howard Read Free Book Online Page B

money, because she had to live until then.
    She grabbed the phone and hit Redial. When the same guy answered, she asked, “I called a little while ago. After I bring in the winning ticket, how long does it take to actually get the money?”
    “Four to eight weeks,” he replied.
    “Holy sh—! You’re kidding.” She was flabbergasted. Damn good thing she hadn’t quit work yesterday!
    “No, processing the claims are time-consuming, but we take pains that no mistakes are made.”
    “Thanks,” she said, hanging up. She wanted to kick something. Eight weeks! She couldn’t even wait eight weeks to claim it, because the processing wouldn’t start until she did so. The sooner she got to the office, the better—and then she’d
still
have to work at that damn meat-packing plant for maybe two more months.
    There was only one person she could call to vent, so she dialed Michelle’s number.
    “Two months!” she said, incensed, when Michelle answered. “It’ll take them almost two months to get the money to me!”
    “You’re shittin’ me.”
    “I wish.”
    “How hard can it be? All they have to do is cut a check!”
    “Tell me about it. So, no more celebrating for a while,” Jenner said glumly. “I blew most of my cash last night, and I have two more months of rent to worry about. Damn it.”
    “Damn it,” Michelle echoed. “Crap. I was looking forward to doing some serious shopping, maybe putting in some vacation time somewhere cool, but if it takes two months to get the money then summer will be over.”
    “I know.” Jenner sighed. The heat was killing her, and getting away sounded great, but it wasn’t going to happen. “I guess that plan will change to going somewhere warm this winter. I’m going downtown tomorrow morning to start the ball rolling. The longer I put that off, the longer it’ll take to actually get the money.”
    “I’d love to go with you, just to watch,” Michelle said wistfully. “But I can’t take off work, so you remember every detail, okay? I want to hear everything.”
    “Promise.”
    The next morning she took extra pains with her hair and makeup. Her roots were showing some, but not too bad, so she made a zigzag part on top to hide the darker color. She put on the clothes she wore to funerals—a white, short-sleeve, button-up blouse paired with a dark blue pencil skirt and white strappy sandals—because the weather was just too hot to put on panty hose and high heels. Besides, she had a run in the only pair of panty hose she owned, and thanks to the celebration with Michelle she didn’t have any extra cash to buy another pair. She had enough cash for the bus, and that was about all, until she got her next paycheck.
    Strange how, in the space of a phone conversation, she could go from quitting work in two days to pinching pennies by not buying a new pair of panty hose.
    She used the bus ride to compose herself, and get her thoughts ordered. Another talk with Al had cleared up a few more points. Al said if Jenner wanted, she could set up a blind trust, to keep Jenner’s identity secret, but was there really any point? When Jenner Redwine, who didn’t even have a bank account, suddenly quit work, bought a new car, and moved to a better place, everyone she knew was bound to figure something was up. Besides, Michelle couldn’t keep a secret forever. Jenner loved her, but Michelle tended to talk first and think later. Setting up a blind trust would also mean hiring a lawyer, which would be more delays, besides what the lawyer would charge. She just wanted to get everything started.
    She got off at the nearest bus stop, found the correct building, and took the elevator up to the seventh floor. When she opened the door, everyone in the room turned to look at her. Her heartbeat hitched. Did anyone in the room breathe as she approached the long, tall counter? She didn’t think so.
    Three other people—maybe they’d won some of the smaller payouts—were seated in the small