No Safe Secret by Fern Michaels Read Free Book Online Page B

ten. What she hadn’t said was that there were also pastries, bagels, muffins, jams, and jellies. The first morning Maddy/Molly had been reluctant even to enter the office, but she needed something in her stomach besides tap water, having spent the entire day and night sleeping. She remembered the coffee and found several guests milling about, with cups of coffee and small paper plates filled with all sorts of goodies. Her stomach growled, and she took two blueberry muffins and a cup of black coffee back to her room. She’d spent the next half hour savoring the muffins, which, she later learned, were prepared by a local bakery and delivered promptly at five in the morning, seven days a week. They were to die for. She didn’t remember seeing any type of pastry when she’d checked in, but later she learned that if you didn’t make it to the office by six-thirty, there would be nothing left but crumbs. So, for these past three days, she’d stuffed herself with pastries and coffee in the morning, then lounged in her room, enjoying being alone without the fear that Marcus or, as she thought very occasionally, her mother would barge in on her.
    She watched television to her heart’s content and read the copy of the Brunswick Times that was placed outside her door each morning. She had scanned the HELP WANTED section and noticed several possibilities, but this was too close to Blossom City. She wanted more than a few hundred miles between her and her attackers. And, of course, the law.
    She put her bags in the trunk before going to the office to return her room key. As usual, Mrs. Wilkins was busy with paperwork. She wore her glasses and looked up when she entered.
    â€œHave you decided to stay longer?” she asked the young woman. Maddy/Molly had told her how much she had enjoyed staying here yesterday as she’d waited her turn for a pastry.
    If only , she thought. “No, I’m heading to my friend’s for two weeks, remember?” Why she’d brought up the story that Mrs. Wilkins had probably figured out was a lie, she wasn’t sure. Maybe she wanted to be like all the other guests who had a clear destination. “I came in to give you back the room key, and to thank you. This is the nicest motel I’ve ever stayed in.” Her heart fluttered when she realized what she’d said. Not wanting to listen to Mrs. Wilkins’s probing questions, or see that look of suspicion in her eye, she said, “On this trip. Of course I have stayed in fancy hotels, but this was . . . uh nice. For this town.”
    Mrs. Wilkins smiled and shook her head. “That’s good to know. Make sure you spread the word. Now, young lady, if you wish to stay with us at another time, the front desk will be open all night during the summer months.”
    Maddy smiled, and said. “Thanks, but I’m off to college in two weeks. I’m staying at the dorm.” Before she spurted out another lie, she turned around and walked out the door, giving a quick wave to Mrs. Wilkins. Yes, this had been a nice place to stay when it was the only motel you’d ever stayed in. In the future, she would have to be very careful, watch every word she said, because if she didn’t, her freedom could be taken away in the blink of an eye.
    Before she pulled out onto Main Street, she counted her cash again. She had four hundred and fifty-five dollars left after paying for her motel room, clothing, incidentals, and gas. She figured gas averaged about a dollar twenty a gallon. The Mustang didn’t have the greatest record as a gas saver, but she’d been getting around twenty miles a gallon on the open road. She roughly calculated that she had enough money to get her to Boston. She’d always had Harvard on her brain and thought this would be as good a place as any to start her new life. Once she’d had dreams of attending the esteemed university. Now she knew that that would never