Opal's Wish: Book Four of The Crystal Warriors Series by Maree Anderson Read Free Book Online

my handbag? It’s got GPS. Unless you feel up to giving me directions? Been a while since I was last out that way.”
    Nyuh uh. Directions would be way out of Opal’s league given how stressed she was right now. By time she got the words out of her mouth they’d have passed the exit or turn or whatever. She twisted in her seat to snag the covetable designer tote from the backseat, and fished in its copious depths for Desiree’s mobile—one of the latest smartphones. Complete with cat cover that had pointy feline ears. Cute.
    She fiddled with it, feeling clumsy and inept, and finally figured out how to access the GPS app. So far so good. She typed in her street address and waited for the app to do its thing. And when the little red circle blipped on screen, she leaned over to hold the phone in Desiree’s line of sight.
    “Thanks. I’m pretty sure I know where we’re going but last thing we need is a wrong turn or taking the long way home. I shouldn’t need it again until we get off the interstate.”
    They drove in silence, and although Opal was grateful for the lack of conversation it gave her too much time to think. She pulled out her mobile, stared at it for a long minute, her fingers clutching the casing so tightly her knuckles turned white. She had to know. And if she revealed parts of herself that she always kept private to Desiree then so be it.
    She accessed her contacts list, selected Liza’s number, and held the mobile to her ear.
    Straight to voicemail. Dammit! Liza was obviously screening her calls.
    Opal disconnected and gnawed her lower lip as she stabbed the buttons to phone home. She didn’t want to even think about what she would say if
he
answered the phone.
    There was no answering service so she let it ring. And ring.
    Come on, come on. Pick up, Sera! And then, just as she was about to give up, the call connected and a sleepy little voice said, “Hello. This is the Stewart residence. Can I help you?”
    Under any other circumstances Opal would have been proud as anything that Sera had answered the phone exactly as she’d been taught, remembering not to give her first name until she identified the caller. Instead, her daughter’s name exploded from her throat. “Sera!”
    “Hi, Mommy.” A pause while Sera audibly yawned. “It’s real late.”
    Opal glanced over at Desiree, and met bitter-chocolate eyes brimming with sympathy and worry and determination. Even though they’d only been introduced to each other mere hours ago, Opal knew Desiree was someone she could rely on. Someone she could trust. Desiree hadn’t mocked her behind her back, hadn’t pried into her privacy or judged on face value. She’d acted as Opal’s intermediary where possible. She wasn’t fazed by Opal’s stutter—it didn’t appear to matter to her in the slightest. So there was no reason to be embarrassed if her stutter got really bad, which it tended to do at the most inconvenient times. Like now, when the stress had rendered her borderline mute.
    Deep breath, Opal. Inhale. Hold. Exhale. You can do this. “G-G-Got a t-t-text from Liza. W-W-Was w-w-worried ’b-b-bout you, b-b-baby girl.”
    Desiree nodded encouragingly before turning her full attention to the road again.
    “It was Liza did a bad thing, Mommy, not me. Her boyfriend came over and his name is Ryan and he’s real mean.” Sera punctuated this hair-raising explanation with another long, drawn out yawn. “I don’t like him one bit and I told him he should go and Liza got mad at me and made me go to my room. So then my friend Dan made ’em both leave. He was awesome!”
    Rick wasn’t there. Thank you, God! She and Sera were still off his radar, still anonymous. Still safe and—
    Hang on. Liza had asked her
boyfriend
over? Opal ground her teeth so hard her jaw throbbed. Just wait ’til she got a hold of that girl. And just wait ’til she told Annie and Conrad what Liza had been up to! Conrad would have a fit. That girl was in big