The Witness by Sandra Brown Read Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Sandra Brown
weather had turned out to be her ally. She wouldn't pick a quarrel with it now.
From the window she could see the car where she had left it across the street, halfway down the block in the parking lot of a twenty-four-hour laundromat.
"Tires have another few thousand miles on them," the seller had told her, kicking the front left tire with the toe of his work boot. "Ain't much to look at, but she runs good."
She didn't have time to be choosy. Besides, this was the only car for sale by a private party she had found in the Stephensville classified ads.
"I'll give you a thousand dollars."
"The asking price is twelve hunnerd."
"One thousand." Kendall had removed ten hundred-dollar bills from her pocket and extended them to him.
He spat a stringy wad of tobacco juice into the mud, scratched his whiskers thoughtfully as he gazed at the money, then reached a decision. "Wait ri'chere. I won't be a sec. The title's inside the house."
She drove the nurse's car back to the hospital and had him follow her as far as the laundromat. "I'm going to park it here for the time being," she told him as he turned over two sets of keys to her. "My husband and I will pick it up later. I'll take you back home now. Sorry for the inconvenience."
Whatever inconvenience she had caused him was alleviated by the thousand dollars lining his pocket. Naturally he was curious to know her name, where she lived, what her husband did for a living. He had asked dozens of questions. Politely and fastidiously, Kendall had lied.
"You're a natural-born liar," Ricki Sue had once told her.
"That's why you're such a good lawyer."
Wistfully, Kendall smiled at the recollection. They had been making Toll House cookies in Grandmother's kitchen.
Kendall envisioned their faces and voices so clearly that they could almost have been in the hospital room with her now.
Ricki Sue had intended the comment to be a chastisement, but Kendall had taken it as a compliment.
"Careful, Ricki Sue. Words to that effect only encourage her," Grandmother had said. "And Lord knows she doesn't need any encouragement to tell a fib."
"I don't fib!" Kendall had protested.
. l i "that's the biggest fib of all. " Her grandmother had admonished her by shaking a dough-covered wooden spoon at her.
"When you were growing up, how many times was I called the schoolhouse to answer to some wild tale you'd been telling your classmates? She was always making up stories,"
had explained to Ricki Sue in an aside.
i "I sometimes reinvented the truth to make it more interesting," Kendall had said, sniffing loftily. "But I wouldn't call fibbing."
"Neither would I," Ricki Sue had said matter-of-factly as she tossed a handful of c hocolate morsels into her mouth. "It's called lying."
Thinking of the two women she so desperately missed caused Kendall's throat to ache with emotion. If she dwelled on memories now, the heartache would be immobilizing. And she bust act before any more time was lost. Before the man who Seemed to read her as easily as a primer recovered his memory.
She looked at her watch 1:00 A.M. Time to go d Tiptoeing to the door, she opened it and cautiously looked down the hallway. There were two nurses on duty. One's attention was devoted to a novel; the other was talking on the telephone.
Earlier, Kendall had slipped out unnoticed and stashed their ' Meager belongings in the car, so that now she had only the baby to carry out.
Returning to the crib, she slid her hands beneath his tummy and gently turned him over. He made an ugly face but didn't even wake up, even when she lifted him out of the crib and cradled him against her chest.
"You're such a good boy," she whispered. "You know mommy loves you, don't you? And that I would do anything to protect you."
She crept from the room. After being in the dark for hours the corridor seemed unnaturally bright. She spent several precious seconds letting her
From the window she could see the car where she had left it across the street, halfway down the block in the parking lot of a twenty-four-hour laundromat.
"Tires have another few thousand miles on them," the seller had told her, kicking the front left tire with the toe of his work boot. "Ain't much to look at, but she runs good."
She didn't have time to be choosy. Besides, this was the only car for sale by a private party she had found in the Stephensville classified ads.
"I'll give you a thousand dollars."
"The asking price is twelve hunnerd."
"One thousand." Kendall had removed ten hundred-dollar bills from her pocket and extended them to him.
He spat a stringy wad of tobacco juice into the mud, scratched his whiskers thoughtfully as he gazed at the money, then reached a decision. "Wait ri'chere. I won't be a sec. The title's inside the house."
She drove the nurse's car back to the hospital and had him follow her as far as the laundromat. "I'm going to park it here for the time being," she told him as he turned over two sets of keys to her. "My husband and I will pick it up later. I'll take you back home now. Sorry for the inconvenience."
Whatever inconvenience she had caused him was alleviated by the thousand dollars lining his pocket. Naturally he was curious to know her name, where she lived, what her husband did for a living. He had asked dozens of questions. Politely and fastidiously, Kendall had lied.
"You're a natural-born liar," Ricki Sue had once told her.
"That's why you're such a good lawyer."
Wistfully, Kendall smiled at the recollection. They had been making Toll House cookies in Grandmother's kitchen.
Kendall envisioned their faces and voices so clearly that they could almost have been in the hospital room with her now.
Ricki Sue had intended the comment to be a chastisement, but Kendall had taken it as a compliment.
"Careful, Ricki Sue. Words to that effect only encourage her," Grandmother had said. "And Lord knows she doesn't need any encouragement to tell a fib."
"I don't fib!" Kendall had protested.
. l i "that's the biggest fib of all. " Her grandmother had admonished her by shaking a dough-covered wooden spoon at her.
"When you were growing up, how many times was I called the schoolhouse to answer to some wild tale you'd been telling your classmates? She was always making up stories,"
had explained to Ricki Sue in an aside.
i "I sometimes reinvented the truth to make it more interesting," Kendall had said, sniffing loftily. "But I wouldn't call fibbing."
"Neither would I," Ricki Sue had said matter-of-factly as she tossed a handful of c hocolate morsels into her mouth. "It's called lying."
Thinking of the two women she so desperately missed caused Kendall's throat to ache with emotion. If she dwelled on memories now, the heartache would be immobilizing. And she bust act before any more time was lost. Before the man who Seemed to read her as easily as a primer recovered his memory.
She looked at her watch 1:00 A.M. Time to go d Tiptoeing to the door, she opened it and cautiously looked down the hallway. There were two nurses on duty. One's attention was devoted to a novel; the other was talking on the telephone.
Earlier, Kendall had slipped out unnoticed and stashed their ' Meager belongings in the car, so that now she had only the baby to carry out.
Returning to the crib, she slid her hands beneath his tummy and gently turned him over. He made an ugly face but didn't even wake up, even when she lifted him out of the crib and cradled him against her chest.
"You're such a good boy," she whispered. "You know mommy loves you, don't you? And that I would do anything to protect you."
She crept from the room. After being in the dark for hours the corridor seemed unnaturally bright. She spent several precious seconds letting her
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