Page 35 of Desperate Creed

“I found something,” Norwich called out. Her hands were muddy as she rubbed at the top of the carrier. “There’s a label with a name and address. They probably take this with them when they fly.”

“That solves the problem of who he belongs to,” Sykes said.

“Except he might be the only one who survived,” she countered.

And once again, Creed was reminded that he and Grace still hadn’t found the driver.

25

Nashville, Tennessee

“Girl, it’s about time you called!”

Frankie smiled at the sound of her friend’s good-natured scolding. Of course, it helped that she was feeling snug and safe in her fourth floor hotel room. Right now, Frankie didn’t even care if it might be a false sense of security. It just felt good to be inside and off the interstate where every second she’d felt exposed. She had kicked off her shoes and already ordered room service. Comfort food. All of her favorites.

Now she sat on the edge of the bed where she had a view of the only entrance to the hotel’s parking lot. The rain pounded against the window. Lightning streaked across the sky. She was thankful she made the decision to get off the road.

“I’m in Nashville,” she told Hannah. “I forgot how long of a drive it was from Chicago to the panhandle.”

“Even longer when you’re alone.”

“You got that right.”

“You feel safe where you are?” Hannah wanted to know.

Frankie hesitated then said, “Yes.” She gave her friend the details of her choice and the precautions she’d taken. “It’s the safest I’ve felt all day. Especially with the storms.”

“I’m afraid you’re going to be dodging storms all weekend. Now listen, before you drive all the way down here, my FBI friend wants to meet with you. Do you think you can get to Montgomery tomorrow about one o’clock?”

“Sure,” Frankie said as she grabbed her notes and looked over her route. “That’s four hours from Nashville. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I’m trying to cut a couple hours off for both of you. Maggie will be flying into Atlanta, so it’s a two-hour drive for her. It’d be twice that long for her to come all the way down here to the panhandle. You can meet with her for lunch, and then you’ll still have plenty of time to head on down. I’ll have a room waiting for you.”

“Hannah, are you sure? I’ve been thinking about this, and I don’t want to put you and your boys at risk.”

“After everything you and me have been through together? Girl, we’ll do just fine.”

But there was something in Hannah’s voice that Frankie recognized. Her friend wasn’t as confident as she sounded.

“Do you remember that meat-and-three this side of Montgomery? Southern Blessings?” Hannah asked.

“Of course. Your grandparents used to take us there. Miss Opal used to bring us extra biscuits. I can’t believe it’s still there.”

“Miss Opal passed away a few years back. The new owners haven’t changed a thing. And you need to bring some of those biscuits with you.”

Frankie knew what Hannah was doing, trying to pretend that all was good and normal. She didn’t stop her.

“I told Maggie that’s where you’d meet her,” Hannah told her. “At one o’clock. The place should be clearing out a bit, but on a Saturday, who knows. Her name’s Maggie O’Dell. I’m sure you’ll recognize her. She’ll be the only Yankee in the place.”

Hannah laughed, and this time it was genuine with the lovely melody Frankie was used to hearing. She smiled. She’d been gone almost as many years as she’d lived in the south, but being born there seemed to give a person lifelong credentials. And Hannah was right. Frankie would probably be able to pick the FBI agent out of the diner’s usual lunch crowd.

“I know you haven’t been able to check your email,” Hannah said, her voice already serious, again. “You said Tyler mentioned he was sending you something. Is that right?”

“Yes, he did. I yelled at him about it. I can’t believe I yelled at him.” She couldn’t think about that right now. “I haven’t seen anything from him. My watch sends me notifications of my emails. Maybe it got dropped in my spam file.”

“Do you mind giving me your email address and password? Maggie said it might be helpful if her computer analyst could take a look.”

“Okay.” Frankie gave Hannah the information. “So I guess if she agreed to meet with me, she doesn’t think I’m just being paranoid.”