Cross Roads

by Fern Michaels

“Well, so much for that!” someone groaned.

  “You still have one more chip!” Annie shouted.

  The mousy lady flexed her fingers, sucked in her breath, and pressed the red button.

  Pandemonium broke loose as Annie backed off and headed away from the fast-approaching crowd descending on the famous slot machine.

  Annie’s private cell phone rang. She clicked it open and drawled, “Yes?”

  “I heard what you just did, Countess de Silva!”

  “I bet you did. What are you going to do about it, Fish? Not that I give a tinker’s damn what you think.”

  “Nothing. I just wanted you to know I know. And to tell you I won’t be home until next week.”

  “I’m fed up with this place. But I have to tell you, that was the best and worst ten minutes of my time since I’ve been here. I’m going to Washington tomorrow.”

  “You gonna screw up the paper now?”

  “I am. I’m going to write op-ed pieces, cover the crap no one else wants, then I’ll move on to exposés and win a Pulitzer, and by the time they kick me out, it will be time to come back here and start all over again. I-am-bored, Fish!”

  Fish laughed. “You could start planning our wedding.”

  Annie started to sputter, but Fish clicked off in midsputter.

  Maggie Spritzer sat behind her desk and thought about going home, but she really didn’t want to do that. The house in Georgetown was empty, with only Ted’s cats, Mickey and Minnie, in residence. She’d moved them into her house while Ted was away working for Global Securities. God, how she missed him.

  She looked down at the ring on her left hand, then at the new acrylic nails she’d had put on once she kicked the very bad habit of chewing her nails. She hated the nails because they interfered with the keyboard when she was typing. She even had a French manicure that she had to keep up with, which also irritated her. The only alternative was to stop wearing the ring, remove the acrylic nails, and go back to the hateful habit of chewing her nails.

  Maggie’s door opened, and her secretary stuck her head in. “If you don’t need me for anything, Maggie, I’d like to leave a little early.”

  Maggie roused herself enough to reply. “No, go ahead—things are quiet, it’s summer, no news, politicians are going on recess, and we’re good. Sometimes I like it when nothing is going on in this damn crazy city. I’m thinking of leaving myself. See you in the morning.” She waved listlessly before the secretary closed the door.

  Maggie looked down again at the sparkling ring on her finger and her beautifully polished nails. They weren’t the only thing that was new in her life these days. She was no longer obsessed with food; her metabolism had somehow magically fallen back into the normal range. She wasn’t sure how she felt about that, because there were days when she barely ate at all. “Crap!” she said succinctly.

  Maggie heaved herself to her feet, looked around for her lightweight suit jacket, kicked off her heels, and slipped her feet into Velcro-strapped sneakers that she didn’t bother to fasten. Maybe when she got home she’d putter in the weed-filled garden or go for a run. She knew in her gut she probably wouldn’t do either of those things. She’d pour herself a glass of wine and park her butt in front of the television set and watch one of the twenty-four-hour news channels until she dozed off for a few hours. Result, she’d be sleepless the rest of the night. “Crap!” she said again.

  Maggie turned off the lights and closed the door just as she heard the ping of the elevator. She looked up in time to see Annie de Silva step out and look around. She dropped her bag and ran squealing to greet Annie. “Oh, my God! It really is you, Annie! I can’t tell you how happy I am to see you! Oh, Annie, I missed you so,” she said, crushing the older woman to her chest in an agonizing bear hug. She held her so tight, Annie had to gasp to draw in any oxygen.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever had a greeting like that in my whole life. I’m happy to see you, too,” Annie said, struggling to find the breath to get the words out.

  Maggie released her grip and stood back, alarm bells sounding in her brain. “What’s wrong? Did something happen? Why are you here? Tell me everything. Do you want to go in the office or go somewhere and get something to eat? A drink? Everyone is okay, aren’t they? Oh, God, Annie, I missed you so much. I miss everyone. Nothing is the same anymore. I…I just hate the way it is now.”

  Her breathing back to normal, Annie wrapped her arm around the younger woman’s shoulder, and said, “Tell me about it. Everything is fine, no problems. Let’s walk over to the Squires’ Pub and tie one on. By the way, I decided to try my hand at running the paper. That’s one of the reasons I’m here.”

  “Do you know anything about running a newspaper, Annie?”

  “No, but I can learn. I didn’t know anything about running a casino, either, but I learned as I went along. The best thing you can say about that is, they can’t fire the owner. I’ll stay here just long enough to screw things up, then I’ll find something else to do. I promise not to get in your way.”

  They were outside by then, the heat like a furnace after the air-conditioning inside the building.

  “I forgot how hot it is here. It’s hot in Vegas, but it’s a dry heat. You can keep this humidity,” Annie grumbled. “I like your nails.”

  Maggie wiggled her fingers. “I hate the maintenance. You have to go every two weeks to get them filled in. They show off the ring.” A second later, Maggie burst into tears.

  “That bad, huh?”

  “Yeah, it’s that bad. I can’t get a handle on anything anymore. Every day is like the day before, and nothing is going on. I feel as if I’m just marking time. Before…well, before I just thrived. Life was a constant challenge. I never knew from one minute to the next what was going to happen. Now I can tell you what’s going to happen seventy-two hours in advance. Nothing.” She sniffled. “Absolutely nothing.”

  “I know exactly how you feel. Yesterday I gave away one point eight million dollars to some seniors from a group home. I let them win it. That’s why I’m here—figured it was time to get the hell out of Dodge. Fish was on the horn the minute the slot paid off. I really don’t like him much anymore.”

  “You didn’t! Wow! Do you have someone else on the string?”

  “I did. I’m not sorry, either. No, on someone else on the string. That’s what I meant about screwing up. It should give you some idea of what I can do to the paper.”

  “I’ll keep my eye on you,” Maggie said, dabbing at her eyes. “Okay, we’re here. Are we drinking or eating? We can drink all night, and my driver will pick us up and carry us to the car and take us home. It’s like win-win. I have never been really, really drunk. Have you, Annie?” Maggie asked fretfully.

  “A time or two,” Annie drawled. “Let’s play it by ear, dear.”

  They gave their order to a snappy little waitress dressed in shorts and a bolero top.

  “The food isn’t even here and I can hear my arteries snapping shut,” Annie said peevishly, referring to the everything-loaded hot dogs, french fries, and onion rings. And the margaritas.

  “We’ll eat pomegranates tomorrow, and the seeds from them will flush out our arteries,” Maggie said.

  “Is that true?” Annie asked.

  “I read it in the Post. We printed it in our health section, so it has to be true.” Maggie laughed.

  Four margaritas later, Maggie started to cry. “I miss Ted and Espinosa, Annie. I miss the girls. Myra doesn’t leave the farm; she said all her old friends thumb their noses at her. That made me so mad, I did a piece on climbing socialites and friendships that brought in so much mail I had to hire people to read it. Then I did another piece on all the boards and foundations Myra used to sit on, all the monies she pledged, and how, after she was treated like a pariah by these same climbing socialites, she withdrew all the pledges. The amount of money was staggering, and it brought another avalanche of mail. It was all I could do, Annie.”

  “I know, dear. If I’m not
too hungover, I’m going out to the farm tomorrow to surprise Myra and Charles,” Annie said, holding up her glass for a refill.

  “Life is not fun anymore,” Maggie boo-hooed. “I don’t mean life should be fun, but fun has its place. I am bored out of my mind.”

  Her eyes crossing, Annie had a hard time bringing her glass to her lips. She leaned forward and whispered, “It was the danger, dear. We all thrived on the danger, and we liked pitting our wits against all those crazy alphabet-soup groups that run this damn town. I heard the FBI has had so many screwups since Bert left that they had to ask Elias to come in and help them out. He, of course, pleaded ill health and told them they were on their own. I had a good laugh over that when I heard about it. Supposedly, they are revamping the entire Bureau.”

  “Do you care, Annie?”

  “No-I-do-not!” Annie said emphatically.

  “I think we should go home, Annie. I have to feed the cats. Good thing my driver is number three on my speed dial because I can’t see the numbers to dial.”

  “Well, don’t look at me, dear. Just do your best. This has been a very interesting evening, don’t you think?”

  “I hope we remember it tomorrow, Annie.”

  “You have a point, dear.”

  Chapter 2

  Myra blinked, then blinked again when she saw the fur on the back of Little Lady’s neck stand on end. She shivered at the low growl deep in the golden’s throat. Someone was approaching the house! She ran to the security monitor in the kitchen, Little Lady on her heels. A car was approaching the electronic gates, an arm outstretched to press in the security code. Friend? Foe? So few people had the code, it almost had to mean a friend. “Shhh, let’s wait and see who it is. I’m sure Charles can see the monitor in the war room.” Little Lady made a sound deep in her throat again, but she remained still at Myra’s side.

  Myra marveled that, in less than twenty-four hours, Little Lady had appointed herself Myra’s protector. She smiled. It was the mother in the golden, ready to protect and do battle. She leaned down and hugged the beautiful dog.

  Myra heard the high-pitched whine of a powerful foreign car as it raced through the gates and skidded to a stop. The door swung open to reveal a pair of legs whose feet were encased in rhinestone cowgirl boots. Annie did love those boots. Myra burst out laughing as she thrust open the door and raced out to the compound to greet her lifelong friend, Little Lady right behind her. “My God, Annie, what took you so long?” she said, crushing her friend to her so tightly that Annie gasped for air.

  “That bad, eh?” Annie finally managed to say.

  “Worse,” Myra said, refusing to let Annie out of her embrace. She finally let go when Little Lady barked, a signal she wanted to be introduced. Myra obliged. “This is Little Lady. She is the new mother of four adorable pups, who are sleeping at the moment. It’s a long story, Annie. I am so glad to see you. There are no words to tell you how glad. A telephone call once a month isn’t what we agreed to, Annie. I know you couldn’t wait to get out into the world, so you could set it on fire, but I thought…I wanted…expected…Oh, hell, Annie, I just plain old missed you. Come on, let’s go inside and get out of this heat.”

  Little Lady stepped back and barked, then stepped forward and held out a paw, which Annie dutifully shook. She ruffled the fur on the back of the big dog’s neck. “She’s gorgeous, Myra. I can’t wait to see the puppies.”

  Linking her arm with Annie’s, Myra led the way to the kitchen door. The new mother barreled through the door and headed straight to the pen Charles had fashioned in the living room for the newborns. “Come along, Annie. Little Lady is just like all new mothers. She wants to show off her off-spring. Two boys and two girls. I’m relying on what Charles said, and you know how he knows everything. So, two boys and two girls. Be effusive, Annie.”

  Annie dropped to her knees and peered at the four little balls of fur all nestled together. Her eyes misted with tears as she looked at the big dog and said in a choked voice, “They’re too beautiful for words, Little Lady. You take good care of them, you hear?” She held out her arm for Myra to pull her to her feet.

  Both women watched as Little Lady stepped into the pen and lay down. “Her world is right side up, so we can go into the kitchen now. Do you want coffee, tea, a soft drink?”

  “Hell, no, Myra. I want a drink.”

  “Name your pleasure, my friend. By the way, that’s a pretty fancy set of wheels you arrived in.”

  “Bourbon on the rocks, and I’m test-driving the car. I don’t know yet if I want to buy it or not. It’s built for speed, and I’m all about speed these days.”

  “You don’t say,” Myra drawled as she poured bourbon into two squat glasses and added ice cubes. “Is this a social drink, or are we going to get schnockered?

  “Let’s just take it one drink at a time, Myra. Talk to me, tell me things,” Annie said, clinking her glass against Myra’s. She took a great gulp of the fiery liquid, her eyes watering.

  “Annie! See that dog in there? That’s my life. I am in such a funk I can’t function. Charles rags on me constantly. I have never been at such loose ends. I can’t sleep. I argue with Charles over nothing. My friends…well, the less we say about them the better. Your turn. Tell me about the trail you blazed when you left the mountain. I want to hear everything. Don’t leave a thing out.”

  “Everything?” Annie said as she finished off her drink.

  Myra poured again. “Everything.”

  Annie sucked in her breath and let it out with a loud swoosh of sound. “Well, when Fish picked me up at the airport in Raleigh, and we don’t need to discuss the fact that I was headed back to the mountain in Spain, we went to Vegas to get ready for a surprise trip. That didn’t happen for a week because Jellicoe needed him for something or other, so I hung out in the penthouse till he got back. I have a hate on for that man—Jellicoe, that is. The surprise was a trip to Tahiti. It was wonderful.

  “In my quest to set the world on fire, I had this vision of myself as a smoking-hot babe, so I took it to the casino floor, picked up one of the employees, and went on a three-day sex binge. You know, to get myself ready for Fish’s return.”

  Myra gaped at her friend and somehow managed to say, “Continue.”

  Annie sampled her second drink. “I think it’s safe to say I got out of Vegas by the skin of my teeth. I did manage to create a bit of havoc during the year and a half I was there. No one but me seemed to think my ideas were any good,” she sniffed. “That didn’t stop me, made me more determined to leave my mark.” Defensiveness rang in Annie’s voice when she said, “I own half the joint, Myra. By the way, before I forget or get too drunk to mention it, I read in the paper on the plane that there’s a bike rally going on in Florida next week for the benefit of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. I thought you and I could go, make a nice donation, and get out of this rut we’re in. What do you say? Do you want to go with me?”

  “Absolutely I want to go. What…what ideas did you have, Annie?”

  “I wanted to tone down the outfits the cocktail waitresses wore. They fought me. Skin sells, did you know that, Myra? Their outfits coincide with their tips. To prove my point, I duded up and went out on the floor. I made sixteen dollars for a six-hour shift. The girls average four to five hundred per shift. I had to back down.”

  “It’s okay to retreat now and then, Annie. You were new to the game. How could you possibly know how a place works and the rules they have right off the bat?”

  “That’s very kind of you to say, Myra. I fired a lot of people.”

  “I’m sure they deserved to be terminated,” Myra said soothingly.

  “The staff lived in fear of me, Myra. I mean that. The minute they saw me they cringed. It was like, ‘Oh, shit, here she comes.’ I did not like that one little bit. I initiated work-related fireside chats that the staff slept through. Everyone more or less loves Fish, but he hasn’t been there too much with all the work the boys have been piling on him. He
thrives in a crisis, and there’s always a crisis somewhere. I was left to my own devices, so I started trouble. What would you have done, Myra?” Annie asked, peering across the table at her friend.

  “I would have done the same thing,” Myra said spiritedly. “Is there more?”

  Annie looked down into her empty glass, then at Myra’s glass. Taking the hint, Myra upended hers. “A little.”

  “Well, spit it out, Annie.”

  “They said I was too generous with the seniors who come to the casino by the busload. Too many freebies. I thought there weren’t enough. We locked horns. I fired the lot of the dissenters.”

  “Good for you! Seniors need all the help they can get, and they also deserve to have fun. I would have fired them, too.”

  “Well, we did have a slight employment problem after that. It was…eventually solved.”

  “How?”

  “I just went to the other casinos and pirated their people by offering to pay them double. It wasn’t one of my smartest moves. I will admit to that.”

  “Lesson learned,” Myra said, pouring from the bottle. “Do you have more to share?”

  “Well, there was this…incident. I was told, mind you, the key word here is told. I have absolutely no recollection of the…incident, but they said I showed my tattoo on the casino floor. At twelve thirty-six on New Year’s Eve. New Year’s Day, to be precise.

  “Oh, Annie! Do you think you did that?”

  “Hell, yes, Myra. I was nuts back then. I decided to mend my ways, so I went out to the desert to see Rena Gold and visit the Institute. I wanted to be a volunteer. You remember the place down the road from Fish’s place? The one we hid out in that had all the rattlesnakes. Well, I lasted a week. They said I was too aggressive. So, with my tail between my legs, I went back to the casino. Where just the day before yesterday I had the guys rig a slot so this group of seniors could win a big jackpot. Fish was on the phone minutes after the group hit it. I knew all hell was going to break loose, so I split, and here I am. Myra, I have never been so miserable in my life.”