Laura and I made a terrific team. We’d demonstrated that countless times since we were kids. Whether sharing an apartment, traveling by train together, or solving murders, we went together like bread and jam.
Laura sat a couple of feet away, but I’d pushed her much farther. I slid closer to her and held her hand. “It doesn’t excuse my boorish behavior, but I’m sorry, very, very, very sorry.”
She snatched her hand back, but slowly her anger faded. Her face relaxed. “I would have expected a writer to craft a more compelling apology, but since you’re very, very, very sorry…”
I didn’t care if we were in the parking lot of a big-city airport or a car owned by a notorious gangster. We shared a passionate kiss. Then I gazed into her dark, adoring eyes. “When your picture’s over, let’s take that cruise to Hawaii for our honeymoon.”
“Oh, darling that would be wonderful!” Laura kissed me and spoke in her low, seductive voice. “I’ll wear that red dress.”
“The scandalous one?” I held Laura’s hand and drove out of the lot. We passed the entrance to the terminal as Amelia Earhart emerged and slipped on dark sunglasses. Laura waved, but Amelia didn’t appear to notice us as we drove past.
I glanced in the rearview mirror and pulled to the curb. The famous Amelia Earhart greeted a well-dressed man of Japanese descent. He handed her a small black bag, the kind doctors carried on house calls.
Laura turned the mirror away from me. “You’re doing it again, darling, and don’t even realize it.”
I peered over my shoulder. Amelia and the man bowed and went their separate ways. Who was this guy? What was in the bag? “Doing what?”
“Jake Donovan”—Laura kissed my cheek—“you’re being a detective again.”
PHOTO: KIMBERLY DENHAM
MICHAEL MURPHY is a full-time writer and part-time urban chicken rancher. He lives in Arizona with his wife of more than forty years, and the five children they adopted this past year. He’s active in several local writers’ groups and conducts novel-writing workshops at bookstores and libraries.
https://plus.google.com/+MichaelMurphynovelist
Facebook.com/mmurfy86
@mmurfy68
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All That Glitters Page 27
