encrypted phones. She dialed a number from memory and waited. Isabelle watched her and knew in her gut that whatever Annie was up to, she was going to pull it off. She walked off, sensing that Annie didn’t want her eavesdropping on her secret private conversation.
“So, do you know who this is?” Annie said to the person who answered the phone.
“Ah, Miss No Name. Just for the record, I’m wearing my magic decoder ring. That means our conversation is safe. Are you calling to wish me a happy Thanksgiving?”
“Among other things. Are you keeping your eyes on my half of our business, partner?”
“Twenty-four-seven. Did you have your dinner yet?”
“I did, and it was wonderful. I need a favor and I need it now.”
The voice on the other end of the line grumbled. “What is it with you women? You always want everything now. Since I’m three hours behind you, that means I have not had my dinner yet, and my ‘now’ is not the same as your ‘now’ with the time difference.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Annie snapped. “You’ll be eating turkey for a week anyway. I want you to find someone for me right away. You did say you were…well, what you said was you…”
“The term you’re looking for is…‘connected.’ Which I am. All right, all right. What am I going to get out of this deal? If I decide your request is worthy of my expertise.”
Annie swallowed hard. What would the girls say? What would Myra say? “Well, Mr. Fish, partner, you get me.”
Oh, God, did she really say that? Obviously she did, because Fish was sputtering on the other end of the phone. Annie listened.
“Oh, get over yourself, Mr. Fish. Admit it, you don’t have a clue as to what to do with me. Not to worry. I’ll show you.”
Oh, God, did she say that, too? She blinked when she heard laughter on the other end. Annie listened again.
“What do you mean when? It’s not like I’m free to come and go as I please. When you least expect it, I’ll be there.” Annie groaned inwardly. She rather thought there was a song with lyrics like that. She felt her face flame. “So, give me your fax number, and I’m going to send you a picture of the man I want you to find. Think in terms of rewards for a job well done. The kind you never dreamed of, that’s what kind.” Annie squeezed her eyes shut, knowing she was going to have to powwow with the girls to come up with rewards. Her whole body felt so hot, she wanted to run out naked in the snow. Fish was still sputtering on the other end of the line.
Annie slid the drawing into the fax machine and punched in the number Fish had managed to give her during his sputtering.
“How long is this going to take?” Annie asked. “Did I also mention that I…we need the man’s cell phone number and we want a guarantee that he will answer it when we call? You can do that, can’t you, Fish?”
More garbled words.
“What? What? Are you saying you lied to me? You said you worked for some secret branch of the government no one has ever heard of. You said you were a terrorist and a mercenary. I believed you. Otherwise I wouldn’t have called you. Oh, I cannot believe I tumbled to your silver tongue. You can just forget those rewards.”
She listened, her eyebrows shooting upward.
“Well, that’s more like it. The rewards are back on the table. Of course I’ll wait for your call. Where do you think I’m going to go? No, I’m not sending you a list of the rewards. Well, maybe I could send the first three.” Annie made kissing sounds into the phone before she broke the connection.
“Isabelleeeeeee!” Annie screeched at the top of her lungs.
“Oh, no, your source said he couldn’t help. It’s all right, Annie. You tried, and I appreciate it. I guess it just isn’t meant to be.”
“Shut up, Isabelle. It’s in the bag. In a few hours you will be talking to Mr. Franklin. It’s what I promised to get the information for you.”
“Oh, Annie, what did you promise? Are you saying you can’t deliver on your promise?”
Annie told her. Isabelle blinked. Then she blinked again before she doubled over laughing. When she finally stopped laughing, she managed to gasp. “I think we can come up with a suitable list of rewards. We might even be able to come up with instructions. You do realize what the problem is, right?”
“Oh, God, what could be worse?” Annie groaned.
Isabelle started to giggle and couldn’t stop. “Following through,” she finally managed to gasp.
Annie sat down with a thump. “What should I wear?”
“You aren’t getting it, Annie. Zip.”
“But…”
“A promise is a promise, Annie.”
Annie rose to the occasion. “My dear, if you can make contact with Mr. Franklin, I can certainly honor my promise.” YIPPEEEEE!
Four hours later eastern standard time, Annie’s cell phone rang. She bolted upright from where she’d been dozing on the sofa. She gave Isabelle a shout to wake up where she, too, was dozing by the fire. “My phone is ringing. I think this call might be for you, honey.”
Isabelle reached for the phone and said, “Hello, this is Isabelle.”
“Well, Isabelle, this is Stu Franklin. There’s this guy standing here with a gun to my head, and he’s telling me to talk pretty to you. Not that anyone needs to tell me something like that. I’d appreciate it if you’d tell him he can leave me now so we can have a private conversation. I’m going to put him on the phone right now, before he blows my head off.”
Isabelle managed to squeak out, “Thank you for your help, sir. I appreciate your doing this for me on Thanksgiving. I hope I didn’t take you away from your dinner.”
The voice on the other end of the phone mumbled something that sounded like he was glad he didn’t have to kill anyone on Thanksgiving. Isabelle was so light-headed, she had to sit down.
Stu Franklin’s voice was soft, cultured, intimate sounding. “Somehow or other, Isabelle, I thought you would have gotten in touch with me in a more conventional way. But, I admire your aggressiveness. I’m glad you called. Are you having a nice Thanksgiving?”
“I did…I am…I was until…oh, never mind. I didn’t spoil yours, did I?”
“No. I just had a hot dog with all the trimmings on the beach. Did you have the whole enchilada, meaning a turkey with all the trimmings?”
“I did. I love hot dogs with all the trimmings, too.”
“I saw that picture you did of me. Pretty good. Are you an artist?”
“No, I’m an architect. I feel…I feel kind of foolish and pushy right now. Maybe someday I can explain what made me…what I mean is…”
“Just for the record, I would have gotten
