"You think we're kids or something?" Bella says, insulted. "We got maps." She giggles. "And lots of money to spend."
"Yeah," adds Sophie, "we can take care of ourselves."
"Evvie can take your place," says Ida spitefully. Then she smiles a truly loving smile.
"Hey, girls," I say, "one more thing." I speak with great assurance now. "I know how to find out who the Peeping Tom back home is."
"Oh, yeah," says Ida. "How?"
"Remember all the poems crazy Greta Kronk wrote? And her apartment, where we found those drawings of our neighbors that matched the poems on her wall?"
"I remember," says Sophie. " 'Tessie is fat, that's that.' I loved that one."
"So?" Ida is waiting.
"She had one on the wall about someone who was a 'sneaky, peeky.' Anybody remember that?"
A shaking of heads.
"I do, but with my memory, I can't think of who she meant. Good thing we saved all those drawings."
We all hug. They say good-byes to the guys. And leave. Not even a last look back. They're out of here. And on their own.
Morrie announces tactfully that he'll wait for us downstairs. Then he grins at me.
Finally. "Alone at last," I whisper to Jack.
"Not an easy place to get to."
Another big kiss. When I come up for air, I say, "We better leave before they change their minds. Let's go to my cabin and I'll get my things."
As we head down the corridor to the elevator, Jack says, "I've never seen Antigua. Want to find a place here?"
"No way. Pick somewhere else. Anywhere in the world but here."
Jack is puzzled. "Why?"
"Because they'll find us. I promise you they will. As Evvie likes to say, 'You can run, but you can't hide.' "
As we get into the elevator, I say, "I have something important to tell you."
"I know," he says.
He holds me tightly. I feel the ice around my heart finally begin to melt.
Acknowledgments
Camille Minichino, Jonnie Jacobs, Margaret Lucke, my mystery-writer pals. Thanks for all our "kitchen klatch" sessions, so much fun and so helpful.
Caitlin Alexander for being the perfect editor. Always right on!
Josh Jason and Sharon Propson for guiding me through the perils of PR.
Dick Katz for great last-minute insights.
The Women Who Walk on Water in Wisconsin for being first readers. And to Margaret Sampson, who "gave her life" to Chapter One.
And yes, Judy and Rose again, the bingo
mavens.
And to the Bingo Dolls, who couldn't come aboard.
And again for all my friends and supporters. You know who you are.
About the Author
Fate (aka, marriage) took Rita Lakin from New York to Los Angeles, where she was seduced by palm trees and movie studios. Over the next twenty years she wrote for television and had every possible job from freelance writer to story editor to staff writer and, finally, producer. She worked on shows such as
Dr. Kildare, Peyton Place, Mod Squad,
and
Dynasty,
and created her own shows, including
The
Rookies, Flamingo Road,
and
Nightingales
. She wrote many movies-of-the-week and miniseries, such as
Death Takes a Holiday, Women in Chains,
Strong Medicine,
and V
oices of the Heart
. She has also written the theatrical play
No Language but
a Cry
and is the co-author of
Saturday Night at
Grossinger's,
both of which are still being produced across the country. Rita has won awards from the Writers Guild of America, as well as the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Allan Poe Award and the coveted Avery Hopwood Award from the University of Michigan. She lives in Marin County, California, where she is currently at work on her next mystery starring the indomitable Gladdy Gold. Visit her on the Web at
www.ritalakin.com
or e-mail her at
[email protected]
.
If you enjoyed
GETTING OLD IS THE
BEST REVENGE,
you won't want to miss
Gladdy Gold's return in
Getting Old Is
Criminal
by
Rita Lakin
Available from Dell Books
in Spring 2007
Pick up your copy at your
favorite bookseller.
