day before-I mean the diamond on her hand didn’t look like nothing he could afford, but she never denied it, never said a word. And then he got kinda nasty-talkin’, sayin’ she lost her voice from screamin’ on their weddin’ night. I couldn’t believe he said that.”
Micah inhaled and his muscle mass seemed to double in size.
“Anyway,” she continued, apparently enjoying the fact that she had something to tell, “she hauled off and slugged him in the arm, hard, too. It was no love tap, honey.”
Micah smiled slightly, losing a little of the anger.
“But when he started to pay, she spoke up and said she had it, and then pulled out brand-new hundred dollar bills.”
“Was that all?” Gwen pressed.
“Did they mention anything about where they were headed after here?” Micah added.
“No, I don’t recall, but he did say they flew in from California, if that helps.”
“Thank you for-” Gwen started to say.
“So did he like kidnap her? I knew that boy wasn’t right in the head.”
“We’ll be in touch if we need anything else,” Gwen dodged.
The flight back to Louisiana was quiet for the first hour.
“Micah, I’m sorry, but I think you need to seriously consider what Mom told you last night.”
“I’m not divorcing her, Gwen.”
“It’s not a divorce, it’s an annulment.”
“I don’t care what it’s called, I-”
“You worked too hard to risk your fortune on-”
“She has more money than me,” he said raising an eyebrow at his sister.
“Maybe she does and maybe she could care less about your millions, but you also thought she was going to be a faithful-”
“Shut up, Gwen. It isn’t right. I still don’t believe she left me for Ryan. He may have been helping her, but he
“Micah, wake up! Didn’t you notice something a little odd in that house? If she wasn’t after Ryan then-”
“Don’t say it. Of course I noticed the-the bed.”
“They left in a hurry and they didn’t take time to make the bed-there was only one bed that was-”
“Stop it! I’m not an idiot, Gwen.”
“You’ve been denying what happened since she left. It’s time to see the truth. She left with Ryan
Micah cut his eyes at her. They didn’t speak to each other again.
As the plane approached the runway in New Orleans, Micah pulled out his cell phone and hit the speed dial, “Hey Bill, I need some legal work. It’s not too late for an annulment, is it? No, I’m afraid it didn’t work out, she-she ran away with another guy a couple days later. Yeah, but not as shocked as me. I’ll stop by your office tomorrow.”
They walked off the plane as Micah thanked his sister for helping him. His cell phone went off again and a strange look came across his face as he looked at the caller’s identity.
“Who is it?” Gwen asked, worried it might be the person she just convinced him to get an annulment from.
But it only took one name to realize she would have preferred that it was Leese.
“D’Angelo,” he said, answering the phone and walking away.
Chapter Eleven
After we fueled in Murfreesboro, it was a three hour run for Colorado Springs.
“That’s about our maximum range,” Ryan commented as we left the Tennessee runway. “We’ll be pretty close to empty by the time we get there.”
“So you say you know some people out there, but you never said how.”
“I lived there when I was younger. My dad was an instructor at the Academy for about three years before he went back to flying combat missions.”
“Wow, that’s pretty impressive. You’re mom doesn’t look that old, was your dad-”
“A little-ten years; he would have turned fifty one next month, he was forty seven when he was killed.”
I watched his brow furrow and I knew it was time to change the subject, “So you were living with your sister in Pensacola? I never met her, how old is she?”
“Dianna is twenty-two. Her husband, Clyde-”
“Clyde?” I was trying not to giggle, but it sounded funny.
“Yeah, I know and what’s even funnier is that’s his nickname. Did you ever see the movie ‘Every Which Way But Loose’ with Clint Eastwood?”
My smile got a little broader, “No, I’m afraid I never watched any of his movies.”
“You’re kidding, right? You’ve never seen a Clint Eastwood film?” He was genuinely surprised.
“I’m not a big movie buff, but go on and tell me what the connection is between them.” I was getting the feeling from the expression on Ryan’s face that it was going to be funny, however it ended.
“Eastwood’s character in the movie is a boxer named Philo Beddow who travels with an orangutan named Clyde.”
“He’s named after a monkey?” The laughter was beginning to roll up from somewhere in the middle of my stomach.
Ryan was trying to keep a straight face, but he was already chuckling, “Orangutans are apes, not monkeys. And no, his mom named him Philo after the boxer, but he had such shock red hair that everyone said he looked more like Clyde the ape and that’s how he got the nickname.”
“That’s awful! You’re kidding about this, right?”
“Swear to God, it’s the honest truth-his hair is redder than mine.”
“He’s at least a handsome redhead right; he doesn’t look like an ape in the face?”
“Hey, that’s a girl’s department to judge. I don’t rate guys, but it’s just the color of his hair that earned him the nickname. My sister likes his looks. Man, when we land I’ve got to get some Clint Eastwood movies for you to watch.”
“Finish telling me about Dianna and Clyde; you got side-tracked.”
“Oh, yeah. Anyway, Clyde is thirty and he’s a master sergeant with the 46th Test Wing at Eglin. They live off the base and Mom thought I needed another male influence in my life so she decided I should stay with them for a little while. Well, that and the fact I could be in the Air Force ROTC at Pensacola High.”
“I thought you said your mom is against the idea of you enlisting?”
“She is, but she said she can’t live my life for me, I’ve got to make my own choices, so she let me go.”
“She sounds like a good mom. Where does Palm Beach fit into all of this?”
“She is. Mom is originally from there. Her family is old money and no matter where we moved with Dad when he shipped around the states, Palm Beach was always home base. We moved back there when they sent him overseas.”
“So you still have friends out here?” I asked as we neared our destination.
“Yeah, I have a couple buddies that are already enlisted and a few that are finishing up high school-like
“I don’t know how we’re going to do that, at least not for a little while until we make sure we don’t have to move again.”
“We’re going to be okay here, Leese. He only found us because of what happened at the airport.”
“You don’t know his family,” I said, trying not to let the pain hit me. “His mother is an expert when it comes to tracing people and finding out every detail about their lives. I wouldn’t be surprised if Micah knows every place you’ve ever lived.”
