“Sure of yourself, are you?”
Frankie held a thumb up. “Always.”
“We'll see,” Johanna said, peering out of the window as they whizzed by the center of Charlestown. “It looks like he's heading out of town.” The words were barely out of her mouth when Thatcher's car abruptly slowed. The second car stayed on his tail and braked when he did.
“I don't think so.” Frankie stayed a few car lengths back and when the two cars made a right, she waited before making the turn. “I wonder what he's doing here. Not exactly where you'd expect a wealthy man to shop.”
Johanna glanced around the small shopping plaza. “Maybe he's scouting a location for another hotel. It's a beautiful location.”
“Here? I think this part of town would be one of the last places he'd open a Bronson Hotel. There are only a few strip malls around here. Besides, Charlestown doesn't have the clientele to support two Bronson Hotels. We don't have much tourist traffic unless there's a big event and we get an overflow from Philly. But how often does that happen? I doubt the original hotel is even doing half as well as the Bronson Hotels in Philly, New York City, Los Angeles, or any of the major cities across the country. It wouldn't be economically feasible to build another in Charlestown.”
Johanna shrugged. “I don't know. Maybe he's planning to open some smaller more affordable versions. Let the middle class have a taste of how the wealthy live. He could be using this space as a testing ground.” She turned her head and grinned at Frankie. “I'm kidding, of course.”
Frankie exhaled loudly. “It's probably just a convenient place to meet whoever he's seeing on the sly. After all, who would suspect him of hanging out in this part of the city?” She looked around. “I don't see any motels. Could be he just stopped in here to pick something up.”
Johanna's eyes narrowed. “Shopping here in a strip mall? Now I find that a little hard to swallow. We have major shops in Charleston that I think would be more to his liking.”
“Well, it's just a thought. Can you come up with something better?”
“No. I have nothing.” She ran her fingers through her hair. “Have you ever stayed in one of the Bronson Hotels?” Johanna asked.
Frankie laughed. “No. They were and still are definitely out of our price range, unless we hit the lottery or receive a huge windfall. What's their ad say? A Little Slice Of Heaven.” She grabbed Johanna's hand and gave it a tender squeeze. “I can think of a lot better ways to spend our hard earned money.”
“We already have our little slice of heaven, Frankie. I love our home.” She turned and looked at her.
“Me, too.” Frankie smiled. “It doesn't get any better than what we've built together.”
“No, it doesn't.” She turned her attention back to Thatcher's car. “Okay. Here we go. Looks like we're about to find out what Thatcher Longman is up to,” Johanna said as Thatcher's car finally pulled into a parking slot in front of a sporting goods store. She readied her camera as the car tailing him pulled up in the slot beside Thatcher's.
Frankie slipped into a parking space near the entrance of the strip mall where they would be obscured but still have Thatcher in their sites. She killed the headlights and then leaned back in the seat and watched the two cars. “Can you see the license number on the second car?”
“Yes, I'm zooming in on it. Perfect! I wish the woman would get out of the car so I can get a better shot of her.”
“I win the bet!” Frankie gloated.
“Damn.” Johanna scowled at her and then grinned. “Don't rub it in.”
“That's half the fun of winning,” she replied as she kept her focus on the two cars. “I wish they would do something to prove he's cheating. It would be great if we could get the goods on him tonight.”
Johanna chuckled. “I know how your mind works, Frankie. Even if we get the goods on Thatcher, you won't be satisfied until you know everything he's been up to.”
She made a face. “You're right, I won't. And neither will you.” She craned her neck. “Looks like Thatcher's getting out. I'm going to roll down the windows and hopefully we can hear some of what he's saying.”
Johanna looked up at the sky. “It's too early for the sun to set, but it's getting awfully dark. We're in for a storm.”
Frankie looked at the rapidly darkening clouds. “Hopefully it will hold off until we're home.”
They watched as Thatcher, with stiff shoulders, bent down toward the driver's side window of the second car. The overhead lights popped on and cast a soft glow over the front of the cars.
Johanna snapped several pictures. “I wish I could see the woman's face. I can't even get a partial, but I have several of Thatcher. Can you make out anything that they're saying, Frankie?” she asked in a soft voice.
“No,” Frankie whispered. “He's talking too low, but his body language makes it evident that he's not too pleased with her.”
“Probably someone he dumped. I'm sure he has a string of women he's been seeing.”
Frankie sighed. “Who knows at this point?”
Johanna lowered her camera. “I just thought of something. I don't know why neither of us thought of it before. We've overlooked something very obvious.”
“What?” Frankie turned her head and looked at her.
Johanna pulled on her chin. “She followed him out of the Bronson Enterprises parking garage. She must be a disgruntled employee.”
“We already said it was probably an employee.” Frankie was thoughtful. “Maybe it's not an employee at all. It could be someone there on a business matter concerning Bronson Enterprises.”
Johanna laughed. “So she gets so upset over a business meeting that she chases him down with her car? Come on, Frankie.”
Frankie laughed, too. “It's no different than your assessment that an upset
