she jumped in surprised at the two large men who filled the door to her bathroom. “Are you all right,” one of the matching gorillas inquired. Hiding her hand behind her back, she flashed her new bodyguards a quick smile. “Yes, I’m fine.” Neither looked as though they believed her.
“Look, if you don’t mind, I need a few minutes of privacy.” She started to close the door, but was unsuccessful when one of them placed his foot in the doorframe.
“Don’t forget you need to take D’Angelo his deposit this afternoon.”
Michelle could feel her temper slipping again, but she was able to rein it in to give him a curt response. “Fine. We’ll go to the bank. Just give me a damn minute to get ready.”
Gorilla number one removed his foot.
She slammed it closed and then rested her head against the wooden partition.
“Just shut up.” She turned from the door and quickly cleaned up the glass, her hand, and even made herself more presentable.
An hour later, she and her
She was immediately led to a cute account representative who introduced himself as Clark Owens. He seemed more than eager to help her with her banking needs. “I need to make a sizable withdrawal,” she said, with a gleaming smile. “Well, I’ll be more than happy to assist you.” Michelle withdrew the bank information and handed them over. “I need one hundred thousand dollars from this account.” “Okay.” Clark said, and immediately turned his attention to the flat screen computer on his desk.
However, it didn’t take long before Michelle realized that something was wrong. She forced herself to sit still while he typed and frown at the screen. Finally, after a few minutes, she couldn’t take it anymore. “Is there something wrong?” she asked. Clark glanced back down at the account book she’d handed him and typed some more. “Hello?” Michelle screeched her irritation sharpened her tone.
Startled, Clark glanced up at her with his frown firmly in place. “I’m sorry, Ms. Ferrell.” He handed her back her small book. “But I’m showing that this account has been closed.”
Chapter 30 “What do you mean the account is close?” Clark Owens blinked, and then glanced back at his computer. “I mean just that. The account was closed today.” “Well, can’t you just reopen it?”
His frown deepened. “No. According to the computer, you had all monies in this account transferred to a European bank. You are Josephine Ferrell, aren’t you?”
In response, Michelle jumped angrily to her feet. “You saw my ID, didn’t you?”
“I’m sorry, Ms. Ferrell.” He jumped to his feet. “Let me just get the branch manager over here. If you’re saying you didn’t authorize the transfers…”
“That won’t be necessary.” Michelle’s heart leapt; suddenly she was afraid of drawing attention to herself, especially, since she didn’t know what Josie may have told the branch manager.
The young account representative frowned.
“I think I do remember closing this account now.” She touched her forehead to feign forgetfulness. “I’m getting my banks mixed up today. I meant to stop by First National.”
Clark relaxed a bit and gave her a relieved smile. “Well, we’re definitely going to miss your business.” He extended his hand.
Stiffly, she slid her hand into his, and then turned away. As she walked through the glass doors, she hugged her fur coat tighter around her shoulders, but it didn’t stop her from feeling exposed.
Michelle’s jawline hardened. Surely, she didn’t close all the bank accounts. She rushed back to her car, paying little heed to her bodyguards, who tried to keep up with her. Her next stop was First National, but minutes later she left in the same angry huff.
“I don’t believe this,” she muttered, slamming the door to the Jaguar. As she clenched the steering wheel, she took a few deep, cleansing breaths, but her temper escalated.
“If I could just get my hands on her.”
“Not now,” she hissed. “I’m trying to think.” Her inner voice quieted. As Michelle leaned her head back against the headrest, she couldn’t help but wonder if Josie had time to cancel the credit cards as well.
Michelle didn’t respond. Instead, she started the car and drove to the nearest gas station. She pulled up to the pump and withdrew six platinum cards from Josie’s wallet.
One by one, the automated pump declined them.
“This can’t be happening.” She jumped back into the car. A full-blown panic attack ruptured within her as a long stream of profanity spewed forth. Inside her head, all she could hear was a familiar cackle of laughter.
She didn’t know how long her fit lasted; but when it was over, she found strands of hair in her hands and could taste the blood oozing from her lips. Panting, she glanced around and caught a few frowns from attending patrons. And two from D’Angelo’s men.
Michelle drew a deep, calming breath, and then used the rearview mirror to straighten her appearance. Other than having a swollen bottom lip, she pulled herself together quite nicely.
Michelle didn’t answer. It was all she could do to control her rage. “D’Angelo can help me find her.”
She had no idea, but her thoughts were interrupted when her cell phone rang. Briefly, she entertained the thought that it was Josie. Who knows, maybe she was getting a good kick watching her make a fool of herself.
Annoyed, Michelle dug through her purse and grabbed the phone. However, her anger evaporated into curiosity when she read Keystone Institute across the ID screen.
#
After hours on the phone, Josephine found the keys to William’s black Mercedes in his bedroom on the nightstand. She clutched the keys tightly in her hand before she made up her mind about what she should do next, and then finally decided to look up the nearest office of the Department of Motor Vehicles.
As she climbed in behind the wheel, guilt settled heavily onto her shoulders. William trusted her to stay put, but her head clouded with thoughts of revenge.
She started up the car and promised herself she would return before William came home. Minutes later, she pulled up to the DMV. After reporting her driver’s license lost, she obtained a new one with little to no hassle. Next, she stopped at a local Western Union, where she picked up the cash she’d wired to herself.
She was back in business.
Admittedly, she didn’t have a concrete plan, but she did know that there wasn’t enough room in the world for
Locating an army surplus store was more complicated than she expected, but she finally found one next to a low-key shooting range. The minute she entered the building though, she felt completely out of her element.
At first, she thought the place was just a warehouse of army uniforms. Everywhere she looked were camouflage shirts, pants, hats, and even long johns.
“Is there anything I can help you with, ma’am?”
Josie turned toward a smiling blond female who took the edict: the higher the hair, the closer to Jesus, seriously. “Uh, I’m not sure. I was looking to purchase a gun.”
“Sure.” The blond clapped. “You came to the right place. “My husband, Buddy, will be more than happy to help you.” She turned around and waved Josie to follow.
“I always say that a woman needs something to protect herself. Society tries to tell us girls that all we need is a can of pepper spray. It’s crazy, I tell you. Oh, I’m Tammy, by the way.”
Josie had only managed to open her mouth before Tammy rambled off her conspiracy theory of how she believed the government was trying to take away honest Americans’ constitutional right to bear arms.
“Buddy! Customer!”
Josie wiggled a finger in her ear to stop it from ringing.
