Chapter 10            Trevor read over the same paragraph of legal mumbo jumbo for the fourth time
     and still it wasn't translating into his brain properly. He gave his head a little shake
     and took a look at his watch. 5:39. Was that IT? This was his one long night at the
     firm that week, and he wanted it over with. But he needed a break, so he picked
     up the phone. When he got Janet's voice mail at Enchantment, he rang her room
     at the Valley Inn. Ditto.
         "Hey Babe, it's me. Just wasting away here at the office like I promised last night,
     wondering if I could con my favorite dame into picking up some Chinese food
     and lighting up my life for a few minutes. Or longer-- this chair of mine can be
     built for two, as you know! So give me a call if you get there by 6:30 or so. Love
     ya... bye..."            On the other side of town, Janet reapplied her lipstick at the stoplight 2 blocks
     ahead of Holidays and wondered what Trevor had in mind. It dawned on her
     that he had mentioned a long night at work last time they talked. This must be
     pretty important, then! Maybe he'd found another Beanie Baby store, and he
     needed her to help him search for the one they'd been looking for the other
     night... no, he'd have asked her to meet him at the mall.
         Maybe they were headed there after getting some take-out to eat on the way.
     That made sense.  Plus it figured that he'd keep mum on the e-mail; heaven
     knew Amanda was bound to read it by accident. She found a parking spot,
     then bounded out of the car, mulling over what she'd like for dinner.
         Before she could even get around the vehicle though, her path was cut off
     sharply by an unsavory looking, late model Chevy Nova. "Surprise, Janet!" chirped
     an even more unattractive Axel from behind the wheel. Janet's jaw nearly hit the
     pavement.
         Then Axel's face got a little more serious. "Why don't you hop in and join me for a
     spin?"
         "Because I'm not crazy anymore." She started to back up.
         "Think again, baby." He rested a gun on the rolled down window. "I'm not kidding
     around today."
         She froze in absolute terror.
         "Get in the car, woman. NOW."
         She saw no other option. Praying to see someone she could get the attention of,
     she moved haltingly to the passenger door. Not another soul in the whole lot.
         Once inside, she felt the thick smell of cigarettes and antiquated car air freshener
     suffocating her. "You should know that Trevor's waiting for me back there... he'll
     know what happened faster than you can blink..." But deep inside she had a
     feeling this wasn't true.
         "Sorry. No lover boy at Holidays. Glad I was able to fool you, though."
         "OK, Axel, I don't even WANT to know how you got into the Dillon House, let alone
     how you got into their E-mail," she said evenly. "Just please, PLEASE tell me you
     didn't hurt Amanda in the process."
         "Fine. 'I didn't hurt Amanda in the process,'" he mimicked her with a roll of laughter
     tacked on.
         "Axel, my God, I'm serious!"
         "I already told you, I got no interest in doing anything with your girl. She didn't
     even know I was there."
         He steered the car, gun still resting in his lap, onto the interstate.
         "Where-- where are you taking me?" Janet asked, noticing.
         "Home, of course!"
         Home??            A rattle of keys and footsteps caught Trevor's ear as he got Janet's voice mail
     once again. "Belinda?" he called, setting the phone back down.
         "Hey Trevor-- is Janet in there by chance?"
         "No. In fact, I was just startin' to figure she was out somewhere with you."
         Belinda entered his office. "Well that was the plan-- we were supposed to be
     meeting at the bakery tonight to talk about the cake-- she didn't show."
         "What time was that?"
         "Should have been 7 o'clock."
         "I've been trying to reach her at her room for hours, but..."
         Belinda started to get more nervous. "What about her cell phone?"
         "She's been having trouble with it lately so she's not using it..." he read Belinda's
     concern. "Talk to me, Belinda. Something's up."
         "Yeah," she nodded decisively. "Something you should know."          Re-view Chapters 1/ 2/ 3/ 4/ 5/ 6/ 7/ 8/ 9/ 10/ 11/ 12/ 13/ 14/ 15/ 16/ 17/ 18/ 19/ 20/ 21