Letters in Time by Reiss Susan (i love reading books .txt) 📕

I thought she was behind me as I rolled it down the hall and out the door to her Jeep. She shoved me into the passenger seat. I didn't put up a fight. What could I do? The woman was younger, stronger, healthier than me. It didn't help that I thought of Kid Billy. Did Stephani plan to leave me at the bottom of a hole?

What if the treasure chest was gone? Emma's father had put it there about 150 years ago. Somebody might have taken it in all that time. Stephani would blame me. I tried to hide my shock that she was after the treasure, not Josh. She must have gotten the boys to do the digging for her. She knew them. They'd grown up together. A shiver ran through me at the next thought. In a fit of rage, she must have swung the shovel at Kid Billy’s head.

No, she couldn’t let me go. I had to think of something, fast.

“Sit still” she snarled, “and hold on.” Gravel flew as she spun the wheels and headed out to the main road.

I clung to the bar in front of me until my knuckles were white. At the main road, I expected her to turn right toward the Lone Oak. When she turned left, I wet my lips and looked around trying to hide my surprise.

“Don’t worry,” Stephani said. “I know where to go.” The glow of the dashboard lights lit up her self-satisfied smile.

“This is another way to the Lone Oak?”

Stephani slammed the brakes. I stiffened my arms to keep myself from flying into the windshield. The Jeep fishtailed. It came to a stop, straddling the roadway. Stephani slapped the steering wheel. "So, it is at that big old tree! I wasn’t absolutely sure.”

I’d served up the location without being asked. Why, oh why, hadn’t I kept my mouth shut?

She rammed the stick shift into reverse and hit the gas, almost sending us off the side of the road. She yanked the stick into first and we flew down the road in the other direction.

“So, he was right.” She slammed her fist into the steering wheel again. “I hate it when he’s right.”

"Who?" I asked so quietly that I wasn't sure she heard my question over the engine.

“Nobody. Never mind. He won’t be bothering us anyway,” she jabbered.

“Who?” I asked again.

“Sit and be quiet,” she spat back. “Let me think.”

You can't do two things at once?  I thought.  That can't be good.

As we raced toward the Lone Oak, I tried a new tactic. “Stephani,” I said calmly. “You don’t have to do this. Your library work—”

"Shut up! You think I want to spend my life buried with dusty shelves and moldy books?" She flicked her hand at me. "I'm pretty, too pretty for the reference room. I need to go where my passion takes me."

That wasn’t exactly what I said, but now was not the time to quibble.

"I was working in that horrid place to find clues. It took its toll, I'll tell you. They keep the dehumidifier turned on all the time. I have had to use a ton of moisturizers to save my skin. My nails dried out so much I couldn't keep a decent manicure. It was horrible."

“Did you find what you were looking for?” I had to keep her talking while I figured out what to do.

"No. Then, like a gift from heaven, you walked in. You took a different approach and I'm gonna follow it to get what belongs to me—to make my dream come true."

“And what dream is that?”

“I’m going for the glitz and glamor. I’m going to be a famous hair and makeup designer. I’ve got the education and experience. Look at me.” She held her arms out. “I know what I’m doing. I only need to take the final step.”

“And what is that?”

“New York City.”

I was surprised. “Not Los Angeles?”

"Nope, too common. New York has class and so much more: TV, movies, Broadway, and the women with money who want to look fabulous. I can do it all. I just need the treasure to get me there. Then I'll make my dream come true." Her expression changed in an instant, making the pretty girl ugly.

I put my hands in my lap, trying to appear calm. This girl believed the treasure still existed and it belonged to her. The truth didn’t matter. Her perception was her reality. If I humored her, I might get out of this mess in one piece. “Well, if that’s the case, I could help you find a lawyer and—"

“HA!” She laughed again. “The law doesn’t always do what’s right.”

“Stephani, you have accomplished so much. No one, not even the law, can take that away from you. Why would you throw it all away on some crazy notion? You can still—"

“SHUT UP!”

And I did.

I remembered the confrontation with Josh on my patio. Brother and sister. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. They both wanted something for nothing. Without some easy influx of money, he would end up laying concrete into his fifties, wearing nothing but an old t-shirt and dirty jeans. He would have to bully people to have any friends at all. They’d stand around making fun of other people. His beer belly would be so big, he wouldn’t be able to see his feet.

We sped down the road. The lack of light pollution from houses and streetlights was an advantage. Once my eyes adjusted to the darkness, the moonlight made it easier to see the shape