Rohn Federbush - Sally Bianco 01 - The Legitimate Way Read Online Free PDF

“Is there anything cold to drink in the refrigerator?”
    “I keep diet pop in there. I’ll be right back.”
    Even if Ricco had peeked into the opening, his first sight would have been of baby furniture, which might have deterred any further search. A folded-up playpen of white netting, a bath and linen stand, a baby scale, a bassinette with the pink gingham-and-lace trim still decorating the sides, and a few boxes labeled ‘baby clothes’ and ‘baby blankets’ shielded the bulk of Mary Jo’s belongs.
    Sally ignored the luggage, which was probably carefully packed each time Mary Jo had decided to leave her monster husband, and went straight to the traveling trunk. Sure enough, the metal trunk held documents. Personal, dated journals, legal looking folders, family albums, jewelry, and an address book filled the trunk.
    John arrived with the cold drink before Sally decided which items to take with her. The latest, dated journal and the address book seemed the most pertinent. “John, I need to borrow these two items. If you let me copy them tonight, you can replace them tomorrow, no foul, no injury.”
    “I wish James had come with us.”
    “I know you defer to your brother, and we can certainly let him know what we’ve done as soon as we get back to the hotel.” Bless his heart, he took the bait.
    “No,” John said, buffing the outside of his brains with both hands. “One night won’t hurt and I gave you my word I would help.”
    “Come to dinner with Art and Gabby Woods tonight. Art is gathering more evidence for me.”
    His grin said she’d hit the mark. “I will,” he said. “I like Art, but Gabby….”
    “Never shuts up,” Sally laughed.
    “Yeah,” John said and chuckled, too.
    ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
    John seemed disappointed when Gabby and Art agreed the Hotel Baker’s ballroom dining room was the best place to have dinner. “There isn’t much privacy,” he said.
    “What about the side rooms off the balcony?” she asked. “I remember a birthday party that Bob Burger held in there, when we were dating.”
    “You dated Bob Burger, of Burger Drugs?” John looked Sally up and down with what she thought was some gall.
    For an old dame, Sally thought she shone fairly well for an evening meal. She had chosen a black long skirt and a cobalt blue wrap around blouse, with a matching modern, glass bead necklace for wrinkle duty. At least she was not fifty pounds overweight like Gabby. Gabby should have talked even more to keep her tongue busy with hot air instead of more food. Not a Christian thought and if John hadn’t seemed so shocked about Bob Burger asking out long ago for a date, Sally probably would have been less critical of another member of her side of the human race. “Well, yes, John,” Sally said, clearly miffed he thought such a thing improbable. “Bob Burger and I dated a few times.”
    Gabby took over, explaining Sally’s personal business for Art and John’s edification. “The Burgers and Stiles were both Roman Catholics and their parents probably thought they would become a fruitful couple.”
    “At least my mother did,” Sally disclosed. She needed these people to clear Robert’s name. And, she needed to keep her thin balloon of an ego in check.
    “Sure,” John said, hanging his head. “I hadn’t remembered that.”
    “What about the side dining room?” Sally brought John back to the immediate subject, touching his arm and letting her hand linger. All this reminiscing threw her momentarily off track.
    “The staff needs to set it up for us,” John said. “We could have a drink at the bar until they’re done.”
    “Sure,” Sally said. That’s about all she needed! Her nerves were shot and one thing she did not need was a drink. Admitting her alcoholism, again, to herself, Sally ordered coffee and dug her fingernails into the bar. She was not, was not going to drink just because that stupid Mary Jo had decided to lead a trail of bread crumbs to Robert Koelz’s