Saving Savannah Read Online Free PDF

though.”
    “I’m afraid to ask how you got ta Walmart, presumably in Nawleans, at that ungodly hour. No. Don’t tell me. I’ll be the one havin’ a heart attack then. I’m surprised that Savannah accepted your gift.”
    “She couldn’t not accept. I tore off the tags and ripped up the sales receipt.” She thought for a few moments. “Mebbe we should kidnap the two of ’em.”
    “We are not kidnapping anyone. Get that idea out of yer head right now.”
    “You doan have ta yell.”
    “Sometimes yellin’ is the only thing that will get through yer fool head.”
    “You ain’t helpin’ much.”
    Tee-John shrugged. “I gave you all the info I could find.”
    “Tell me again.”
    “Savannah Jones, born almost thirty years ago at St. Margaret’s Hospital in Savannah, Georgia. No known birth parents. Adoptive parents, James and Ellie Jones, deceased. A graduate of the University of Georgia with high honors. Had been an English teacher at a private school in suburban Savannah. Then suddenly, she resigned and moved to Nawleans where she taught school in the lower ninth ward until Hurricane Katrina. She lost her apartment and her job because of the floods and hasn’t been able to get back on her feet since then.”
    “There’s a puzzle in there somewheres. I jist ain’t figgered out what it is yet.”
    “Oh, I forgot ta tell you. A friend of mine in Georgia dug up something interestin’. Turns out Savannah got engaged to a Captain Matthew Carrington, just before he shipped out for Afghanistan more than five years ago. Todd and Evelyn Carrington, his parents, are big-shot, country-club types. Carrington was a POW for several years, but he escaped about six months ago. That’s all I know.”
    Tante Lulu smacked him on the arm. “You knew that and dint tell me. Sometimes, I swear, you got the brain of a flea.”
    “I was gonna tell you.”
    “Hah! I doan suppose you got any addresses or telephone numbers.”
    He pulled an index card out of his shirt pocket and grinned at her.
    She grinned back.
    “Be careful what you do, auntie. Savannah is runnin’ from somethin’, and it could very well be this guy. Maybe he was abusive. Or maybe he didn’t care about being a father or a husband.”
    “I’ll be careful. Jist you watch me. I know how ta handle people. I’m a people person.”
    Tee-John rolled his eyes.
    She didn’t care if he was skeptical. Tante Lulu had a feeling she was about to solve the puzzle. Thank you, St. Jude.

Chapter Three
     
    A good soldier needs a battle plan .  . .
    MATT WAS AT HIS parents’ home packing up the rest of his belongings to ship to his Fort Dix apartment. In the meantime, he was staying at a hotel. No way was he going to live at home, not after what his parents had done.
    He was now on leave, and he was meeting this afternoon with a private detective who had a good track record for finding missing persons.
    The phone rang as he was carrying the last of his boxes through the hall and down the steps. He heard his mother answer in the library.
    “Yes, this is the home of Matthew Carrington. Who is this?”
    Glancing in the open doorway, he saw his mother bristle. “I am Evelyn Carrington, if you must know. Why do you wish to speak with my son? Don’t you dare call me an old biddy .  . . you . . . you old biddy. I’m going to hang up now.”
    That’s all he needed, his mother screening his calls. Matt put down his box and stepped in the room, signaling his mother to hand him the phone.
    “Hello. Matthew Carrington here.”
    “Thank the Lord!” an elderly sounding voice with a Southern accent exclaimed. “I’m Louise Rivard, but you kin call me Tante Lulu, like everyone does. Are you the Matthew Carrington that was engaged to Savannah Jones?”
    The fine hairs stood out on the back of Matt’s neck, and he felt as if a vice were clamping his heart. He sank down into the desk chair. “Yes,” he replied hesitantly.
    “Boy, you are harder to find than