“Mr. Moss! Mr. Moss! Wait a minute! Please. I don’t think I got my wires crossed, but I have it on good authority that Mrs. Moss sent her RSVP confirming she was attending the gala. Ooops. Oooh, I hope I just didn’t give away a surprise. If I did, I am so sorry. Your wife must be planning on surprising you. That makes sense, right? Please don’t give me away,” Maggie pleaded.

Whatever the little group was expecting as a response was lost on them as Moss’s back was to them when Maggie let the cat out of the bag. Their only hope was that Espinosa had managed somehow to capture some kind of reaction.

“Okay, you dropped the bomb. We need to get out of here. Anyone pick up on anything?” Ted asked as he straightened out the van and switched gears.

“I think it’s safe to say the guy was pissed to the teeth. Of all the things in the world you could have said to him, that just never entered his mind. I think about now he is going nuts, and that cement he was talking about is going to turn into a rock,” Espinosa said out of the corner of his mouth as he scanned the digital pictures he’d snapped one after the other, hoping for at least one good shot. “Aha! Got the schmuck. Look at this. He looks like he saw a ghost and ran into a brick wall at the same time. Oh, this is good. You got to him, Maggie. I bet he starts calling you in short order. You might want to turn off your phone so his calls go to voice mail. Unless, of course, you want to undergo a third degree. Also, don’t be surprised if he shows up in person at your house or at the paper. I think you need to lie low,” Espinosa warned her.

Maggie turned off her phone and patted herself on the back. “Hey, did anyone notice that Moss didn’t ask where I got his super-duper private phone number?” When there was no response from her colleagues she laughed.

Some days things just worked out right.

Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Myra toyed with the spoon in her teacup, watching out of the corner of her eye as Annie stared out the kitchen window at the young people on the terrace. “You’re up to something, I can tell. You might as well tell me now, so I don’t have to pester you all day. Besides, I know you’re dying to tell me, so spit it out, Countess.” While Myra’s tone was playful, Annie recognized the ring of steel in the words. She needed to share.