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“Do we know her name?” Marge asked. “Grace’s sister?”
“Grace didn’t say.”Cruellawould be my guess, but it wasn’t a joke my aunt would appreciate.
* * *
Angela
A wet,warm washcloth on my face.
A rough, wet, warm washcloth.
A smelly, rough, wet, warm washcloth.
I jerked away. “Stop it,” I screeched. Blinking my eyes open, I found Julie with her tongue licking up over her nose. She cocked her head at me then curled around to lick her butt.
Holding back my gag reflex, I wiped my face with the edge of the sheet—big mistake. Now I had to wash the sheets before tonight.
With the dog slobber off my face, a different odor assaulted me.
“Which one of you took a dump in here?” I looked at Izzy, but she was currently tugging on a corner of the dog bed King laid on. King didn’t budge, and Julie merely started her tail wagging, thumping against the wall. The dog had no pain receptors in her tail.
After yesterday’s exhausting drive, I’d slept in this morning. The light drifting past the edges of the curtains was evidence of that. Still, I could smell it, but in the dimly lit space, I didn’t see the offending crap pile. Scooting to the edge of the bed, I looked before daring to put my feet on the thin carpet.
When I clicked on the small lamp by the side of the bed, King opened his eyes, but didn’t lift his head. The big boy seemed to specialize in conserving energy.
After a quick stop in the bathroom, I saved time by slipping into yesterday’s clothes again. I didn’t have to make a list to know that getting the dogs outside quickly before another accident was top priority.
Only after I got Julie and Izzy leashed up and was working on King did I hear the telltale fart hiss come from his tail area. The smell hit my nostrils two seconds later.
“No more dry food for you,” I told King as I dragged him up off of the dog bed. His smelly gas explained why the room reeked yet I didn’t see an accident anywhere on the floor.
After taking the dogs out, I showered and took the time to change into clean clothes. Opening my laptop, I checked for a Wi-Fi signal and again came up empty.
My checklist said the next item was to set up a new bank account for myself. Yesterday, I’d confirmed that the payment from CLP Partners for the Cleveland project was in the PayPal account. Today I needed a secure place, out of Kevin’s reach, to put it.
The sum would be plenty to tide me over until I landed a new project, without any Kevin entanglement. Everybody knew I was damn good at what I did, and it wouldn’t take long to get more work.
I hadn’t dared to do the banking before leaving Massachusetts, because Kevin had friends in law enforcement who might’ve been able to locate any account in my name. But those friends wouldn’t be able to help him find an out-of-state bank account.
Further down the list was the other reason a stop here in Virginia fit my plan.
Get certified copy of birth certificate
I’d need it for my name change.
Izzy tugged on my pants again. I swatted at the little monster. “Didn’t your mother teach you any manners?”
The dog decided since I was paying attention, it should go back to attacking me.
Unable to put it off any longer, I opened my wallet and stashed a month’s rent money in my pocket. It really did almost wipe me out. So, after paying this for Grace and Dirk, I needed to go to the bank in town. It couldn’t be that long a walk.
I fed the dogs, closed up the shack, and marched around the grass toward the house.
I knocked on the door.
A pretty, older lady with short, graying hair pulled it open. “Hello. I’m Marge Stoner. I saw ya walking the dogs. You must be Grace’s sister.” She extended her hand.
I shook with her. “Angela,” I offered. “Angela Lerner.”
