Page 68 of Sunset Beach
“A good job? My take-home pay is exactly $92.74 a week. You know any divorce lawyers who work for that kind of money? And what if I did leave him? Where would I go? Move in with my mom? Listen to her bitching about what a raw deal she got after my dad left? Thanks but no thanks.”
Colleen looked off in the distance, at the playground, with the seesaw and the swings and sliding board. “Anyway, you don’t know Allen. He’d never just let me leave. He’d find me. And he’d hurt me even worse.”
With his thumb he gently touched the corner of her swollen lip. “I could help you. Let me help you. I want to.”
A single tear slid down her cheek. “What? You’re going to leave Sherri? For me?”
His face flushed. “Come on. That’s not fair. You know how I feel about you.”
She leaned in and kissed him. “You’re right. I do know how you feel. And I know I can’t ask you to leave your wife. I met her, you know.”
He drew back, startled. “Sherri? You talked to her? When was this?”
“Don’t look at me like that. It was perfectly innocent. I went into that real estate office she works at. Out at the beach. I asked about renting a house this summer. I’m not surprised you fell for her, Brice. She’s really cute.”
“Jesus!” he exclaimed. “You met Sherri? Why would you do something like that? What if she figured it out?” He slapped the dashboard. “I can’t believe you’d do that.”
“Why not?” She shrugged. “I didn’t tell her my real name. I just, I don’t know. I guess I wanted to check out the competition. Is that so wrong? I mean, you met Allen.”
“I should have arrested Allen,” he said bitterly. “I should have locked his ass up, and then I should have gone home to my wife that night.”
“Even if you had arrested him, his dad’s lawyer would have gotten him out in a skinny minute.”
“So what are you going to do?” Brice asked.
She smoothed the front of his shirt with the flat of her hand. “I… I’ve been working on a plan. It’ll sound nuts to you, I know, but it’s the only way.”
“Tell me,” he said.
“I’m going to disappear,” she said.
“Huh?”
“I mean it. One day soon, I’ll go to work, and I just won’t come home.”
“Where’ll you go?” he asked. “What’ll you do for money?”
“I’m thinking maybe Atlanta. A big city, where I can get a job. As for the money? That’s the part you might not want to know about. You being a cop and all.”
“What? You’re gonna rob a bank?”
“No,” she said thoughtfully. “I’m going to take what’s mine. All of it. Allen and I have been saving up for a house for five years. Since even before we got married. He’s such a cheapskate, he keeps me on an allowance, makes me take my lunch to work, sew my own clothes. He’s got this little black notebook, and I have to account for every dime I spend. From my own paycheck!”
He shook his head. “If you’ve got that much money in the bank, why don’t you just use it to get a divorce?”
“You don’t get it,” Colleen said, her voice shrill. “Allen’s dad is friends with every lawyer and every judge in this town. A judge is going to say that money is his, not mine.”
“How much money is there?” Brice asked.
“A little over seven thousand dollars.” Her eyes gleamed with excitement. “I’ll have enough to make a new start in a new town.”
“What happens if Allen comes after you? Calls the cops and reports that you and his money went missing? Won’t he try and track you down?”
“That’s where you come in. I need your help.”
He exhaled slowly. “What? What do you need?”
She kissed him impulsively. “See? That’s why I adore you.”
