it and she had to be taken to the doctor before infection set in. My father was furious."
Before Dorothy could continue, Spike reappeared, but without the briefcase.
"Where's Mr. Fonsworth's briefcase?" I demanded instantly.
"In the garbage bin. Let's get moving," he said to Dorothy.
"What? Why did he do that?" I cried.
"Quiet," he said gruffly.
"Now just a minute," I began, determined to make him explain. He surprised me by seizing my arm at the elbow and pulling me forward. Before I could protest, he turned to Dorothy.
"Drugs," he said.
"Oh dear."
"What?"
"That briefcase was lined with something called cocaine. Ever hear of it?" he said sarcastically. "That's probably why the police were waiting at the gate. They got a tipoff; he found out and planted the case with her," he told Dorothy and then looked at me. "If they would have stopped you, you would have been in great trouble. Maybe we all would have," he added.
"But . . ." I looked at Dorothy, whose eyes were almost as wide as mine. "He was a nice young man, a banker. Surely, this is a mistake," I cried.
Spike shook his head.
"He must have spotted her a mile away," he told Dorothy.
I pulled my arm out of his grip and swallowed over the huge, aching lump in my throat.
"That's not true. He had an emergency, and how would he know I would do such a thing anyway?" I asked.
"If you refused, he would have looked for someone else or given up for today. You just transported a lot of cocaine across the country and you might even have brought it to Mrs. Livingston's home," he added firmly.
I felt myself wilt, the tears burning as I looked at Dorothy. She wagged her head at Spike, flashing him a cool, chastising look.
"Oh don't be so harsh on her, Spike. She didn't know." She patted me on the shoulder. "It's nothing, dear. These things happen in today's mad world, but we won't worry about it now. Let's just get her luggage and go, Spike. I'm absolutely famished. We'll go directly to The Vine on Beverly Drive. Wait until you taste their baked goat cheese salad, Melody, and their grilled eggplant sandwich."
Thinking about the trouble I might have gotten myself into just as I had started out on this journey made my throat close. I took a deep breath of relief and shot a glance at Spike, feeling ashamed that I had gotten so angry at him when he was just doing what he thought he had to do to protect all of us. He was silent as we continued down the terminal toward the baggage area, where I spotted a man in a light blue jacket and dungarees holding a small sign with the word "Fonsworth" written on it.
"Don't look at him," Spike ordered.
We hurried by him to the baggage carousel. However, I couldn't help but glance back at him once in a while. As the crowd thinned, he turned and rapidly left the terminal.
"I'm sorry," I told Dorothy. "I had no idea what that man had given me."
"It's all right, dear. Please, I hate unpleasant things. When something nasty happens, I just buy myself something new to wear and make myself feel good again." Her eyes drank me in from head to toe. "That's what we'll do for you later, buy you something nice to wear. I'm sure you don't have the right things. You need something more fashionable if you're going to traipse around Beverly Hills."
"Oh, I can't ask you to do anything like that."
"Of course you can't, but I still can do it," she said with a laugh.
I spotted one of my bags and Spike scooped it up.
"I almost forgot," I said, digging into my purse. "Holly sent you this."
I handed her the small package wrapped with the sign of Aries. Dorothy rolled her eyes.
"Oh no, what magic charm did she deliver this time?"
Without opening it, she dropped it into her own purse. I thought how much Holly would be
disappointed, but before I could say anything, my second bag appeared and I pointed it out to Spike. We showed my receipts to the attendant at the door and Spike carried my bags out to the limousine. It was a long, sleek black Mercedes with plush leather seats, a bar
Angel Payne, Victoria Blue