Read Online Return of the Dixie Deb by Nina Barrett - Free Book Online Page B

this side could use a paint job despite the climbing bougainvillea that attempted to camouflage it. Evidently, even at the Major’s, first impressions counted.
    Beside him, Jan opened a tube of sun tan lotion and dabbed some on her shoulders.
    “Need some help?” He closed the book he’d been flipping through while he waited.
    “Sure.” She passed him the lotion and lifted her hair away from the back of her neck. He held his breath and kept an eye on the couple under the sun umbrella. They’d already appropriated the morning paper by the time he and Jan had come downstairs. The older gentleman was still turning the pages. It looked like he was commenting on something to his wife.
    “Hey, don’t wear a hole in it.”
    “Sorry.” He pulled his hands away from the velvet of the neck and shoulders edging her sundress. At the other end of the patio, it looked like the newspaper reader’s wife was gathering up her things.
    Jan settled back in her chair and reached for her magazine and sunglasses.
    All right, they were both on their feet now, the newspaper abandoned on the table.
    He capped the tube, rubbed his hands on his arms, and nodded toward where the older couple was making their way toward the French doors.
    Jan looked up at him.
    “I’m going to check out what’s going on in the world.”
    It looked like the other guests had been following the financial news. He straightened the pages and flipped through the sections as he walked back to where Jan was waiting, her magazine closed on her lap.
    National news, sports, op-ed, daily living.
    Around the state. He stopped, put the rest of the paper down, and sank back on the chaise lounge.
    On the lower half of the page, a headline in bold type read “She’s Back…?” Under it, a subtitle declared, “Authorities issue a definite maybe.”
    He took a deep breath and read the article to Jan.
    “Are recent hold-ups in Lockington, Georgia; Cedar City and Corren, Alabama; and Magnetic Springs, New Majestic, and Foundry Creek, Mississippi, all related? Law enforcement officials are currently reviewing bank surveillance tapes of the robberies which show images of a young, well-dressed woman and her male companion. The two have escaped with something approaching a quarter of a million dollars at this point. Similarities in the method of operation lead authorities to believe the robberies are connected.
    “The daring daylight robberies are attracting further notice by law enforcement due to their marked resemblance to a series of unsolved hold-ups across these same states a quarter century ago. In those crimes, the tall, striking mysterious woman dubbed the…”
    He clenched a fist and looked up at Jan.
    “We made the front page of the state section.”
    She moved over to sit beside him, the fragrance of her sun tan lotion enveloping him as she bent over to read. The rest of the story was a detailed recap of the Deb’s criminal exploits from twenty-five years before.
    “What do you think?” she asked when she finished reading.
    “I’m glad they ran the two pictures.” He tapped the older one. “This is one of the clearer ones of the Deb, while yours…” He moved his finger over to the second. “Isn’t that great.”
    “I’m glad. I don’t really want to be recognized and have my name linked to hers.”
    “If she’s convinced you’re a poor copy, vanity might compel her out into the open.”
    “What kind of circulation do you think this is getting?”
    “The paper comes from Montgomery, the state capital. If it’s getting play there, it ought to in other parts of the South, too. It helps that we’ve crossed state lines. Even if the Deb doesn’t rise to the bait, maybe this kind of story will jar someone’s memory and the police will get a tip. They’re posting a substantial reward for information.”
    “Believe me, I’d throw in a contribution if it’d bring all this to an end.”
    She put her sunglasses back on as he studied the