She shuddered and finished her list. Once done, she ran upstairs and changed out of her dress and into more comfortable cutoff shorts and a T-shirt, then sat in the kitchen a bit longer. She didn’t know how long Eggie was going to be. The man did like getting his hunting time in and he might need more of it today before they headed over to his momma’s house and dealt with his family.

She glanced over at the counter where Eggie had left the keys to his car last night. She looked away, bit her lip, and looked back.

“Oh, what would it hurt?” she asked the air when she stood up and rushed over to the counter, snatching up his keys. She also went into the kitchen drawer where she’d found a box with several thousand dollars, a gun, and passports for several different people who looked just like Eggie but didn’t have the same name. She took out a hundred dollars, more than what she needed but she erred on the side of caution, and put a note in the box informing Eggie of her I.O.U.

Once done, she headed outside and got into Eggie’s car.

She started up the Plymouth and smiled as it purred to life. Darla didn’t have a car of her own because she didn’t like having the extra baggage in her life, but like her sisters, she did love really nice cars. Especially well-maintained ones.

Easing onto the road, Darla glanced around, saw that no one was nearby, and stepped on the gas.

By the time she hit a hundred and five miles per hour, she was having a hell of a time.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Darla was no more than half a mile from the Collinstown neutral territory shifter grocery store Eggie had told her about when she came to a stop at a light. Letting out a breath, she sat back in the seat. Now that had felt wonderful.

To her left, she heard males yelling at her, and she looked over at a gold Mercury Cougar XR7 convertible filled with four male lions.

“Hey, beautiful!” one of them yelled over the Black Sabbath playing on their car radio. “That was some damn fine driving there, darlin’. You been runnin’ ’shine?”

She laughed and gave them a little wave. The light changed and they pulled off, gold and brown lion’s manes whipping in the wind.

Darla made it to the store and was just turning into the parking lot when a Chevrolet Nova SS cut her off, the back end of the Nova hitting the bumper of Eggie’s car.

Darla hit the brakes and let out a whimper. Eggie’s car. Eggie’s car!

She was so mortified, she didn’t notice who was driving until the driver’s side door of the Nova opened and she saw a tall, blonde female step out. She looked at Darla, smirked, and said, “Sorry about that, sweetie pie. I just didn’t see you.”

The She-lions in the car laughed and Darla knew that these females were connected with the lion males who’d been talking to her at the light.

“Ridiculous, jealouscrap,” she snarled, watching as the She-lion got back into her own vehicle. Darla wasn’t about to let them go, though. They were at least going to pay to fix Eggie’s car!

But before Darla could do anything, a bright red Dodge Challenger rammed straight into the cats’ car with so much force that it shoved their vehicle into Darla’s. She squeaked and cringed.

“He’s gonna kill me.” Yet she didn’t have time to worry about that when Darla saw Janie Mae and Francine get out of that Dodge. And Janie was definitely in a mood based on the way she slammed her driver’s side door.

Darla quickly got out and ran over, getting between Janie and the She-lions before Janie could throw the first punch.

“Janie, stop!”

“Well, well, well,” the She-lion sneered as the other cats got out of the car. “If it isn’t Janie Mae Trash Heap. I see you’re planning to bring another ass licker into the world.”

Darla turned on the She-lion. “Shut up!”

The She-lion eyed Darla. “Who are you?”

“None of your business.”

One of the other cats whispered in the She-lion’s ear and she eyed Darla again.

“You? And that freak of nature Eggie Smith?”

And before Darla could stop herself, she’d slapped the little sow across the face. Unlike Janie Mae, though, this sow slapped her back.

Of course that only unleashed the wrath of Janie and Francine. And by now, Roberta and Janette had also shown up. They scrambled out of the Pontiac GTO they were driving and came at the rest of the She-lions like the wrath of God.

It was not pretty.

Darla did try her best to get them all to stop but none of it did any good or mattered once the Collinstown Sheriff ’s Deputies showed up. And those bears were none too happy about any of it.

Eggie’s father put a beer in his hand and sat down in the chair beside him. They sat in the front yard while Eggie’s mother and aunts arranged furniture in the backyard for dinner later that evening.

“She really wants to testify?”

“I don’t think she wants to, Daddy. But she will. I know her.”

“She’s one of them moral types?”

“Yep.”

“Then you know what you gotta do, boy.”

“She won’t want me to.”

His father frowned at him. “Why do you have to tell her anything?”

“She’ll know. She always knows.”

Daddy chuckled. “Yeah. Your mother’s got that skill, too. Only woman alive who’s ever caught me in a lie.” He glanced at Eggie. “You love this one, boy?”

“I do.”

“Even though your momma says she’s a little frail?”