At 5:15 the following morning, Jimmy was peering through the telescope when he saw the front door open and Peter step out into the early morning light. He had a suitcase in each hand. Dolph and Iris followed behind as they carried luggage. They walked to the limo parked several feet from the front door.
Jimmy stepped away from the telescope and quietly went to where Christine slept in one of the bedrooms.
“Christine,” Jimmy whispered as he approached the bed and gently nudged her awake. “Christine, wake up.”
Christine stirred, stretched, and yawned. “Yes?”
“They’re leaving,” Jimmy said. “They just stepped out with luggage and stuff.”
Christine bolted upright and quickly scampered to the window with Jimmy by her side. She looked through the viewfinder and saw Rose carrying a suitcase. Iris took the suitcase from Rose and put it in the trunk, and they all got in the limo. It rounded the semi-circular drive, went through the front gate, turned onto a street, and disappeared from view.
Christine backed away from the telescope.
“Wonder how long she will be gone for this time?” she said. “If she’s being dropped off somewhere, her staff will be back later. If not, that means they’ll be staying with the Queen of Mean, wherever the hell they’re going. We’ll just have to keep watch, that’s all.”
About three and a half hours later, the limo appeared in Christine’s field of view through the telescope. “They’re back!” she said.
She chewed on a blueberry muffin and looked through the eyepiece. Jimmy, Dougie, and Tawny stood behind her and waited their turn to look.
“There’s just the blond guy,” Christine said in reference to Dolph. “I’m guessing the others were dropped off at the airport. Looks like he’ll be house-sitting for a while. Damn!”
After Rose disembarked from the plane in Antigua, she wasted no time. She had Peter rent a car where he drove her and Iris to her private resort.
“There will be no need to unpack right away,” Rose said. “I am just going to relax for a while. As for the house’s repairs and renovations, they should take about a month or two.”