Page 84 of The Pretenders of Copper County
“Iwas. But, um…” I licked my lips. “You might already know some of this, maybe, but Uncle Danny’s not on an Alaskan fishing trip.”
“No?” Nicky sounded as shocked as I’d been. “Are you sure?”
“I’m afraid so. He got involved in some wild stuff, Nicky. Money laundering, tax evasion… And the government caught him. He’s pretty much admitted to all of it. He’s supposed to be signing a plea deal this week.”
“He hasn’t signed it yet, though, right?” Nicky demanded.
“Huh? Oh. Um. N-no.” I frowned at the tree line in the distance. “At least, I don’t think so. But did you hear what I said? Uncle Danny admitted to being a criminal, Nick. Did you… did you know about any of this? Did he tell you?”
“Tell me? Gosh, no. That’s so weird, Chris! I just… I can’t help thinking there’s no way.”
I shut my eyes. “I know. That’s what I thought, too. But then I saw the list of stuff they’re saying he did, and now… I don’t know what to think. Except that guy you mentioned in your email, Robert Evanovich? Reed said he’s bad news. If people are asking you about him, you need to be careful. Maybe, I dunno, leave town, or call the police, orboth?—”
“Reed? Who’s Reed?”
“Reed? Oh.” I bit my lip. “He’s…”Shoot. Nicky was my cousin, and I felt awful for him, but I couldn’t betray Reed that way. “He’s been helping me out. He’s a friend.”
“Yeah, right.” Nicky snorted. “You don’t have friends.”
I blinked. “P-pardon?” That casual rudeness was a record scratch, reminding me of the Nicky I used to know.
“I mean… I mean… I don’tknowany of your friends,” heexplained quickly. “And I’m… I’m so scared, Chris. I don’t know what to do.”
Nicky’s fear overrode my caution. He sounded terrified. How could I blame him for being impolite?
I blew out a breath. “Listen, if those people who mentioned him come around again, call the police, okay? Don’t let them hurt you.”
“But what if the police are in on it? Who knows how high this conspiracy goes?” Nicky’s voice was high-pitched and thready. “You’re the only one I can trust, and I… I really don’t want to be alone right now. Tell me where you are. I’ll come to you. We can figure out how to handle this together. As afamily.”
I opened my mouth, then shut it again. “I can’t, Nicky. I’m so sorry. But I’ll try to figure something out for you, okay? Find someone to help you.”
“Those guys had guns, Chris! What if… what if next time they don’t just beat me up? What if they kill me? You’ll be all alone once Danny’s in prison.”
Prison?“But he’s not going to?—”
“Please, Chris? Please? I know you’re not in Springfield anymore.”
“Springfield,” I whispered. “How did you know?—?”
“Mrs. Rose mentioned it. She calls me from time to time just to check in,” he said. “And she told me you’d called her with a weird story about a kidnapping.” He chuckled, and the sound brought back a lot of childhood memories… none of them pleasant. “But by the time I got there, you were gone.”
My skin prickled hot and cold.
“You’re calling from a New York number, I see,” Nicky went on. He didn’t sound terrified anymore. He sounded controlled and… well,terrifying. “Unknown Name, Copper County, New York? Where is that, buddy? Upstate somewhere? I can be there in a couple hours. Remember how Danny said family was the most important thing? So why not let your friend protect us both? Just give me your address, and I’ll put it in my GPS.”
The Caller ID.
Why hadn’t I eventhoughtabout the Caller ID on Watt’s phone before I called?
What the heck had I done? Oh,fricking frickballs,what had I done?
“Nicky? What’s going on right now?” I whispered.
“You screwed me over, cousin,” Nicky said. “That’s what’s going on. But that’s okay. It’s alright. I forgive you. And I’m going to let you make it up to me.” He laughed again. “Talk soon, Chrissy.”
After Nicky disconnected, I stared at the darkened phone screen as my entire body went cold and my head swam. It felt an awful lot like I had when Reed pulled me out of the lake.
How freaking naive could a person be? How foolishly trusting? Howstupid?
