Page 95 of The Pretenders of Copper County
Reed pulled me against his side and squeezed my shoulder affectionately, as if he’d expected nothing less.
Danny’s eyes softened. “I am, Christoforo. I promise. It’s been a strain, these past few months, trying to do the right thing and keep everyone safe… despite not doing a very good job of it.” He ran a hand over his thinning hair and sat down heavily on the bench, staring at the gun held loosely in his hands. “I got your email, you know. I thought… I thought you were safe and everything would be alright. But then I overheard one of the Marshals saying Nicky had managed to slip away from the FBI agents who’d been monitoring him. They said he’d been looking for you, but he’d never find you in Copper County. I knew better. I didn’t think he’d hurt you, but I knew he’d try to… to manipulate you. Maybe even use you against me somehow.” He glanced at Nicky again and let out a shuddering breath. “He’d probably even think that was the Fromadgio way.”
“He did manipulate me,” I admitted. I pushed up my glasses with one finger. “He emailed me and claimed to be in a panic because the Evanoviches were after him. I… I borrowed a phone to check on him and forgot about Caller ID.” I looked down at my feet. “I’m sorry, Reed. It was my fault he knew what town we were in, and since pretty much everyone around here knows the honeymooners of Copper County and where we’re staying?—”
“Everyone knowsChris Sunday,” Reed corrected. He cupped my chin and forced me to look up at him. “And likes you exactly as you are. So please don’t beat yourself up over this. I hate that he manipulated you, but it’s not your fault. You heard what I said a minute ago, right? This was on Nicky, not you. You did nothing wrong.”
“See, that, Bob? They didn’t need our help after all.” Dolores, still wearing her raincoat, strolled into the cabin with Bob at her heels, and gave a single comprehensive glance at Reed and me, at Danny still sitting on the bed, and at Nicky prone on the floor. She nodded approvingly at me. “Nice work, sweetheart.”
“Dolores!” Wide-eyed, I pulled away from Reed andstepped in front of her, trying to block her view of my cousin. “This, um, isn’t what it looks like?—”
She held up a hand. “Oh, I think it’s exactly what it looks like. On the way back over just now I told Bob, ‘That Chris is stronger than anyone gives him credit for. Mark my words, he’ll have saved himself.’ Isn’t that what I said, Bob?”
“That’s what you said, Dolores,” he agreed. He headed straight for Nicky and kneeled beside him to check his pulse, then patted Nicky’s pockets and produced some of the zip ties Nicky had used to bind me. He rolled Nicky over and secured his wrists behind his back with a kind of casual ease that left me blinking.
How had he…?
“Bob and I just took care of a little family business ourselves. Yuri isnotgoing to be a problem anymore,” she said grimly. When she saw me staring at her, wide-eyed, she smiled softly. “Let me back up. Dolores Evanovich, honey.” She pressed a hand to her chest. “Smith’s my maiden name. And I promise, we only ended up in Copper County ‘cause I wanted maple bacon cupcakes. Just a… a happy coincidence you might say.” She glanced at her husband and added in an undertone. “I could explain more, but Bob gets tetchy when anyone starts talking about Robert, Junior.”
“Can you blame me?” Bob muttered.
I glanced at Reed, stunned, and he nodded grimly. “Dolores saw your email from Nicky and recognized him in the woods later. She’s the one who knew where he’d taken you.”
“What are the hecking chances?” I whispered.
“Did someone call an ambulance?” Dolores wondered. “Looks like he might have a concussion.” She tilted her head and studied Nicky, who was muttering and cursing as he finally came awake. “If you ask me, he got offeasy.”
“I haven’t called it in yet. It’s been kind of a busy ten minutes,” Reed said. He took his phone out of his pocket, but hesitated. “Danny, when I call this in, you know what’s going to happen.”
Uncle Danny nodded once. “Back into custody. Possibly jail, since I left, ah…abruptlyand without signing the plea deal. I knew the risk. But I couldn’t not come when Chris needed me.” He smiled at me, and this time, it was the smile I knew and loved. The same smile he’d given me when I did something he was particularly proud of. “Though it looks like Chris didn’t need me quite as much as I thought.”
My stomach flipped and my lip quivered. I took a step toward him, then another, then Uncle Danny was on his feet and I was hugging him nearly as tightly as Reed had hugged me a few minutes ago.
“I need you,” I whispered. “I’ll always need you. Not to protect me, but to love me. Thank you for coming. Thank you for… for everything. I love you. And I’ll write to you. And visit. And… I’ll miss you.”
“I love you too, Christoforo.” He patted my back gently. “For all that I’ve done wrong, never forget that, okay?”
“Thereisanother option,” Dolores said slowly. “Isn’t there, Bob?” She arched one bright red eyebrow at Bob, and Bob nodded. “We—that is to say, Bob and I—have made a last minute change of plans. We’re going to be leaving Copper County tonight.”
“You are?” I said, disappointed. “But you said you wanted to stay for the pumpkin festival. And there’s your charcuterie board?—”
“I’ll leave you my email, honey. We’ll stay in touch, and I’ll come back for a visit soon. But I was saying to Bob earlier, ‘Bob, my sweetheart, my darling, my precious pearl,there is another bakery I’m dying to try in…’ Was it Biloxi, Bob? Or Buffalo? Or possibly Billings?”
Bob nodded. “One of them.”
“Who knows, we might even cross into Canada at some point.” She shrugged and her raincoat made a little squeaking noise. “Bob loves Canadian baked goods.”
“Can’t get enough,” he agreed.
“So maybe, Reed, we should say our goodbyes to you now…” She gave Reed a long look. “And thenyoucan run back to your cabin and get Chris a… a fresh shirt.” She ran a hand down my arm. “Since his sweatshirt is very damp, and as atrained Division agent, you’ll want to make sure he stays warm and dry. Meanwhile, the rest of us will say our goodbyes. And then when you come back in… oh, let’s say twenty minutes? Bob and I—just Bob and I, obviously—will have skedaddled, and you can… finish up your assignment. So to speak.”
When Dolores finished speaking, she, Bob, Uncle Danny, and Reed shared a series of long, intense looks I didn’t understand atall.
“Hey, um. Sorry to interrupt.” I raised a hand. “But I… I think I’m maybe missing something here?” I looked from Reed to Dolores and back again. “Also, what kind of special baked goods do Canadians have? I’m curious.”
Danny pressed his lips together like he was fighting a smile.
Bob ducked his chin and kept his eyes on his toes.
