TWELVE

IT’S NEVER A good sign when you drive up to your house and there are cops everywhere.

It’s a huge slap in the face when you’re driving up from your non-honeymoon.

Neither of us said a word.

A.J. pulled up to the curb and got out, looking as nonaggressive as he could.

It dawned on me as I opened the car door that it couldn’t be anything too bad, or they wouldn’t have let us get this close to the house.

As A.J. approached the first cop he came to, Suzi — holding a smiling Evelyn — calmly walked out the door.

Seeing that A.J. was talking to the police, she walked straight to me.

Evelyn put her arms out, and I scooped her up and nuzzled her neck while Suzi filled me in.

“It’s got nothing to do with us. You know the girl from the neighbors behind us? She’s disappeared.”

“Runaway?”

“They don’t think so.”

“Why are they all at our house?”

“There are more of them at their house.”

“This is a whole bunch of cops.”

“Yeah.”

“How long have they been here?”

“Only about fifteen or twenty minutes. You arrived just in time.”

“Did you call my father? He loves to be a voyeur in all this stuff.”

“Actually, he called me about ten minutes ago. Wanted to know if I knew exactly what time you guys were getting home. I told him about it” — she smiled — “and here he is.”

Daddy drove up. He had someone in the car with him.

He walked up. “Ah, child. You are home at last. You were well and truly missed.”

“I missed you too, Daddy.”

“Don’t lie to your father. You were much too busy to miss the likes of me. As it should be.” I loved his smile. He looked much better than he had, even at the wedding. Maybe he’s put on a few pounds?

He walked back to the car and opened the door for Ada, Aldo’s wife. I tried to keep my face neutral. Neutral is better than shocked to shit, right?

She seemed a little tentative.

“Ada, how nice to see you. You’re looking well.” I gave her a hug.

I’m really not a hugger, but it seemed like the right thing to do.

Under the circumstances.

Not that I know what the circumstances are.

A.J. joined us and shared what he’d learned from the cops.

Basically, Rikki disappeared. Being just over eighteen, they normally wouldn’t push the panic button so quickly, but she’s one of those dependable kids everyone would like to claim as their own, and when she didn’t come home on time, her mother started snooping. She found some really disturbing stuff. Like an online but private diary. Turns out Teagan was right about her ex-boyfriend. He’s a jerk. Tiptoeing around abuse. I take that back. He’s abusive, just not yet physical.

Her mom called the police, and when they started asking questions, she mentioned that Teagan and I had had a little talk with the jerk before the wedding because he’d trashed our backyard.

The cops think that he might have been escalating. Even back then. Which is a really bad sign for now.

Turns out, he’s more of a creep than we knew.

When they started doing a minor background check, it came back with some really ugly stuff.

He’d been able to hide his bad behaviors from Rikki and her family, but his old girlfriends and even a couple of the members of his family cautioned he has a really bad temper, a scarily short fuse, and he was becoming more and more obsessed with Rikki. People were volunteering information and showing up to put in their two cents.

It kind of reminds me of Barry and Suzi’s story.

Look how that turned out.

The cops said someone would be here to talk to us as soon as possible. We were on our honeymoon, so we aren’t aware of anything that has happened since we left, but Teagan and I did talk to the jerk, so they’ll probably want to talk to us about that.

When they asked for Teagan’s number, I offered to call her and ask her to come over.

Daddy said she’d planned on it anyway, since we’d just gotten home.

I called Teagan. She said she’d be over in a few.

We all tromped into the house while A.J. pulled his car into the driveway.

I had the kettle on, and Daddy was dancing with Evelyn, when A.J. came in the door. “I’ll unpack the car later. Cara, do me a favor. Let the police deal with all of this.”

“Of course. Why would you even say that?”

“Because I know you? Teagan will come over here. The two of you will sit down and decide if you hadn’t cornered her old boyfriend, he wouldn’t have come after Rikki, and the two of you should do something about it.”

“Really? You think we should?”

He took a deep breath, looked at my dad, and shrugged.

“You married her.”

Everyone laughed.

Except A.J.

He just looked frustrated.

“I’m not going to do anything. I have a cruise to plan, remember?”

“Promise?”

I hesitated.

Not because I actually want to do something about the whole Rikki mystery, but because if I promise, then I don’t have an option if I choose to do something.

“Never mind.” A.J. sat down. “I’m not going to ask you to promise. But do me a favor. Before you do anything, at least let me know what the plan is.”

“I promise.” I kissed his forehead and fixed a pot of tea.

It wasn’t that we couldn’t tell the cops anything. We just couldn’t tell them anything they didn’t already know.

They knew Rikki’s boyfriend’s name. They knew his car and his plates. They knew his address. They figured she was with him, although I’m not sure why they came to that conclusion. Maybe she left a note or something. When you’re talking to cops, there isn’t a lot of give-and-take. You give information, they take it.

I’m sure they have more information than we do. I’m sure they have more to go on than people saying her ex was obsessed with her. I just don’t know exactly what they know.

The cops were gone. At least from our side of the fence. If you looked out the windows upstairs, you could still see a bunch of them at Rikki’s house.

Daddy and Ada left.

Teagan left right after they did.

Suzi and A.J. took Evelyn with them to say hi to Gran. They said they’d be gone a couple of hours.

Even with all those cops so close, I locked up the house and set the alarm. Not because I felt like I needed to, but because I promised A.J. I would. I’m not sure he’s over Barry getting into the house.

I decided that cooking would bring me some peace and that Jessie’s mother could use some home cooking.

I don’t think that it’s controlling behavior to send a huge grocery list to your new husband’s sister while you are on your non-honeymoon.

Suzi laughed a lot, but she did the shopping, and our house is fully functional because of it.

I started all kinds of meals for Jessie’s family and a good one for us. I recently found ball tip sirloin tip steaks. I’d never bought them before, but our big box store was having a special, and I figured if nothing else, I could use the cut for beef stew. Turns out, I use it for just about everything I use beef for.

I really like it cooked simply. I take the steak, let it warm up just a bit, marinade it in 7-Up for about an hour, then cook it as desired. I’ve done it on the barbeque, on the top of the stove, in the oven, and in the crockpot. It wasn’t great in the crockpot. Kind of fell apart when we went to eat it, but I’ll bet it would make good loose meat sandwiches that way.

Tonight, I’m gonna broil it. Baked potatoes. Salad. Some dinner rolls. It’ll be great.

I had all six burners and both ovens going when the phone rang. I was hoping that Daddy had dropped off Ada and wanted to come back over. He’d mentioned something about it earlier.

No such luck. It was a number I didn’t recognize.

Teagan always lets those go to voicemail, but I’m much too nosy for that.

“Hello?”

“Is this Cara O’Flynn?”

“Yes.” They must not know me personally if they don’t know that I’m now a proud Cooper.

“This is Rikki. Your neighbor.”

“Rikki?” I didn’t drop the phone. “Everyone is looking for you. Where are you? Are you okay?”

Why was she calling me?

“Is it true? Do you work for a powerful woman? Could she help me?”

“The cops are at your house right now. They could help you.”

“No. No, they can’t. You don’t understand. Please don’t tell them I called. It’s not the way it looks. I need help, and they can’t help me. Please. Don’t turn me in. It will be a thousand times worse. I’m okay. I just need some help. If you can’t help me, that’s okay. I’ll find somebody else. Sorry to bother you.”

“Rikki, don’t hang up!” Part of me wanted to run into the backyard and hand the phone over to the cops. They’re professionals. They know how to deal with this stuff. A near-hysterical teenager and a slightly panicked newlywed aren’t a good combination for making rational decisions.

“Can you help me?”

“I can try, but first you need to help me. Help me understand what’s going on.”

I’d sounded so stupid I figured she’d hang up, but she responded.

“I borrowed this phone. The lady is going to want it back. If the cops trace it, all they are going to find is some nice lady with a couple of little kids that let a girl use her phone.”

“So call me right back. You’ve got my number. I’m assuming you got it from your boyfriend.”

“He’s not my boyfriend, but yeah.”

“Tell me one thing before you go. Are you there voluntarily? Is anyone holding you against your will?”

“No.”

She didn’t say any more, and that wasn’t enough for me to run to the cops and tell them to call everything off. Because like an idiot, I’d asked two questions but got one answer, and I didn’t know which she’d been referring to. I was afraid if I asked for clarification, she’d hang up.

I wonder if this is going to get me in trouble.

Is there a law that says if Rikki called me, I have to tell the cops? Is that some kind of obstruction of justice or interfering with an investigation or worse?

That’s just how my life goes. I’ll be the one trying to do a good thing, sitting in the jail, with stripes on. Is it in Arizona they brought back the stripes?

They’ll bring back those ugly stripes just to punish me.

I pulled myself back to reality. “Can we meet somewhere? Can you call me back? What do you want me to do?”

“Promise you won’t turn me in until I can tell you everything.”

“Swear to me that you are not being forced to do whatever you’re doing.”

“I swear.”

“Rikki, this isn’t a game. I could get in big trouble for not telling the cops that I talked to you. Whatever you tell me, I need you to know that by tonight, I’m going to tell the cops that you’re not being held a prisoner or worse. Your parents are losing their minds. There are cops everywhere. It’s gotta be costing a fortune to have so many people looking for you.”

“You can tell the cops that I called you and that I’m fine. Tell them about the phone. I’m not anywhere they’re going to find me, and I don’t need them looking for me.”

“Then what?”

“I’ll call you later.”

She was gone.

I turned off the stove and ran for my back fence. I know I could have just called 911 or something, but this seemed to me to be the most expedient way to talk to the people in charge.

It didn’t take long for the cops to confirm that Rikki had borrowed a phone.

A woman was in a laundromat waiting for her final load to dry when a young woman walked in and asked if she could borrow her phone for just a minute. The young woman explained that her phone had been stolen and that she just wanted her mother to know that she was all right.

The young mother of two said that the girl seemed legit. She was by herself. Didn’t seem overly upset.

The young mother said she handed over her phone and stood between the door and the young woman on the off chance that the girl was setting her up to steal the phone. The girl walked over by the dryers and quietly talked on the phone for a couple of minutes, thanked the young mother, and walked away.

The cops said that they weren’t really closing everything down, but Rikki was over eighteen, she’d called and said she was fine, and the woman at the laundromat had confirmed that she didn’t seem to be held against her will.

There wasn’t a lot the cops could do, but they weren’t going to completely shut it down until they had eyes on Rikki so that they knew she was making her statements without duress.

I thought about asking if it was okay for me to try to find her, or to talk to her if she should call again, but decided against it.

Better to beg forgiveness than ask permission.

My mom used to tell us that all the time.

Teagan’s actually better at it than I am, so, of course, I called her.

She said she’d be right over. I’m not sure what she thinks we can do unless and until Rikki calls back, but I didn’t argue with her.

I called and explained everything to A.J. He stayed pretty calm, considering. I told him that Teagan was coming over and that we were going to talk about it, but that I didn’t expect to actually do anything.

He again asked me to keep him advised.

I promised.

Teagan was in a great mood when she got to my house.

“What’s up with you? Why such a good mood?”

“I’m always in a good mood, unless I’m not. What are we doing?”

“I guess we’re waiting around for Rikki to call back. Her mother was over here a few minutes ago. The cops told her that Rikki had called me and that she was fine. She’s beyond pissed. She thinks I should have told the cops when Rikki was on the phone so they could trace the call and show up where she was and grab her.”

“That only happens on TV.”

“I’m sure they can make it happen in real life, but I doubt they would under these circumstances. The cops told her that she could put up flyers. They aren’t exactly walking away from it, but it isn’t the huge response it was, and her mom blames me.”

“How are you at fault?”

“You’re asking a mother with a missing child to be rational.”

“True, I’d lose my mind. We could send Rikki a message via social media.”

“My guess is she isn’t going to log on for fear the cops are watching it.”

“We could head over to the boyfriend’s house again.”

“I’m sure the cops have done that.”

“But now that she’s not officially missing or anything, you have to assume they aren’t going to be watching the apartment, Cara.”

“True. I just don’t want to go out there and run around in circles.”

“Mrs. Cooper is very different than Cara O’Flynn.”

“Yes, yes she is.” I know Teagan was trying to bait me, but Mrs. Cooper doesn’t take the bait quite that easily.

She laughed.

We sat down for a cup of tea. I’d just taken my first sip when my phone rang.

Another number I didn’t recognize.

“Is this Cara?”

“It is. Rikki?”

“Yeah. What did the cops say?”

“They checked with the woman that loaned you her phone. I’m sure it complicated her day, but she backed up your story. So the cops said since you’re over eighteen, they aren’t going to turn over every rock looking for you. They haven’t totally given up.”

“What did my mom say?”

“She’s not happy. She’s scared. She’s worried. She wants you home.”

“I’d be home if she’d ever believe me when I tell her things.”

“I’m sure she’ll believe you now, Rikki. Why don’t you come home? I’ll come pick you up if you need a ride.”

“I’m not going there. Forget it.”

“Don’t hang up. Rikki, I don’t know what’s going on with you. I want to help, but to help, you need to talk to me. You need to explain what’s going on. All I know about you and your family is that you guys take down fences so that parties will be more fun and that you’re really smart.”

“How do you know I’m smart?”

“Didn’t you just graduate early?”

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

“It means you’re smart. You know how to get things done. You have a lot going for you. Can we meet somewhere?”

“How do I know you won’t just call my mom?”

“You don’t. So far I’ve done exactly what you’ve asked me to. You have to decide if you’re going to trust me or not. I’ve been totally honest with you.”

“Okay. I can meet you. Where do you want to meet?”

“You could come to my house. You know where it is.”

“Forget it.”

“I was kidding. Give me a minute to think about it.”

I looked at Teagan for suggestions. She mouthed the words Old Town. It was a good thought. I’m familiar with it. People there know me. I know people. If I have a problem and scream, someone might actually help.

“How about the diner in Old Town?”

“Okay. I’ll be there in thirty minutes, is that okay?”

“Yes. And I’m bringing my sister.”

“Forget it.”

“Rikki, you’re asking a lot of me. I’m supposed to go behind your parents’ backs, not tell the cops, and come alone? I don’t know you. I don’t know why you’re so scared, but it’s obvious you’re scared of something, and you expect me to walk into a meeting with nobody to watch my back. Sorry, that’s too much to ask. Either I bring my sister, or I can’t do it.”

Teagan was nodding her head.

“Okay, but just your sister. I’m coming alone.”

“Okay, see you in thirty.”

I hadn’t even hit the disconnect button when Teagan asked, “How did I get in the middle of this?”

“It’s your fault there’s any ‘this’ to get in the middle of.”

“What? How’s this my fault?”

“You’re the one that told her ex-boyfriend that I work for the world’s most powerful person. You made it sound like I could snap my fingers and demons from hell would rain down on anyone and anything that displeased me. She obviously heard about it and took you at your word.”

“Okay, but I gave him my phone number, how did she get yours?”

“Probably from her parents. We gave them our number in case anything needed to be done about the wedding or the party they had. Maybe they keep all their numbers on a whiteboard by the phone like Mom does.”

“They aren’t that old, Cara.”

“Old things can be good things, Teagan. Not everything has to be shiny and new and full of technology.”

“We gotta go if we’re going to be there in thirty minutes.”

“Let me just text A.J., and we’re out the door.”

We got to the diner a few minutes early. Teagan insisted we walk around the side to make sure there wasn’t anything funny going on, although I’m not sure she would have been able to identify something strange if she saw it. Old Town can be a bit of an adventure on good days. On bad days, there are a lot of different souls walking around.

Don’t tell A.J. and Morgan I said that.

They’re still working hard on Old Town’s image, but I believe the unique people and the tiny edge of seediness is what makes it special. It’s not all chrome and glass like other areas of town.

We went inside and were seated at a booth by the front window. I saw Rikki get out of a beater car halfway down the block. She didn’t even look around. She headed straight to the diner. I guess she assumes if the cops were there to grab her, there wasn’t much she could do to stop them once she was out of the car.

I gave her a finger wave to get her attention.

She looked really tired.

I introduced her to Teagan.

She shook Teagan’s hand. “Thanks for coming.”

Teagan took the lead. She does that most of the time. “We’re here. What’s going on? How can we help? What do you need?”

She stared into space as she talked. “I was just gonna take off. I’m old enough. I can do that now. I was just going to walk out the door and never look back. But I can’t. I can’t leave my sister in that house. She’s got five more years before she can get out. I thought about killing him. He deserves it.”

Teagan gave me a look like we’d just stepped through the looking glass to a very ugly land over which we have no control.

It came out a little bit at a time. When Rikki was younger, she didn’t fight back. She didn’t know any of it was wrong. Then when she was old enough to realize what was going on, her uncle screwed with her mind so completely and effectively she didn’t fight back. He claimed he’d recorded them, that he would put the pictures and videos on the web. Her school website, social media, the world would know, and it would be all her fault.

By the time she figured out he wouldn’t do anything of the sort, self-protection would be his only motivator to stay private. He told her that he’d provided the images to an equally screwed up friend, and they would go public if he were ever arrested. He had images of the friend’s endeavors, and she recognized his voice doing the byplay. He did voiceovers. While his friend did unspeakable things to a girl much younger than she was.

It scared her.

It humiliated her.

She talked to a girlfriend, and the same thing was happening in her home.

Rikki said that the exploitation of kids in this country is nothing short of a pandemic, and there was no one to help her and no way out.

When she told a counselor at school, he victimized her right there in the office.

She thought about killing herself, but that wouldn’t help her sister.

Maybe once she made sure her sister was safe, that was the best alternative.

“Have you told your mom?”

“She wouldn’t believe me.”

“What makes you say that? Of course she would believe you.”

“I told her about my ex-boyfriend, how I didn’t want to see him anymore and how he wasn’t a good guy. She insists he’s great. I guess that was my test. If she stood up for me against him, I could trust her to stand up against her own brother. He’s the one. He’s the one that does all of it.”

“What about your father?”

“He’d kill him. What good would that do? Then my dad’s in prison, and my mom still won’t believe me. It will all be a big mess. I’m not doing that. I just need someone that can make my uncle stop. Forever. My mom and dad don’t ever have to know.”

“It doesn’t work that way.”

“Okay, well, thanks for meeting me. I won’t bother you again.”

I reached for her hand. “Wait! Hold on. You can’t just walk away. We’ll figure it out.”

“You just said there’s nothing you can do, which is exactly what I expected, but my ex said I should give you guys a call. He said that you were crazy and not scared of anything. That you could help me.”

Teagan smiled. “He got the crazy part right. Where are you staying right now?”

“I’m not saying.”

“Okay, better question. Do you need a place to stay right now?”

“No. I’m good.”

“Okay, who’s your uncle and where do I find him?”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’m going to go have a little talk with your uncle.”

“You can’t do that.” She panicked.

“Rikki, what do you want us to do? If we can’t talk to him and you won’t tell anybody else about him, just what do you want from us?”

“I don’t know. I thought maybe your boss could do something.”

“Like what? Can she have someone go talk to him?”

“He’s gonna kill me. I mean that literally. He’ll have one of his pervert friends run me over with a car. He’s told me just how he would do it. Nobody would ever suspect him.”

“Then why don’t we go to the police?”

“That won’t work. He is the police.”

“What do you mean, he’s the police?”

“He’s a cop.”

“That doesn’t mean that all cops are bad. There are bad cops, but the vast, vast, vast majority of them are good people. They make good decisions. They only want what’s best for you. They would lay down their lives to protect you. You can’t let one bad cop make you believe all cops are bad.”

“But he has friends.”

“So are you saying there’s a ring of pervert cops?”

“No, his friends aren’t cops. As far as I know, anyway.”

Teagan tried again. “We could go to Internal Affairs or whatever they call it. My brother’s a cop. He’ll know who we should talk to. To keep you safe and get your uncle held accountable.”

Rikki shook her head. “You’re so funny. You talk like you actually think that is going to happen. That you’re going to talk to one person and get all this taken care of. Do you really think it’s that simple? Do you think if it was that simple I wouldn’t just take care of it myself? Cara said herself that I’m smart. I’ve been thinking about this for years. It isn’t that easy to fix. I’m stuck. My sister’s stuck. Maybe the best thing to do is just grab my sister and leave. I thought about it. I even talked to her about it. She doesn’t want to come. But he hasn’t started with her yet. I don’t think he has anyway, but when I leave, he will. He will for sure. It’ll be my fault.”

That did it.

To that point, Teagan was sad and hurt and full of sympathy for this girl.

Now she was angry.

She had laser focus.

“I’ll tell you what to do. I’ll tell you exactly what we’re going to do.”

We spent the next thirty minutes talking about Teagan’s plan. She then made a few phone calls and asked her soon-to-be sister-in-law to meet us at the diner. When you’re doing anything with criminals, especially one that’s a cop, having an attorney on your side is really important.

I called Adeline and asked her if I could put Rikki in the “oh shit” fund. It’s really shorthand for a fund that Adeline set up about a year ago. It’s used for things like medical bills for people that are working hard but can’t cover an expense or victims of crimes that don’t qualify for any other help.

The requirements are simple. It needs to be someone that needs help, doesn’t qualify for any other charity or program, and it’s a temporary thing that they are dealing with. It’s not a long-term program; it’s a quick helping hand.

When I explained the problem to Adeline, she said Roland would be joining us tout de suite. I thought about begging off. Roland has done so much for me lately. But then I thought if anyone could get to the bottom of this quickly, with as little publicity as possible, it would be Roland.

Two hours later, my head was ready to explode.

Teagan’s sister-in-law sat back quietly and listened.

She’s good at that.

I wonder if she could mentor me.

Roland had shown up. He wasn’t wearing a suit. It was weird.

Two of his guys showed up with him. Within minutes, they had made arrangements for us to take over the back room of the diner. It’s usually only used for meetings. My guess is more than a few dollars changed hands, because the servers were more friendly than I’d ever seen them, and I go in there a lot.

Roland had things popping up on his phone with some regularity. I guessed he was having the facts of Rikki’s statements checked out. The guys with him were probably feeding him information. First texting questions to the office for them to check on as they listened to Rikki’s story, and then texting Roland the answers they were coming up with.

We were several minutes into it when Roland pushed back from the table, then leaned forward and said, “Rikki, what’s really going on?”

“What?”

“The story you told Cara and her sister? You want to try again? This time you want to tell the truth?”

“I did.”

“No, you didn’t. I haven’t had every detail checked yet — I will — but I know some of it, maybe all of it, is pure fantasy.”

Rikki stood so fast the chair scraped on the ground and made a terrible sound. “I’m out of here”

“Sit down! You dragged all of us into this, and you’re going to tell me what’s going on. You don’t want to get sideways of me. Believe it.” Roland is always kind of intimidating, but his voice was gravelly, and his look would scare the crap out of anybody.

“I … I … ” Rikki stuttered. That can’t be good.

Nobody spoke.

Nobody breathed.

We waited.

I could tell Teagan was starting to get mad.

She can be as scary — if not more scary than — Roland.

She talked first. “Rikki, I trusted you. I don’t do that a lot. Either start talking, or I’m out of here.”

Rikki didn’t say a word.

Teagan stood up. “Come on, Cara. We’ve wasted enough time.”

“But, what about … ? We can’t just leave.”

“Roland will take care of her.” Her tone dripped with sarcasm. It was ugly, but it got a response, which is what she was after.

Rikki started to talk. “Okay, none of it happened. My uncle didn’t do anything. He and my mom are always on me, and I had enough. I talked to my boyfriend. He said Cara and Teagan are basically stupid and wanted so bad to do good stuff that we could get anything we wanted out of them. My uncle is a cop. If I said he messed with me, then even if nothing ever happened, there would always be suspicion, and it would screw him up.”

“Why would you do that?” I couldn’t help myself.

“It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Ruining someone’s life isn’t a big deal?”

“It would just mess him up at work and home. It wouldn’t ruin his life.” Rikki rolled her eyes. It wasn’t cute like when Teagan does it. It was rage inducing.

All Teagan could do was blink several times.

Do people really think that way?

How mentally ill do you have to be to think that way?

Should I try to get Rikki Baker-Acted? Have them hold her for a psych evaluation. Can a non — family member do that?

Roland was very quiet. “Your uncle is a very well-respected man. I doubt an accusation from a kid that obviously doesn’t like him would ruin him, but the fact you tried speaks volumes. There isn’t a lot I can do about this. Your crimes were only in the planning phase. What I am going to do is tell your uncle. And your mother. A couple of judges. A few police officials. I will have everything well-documented should the need arise to use our documentation in the future. Filing a false police report’s a crime, and one that I will have fully prosecuted, should the need arise.”

In Rikki’s situation, I would have broken down. I would have been hysterical, throwing myself at everyone’s feet, begging for mercy.

Teagan pointed out later when I shared that thought with her that I never would have been in that situation in the first place.

Good point.

Rikki left. Picked up in the same beater car she was dropped off in. Teagan’s sister-in-law left. She hadn’t said more than a couple of dozen words all night. She gave Teagan a hug, thanked me for all the meals I’ve cooked for her and her family, and left. I called A.J. and told him Teagan and I were on our way home, and the whole thing with Rikki was over.

Roland waited until I was off the phone to comment.

“I doubt this is over, Cara. You just ruined her plan. She had everything set. My guess is it was more complex than she confessed. Revenge or insipid fun and games doesn’t feel right. I think she was trying to get something more out of it. Not sure what. Could be any of a million different things. You keep those doors locked and the alarm on.”

“It’s become a habit. Second nature, really. I resent it.”

“Resent it all you want, but stay safe. I’ll call you tomorrow. Oh, and just a heads up, I talked to Adeline earlier today. The cruise is a go. She has talked to the girls. They’re doing their research. It’ll probably be a few weeks.”

“Sounds like fun.” Teagan smiled.

Teagan and I tromped off. Feeling foolish. Exploited. Taken advantage of. A little bit angry. A whole lot tired.

By the time I got home, Evelyn and Suzi were already upstairs, and A.J. was working on ideas for the catalog shoot.

Teagan begged off and left without having a cup of tea.

It felt like our non-honeymoon had been months ago.

I’d barely gotten the kettle on when the phone rang.

It was my neighbor.

Rikki called home and talked to her mother before anyone else got the chance. The best defense is a great offense, right? Kathy said after what her daughter had put her through in the last several weeks, she didn’t believe a word of what Rikki had said. She knew that I’d met with her and that she had some things to say about the family. She wanted to know what Rikki had said. We decided to have a chat.

She’d be over in a few minutes.

A couple of minutes later, I saw her come through the back gate. She looked exhausted. She looked broken. I felt really bad for her.

When Kathy sat at the table, she told me that Rikki had always been the perfect daughter. She was a great student. She was a bit of an overachiever, but she had always been able to balance her life well. She didn’t know what was going on, but she knew everything had changed.

We spent a couple of hours talking. About Rikki. About life. About my mom. About Roland and how he’d confronted Rikki. Everything that had been said in all of our conversations.

By the time Kathy left, I felt like I had a new friend. I don’t really have a lot of friends. My family takes up that place in my life and in my heart, but Kathy seems like she could be a friend.

Since I plan on living in this house for the rest of my life, and she feels the same way about her house, it seems natural to develop a relationship with our backyard neighbors.

She left just minutes before A.J. came into the kitchen for a cup of hot chocolate.

I explained everything to him.

How my interactions with Rikki kind of shifted my brain.

I could have ruined her uncle’s life had I fallen for all her lies, and the truth is, I’d fallen for every single one of them. Had I not wanted to put her on Adeline’s “oh shit” fund, Adeline wouldn’t have insisted on Roland joining us, and I wouldn’t have had the advantage of all of his data.

What would have happened to the uncle?

What would the domino effect have been? Because when you ruin someone’s life, there’s always a domino effect.

I felt terrible.

“You can’t be right all the time, Cara. You would have figured it out before you ruined anyone’s life. You have to take things one at a time. Just learn from it and move forward.”

“I think it’s a life lesson. A lesson to learn to mind my own business.”

“So the next time someone like Rikki calls and asks for help, you’re going to hang up?”

“No. I couldn’t do that. It’s not right.”

“Then what’s the alternative?”

“I don’t know. I’ve got to think about it.”

A.J. shifted in his seat. “Suzi and I were talking while you were gone.”

“That sounds ominous.”

“Nothing like that. She has a bunch of stuff in storage. I still have stuff in storage. We’re both going to go through everything and then either combine what’s left over into one storage, or better, move it here. How do you feel about that?”

“I think you should move everything here. It’s dumb to pay for storage you don’t need. This is your home.”

“You haven’t seen everything I have in storage.” He chuckled.

“Doesn’t matter.” I smiled. “We have a huge basement.”

He grabbed me. I let out a whoop and a laugh.

“We’re gonna get started on it this weekend. Want to help?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“You don’t want to help us get organized?” His eyebrows almost met his hairline.

I could read his thoughts.

You read about people changing their approaches to life the minute they get married. He, for a split second, wondered what he’d gotten himself into.

I almost laughed.

“I think I’ll take the opportunity to go through some stuff of my own.”

“You have everything all sorted out and put where you want it. You were done with that kind of stuff ten minutes after we moved in.”

“Not all of it.”

“What’s left?”

“Bernie’s trunk.”