We didn’t get to see Flip that day. Instead, Mom and Dad took us home while the “mess” got sorted out.
“I think he was talking to me — Sam Shady,” Brady said in the car on the way home.
“What?” I shook my head and pulled my phone out of my backpack. Still dead. Oh well. How would I even begin to text all this to TJ?
“When I saw the Easter sneaker, I was Sam Shady, private eye. That’s the only Sam I know.”
Mom turned around in her seat. “You guys are not to talk to anyone about what happened today, you got that?”
So much for texting. Brady frowned, put on some earphones, and started playing a video game.
“Who is Sam, Mom?” I asked.
“I don’t want to get into that now. We’ll explain everything tomorrow. At least everything you need to know.” Great. That wouldn’t be much.
“Lynda, it’s been a hard day. Can’t you tell us something?” Dad looked like he needed to sleep for a week. “Were we really in danger up there on Half Dome?”
Mom sighed. “I hope not. But I’m pretty sure Flip and Fawn were.”
“So the F&F in your text was Flip and Fawn?” I knew it.
“Well, yes. But their real names are Daniel and Samantha Stevens.”
Dad rubbed his neck. “Drake Stevens’ kids?”
“Yep.”
“Who’s that?” I asked.
“Drake Stevens was a very rich real estate developer in New York.” Dad said.
“Was?”
“Yes. He was killed in a construction site accident a few years ago.”
“Flip and Fawn’s dad was killed? That’s terrible!”
“I know,” Mom said. “The worst part is that it wasn’t an accident. Flip and Fawn — I mean, Daniel and Samantha — found evidence to prove that people in their own company plotted to kill their father.”
“Did the people go to jail?” I asked.
“Yes — for a long time.” Mom looked down and then at Dad.
“Good,” I said. “But, I don’t understand. Why are Flip and Fawn here in Fresno working for Swiftriver?”
“They’re hiding out.” Mom turned around in her seat and looked at me. “And they don’t just work for Swiftriver. They are Swiftriver.”