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She sighs heavily. “Never trust the dog,” she mutters.
“How about the short version now and the long version later?” suggests Zeke.
“Okay, here goes. Sally Reynolds is El Tigre. She killed Ken Cameron and Mark Rinaldi and Eddie O’Leary. She also killed the two FBI agents in the kitchen—Rollins and Parks, only, they kind of deserved it on account of they were crooked. And Agent Billings—oh!”
I run to the bathroom where I find her gagged and tied up on the floor and most definitely awake. Her gray eyes are blazing with fury.
Zeke, who’s followed me into the bathroom, helps untie her.
Agent Billings stands up and rubs her wrists. “You have the situation under control?” she asks Zeke.
“Yes, ma’am,” Zeke says. “Or rather, Lucy does.”
Her gaze snaps to mine. “Lucy? I…heard some of what when on out there.” Her expression goes blank. “Rollins and Parks. Where are they?”
“Dead. In the kitchen. Sally…er, El Tigre killed them. They’ve been helping her all along.”
“I know. So Ken wasn’t dirty after all.” There’s sadness, but also relief in her voice. She takes a deep breath and looks me in the eye. “On behalf of the Bureau, thank you, Lucy.” She puts out her hand.
And because I’m a good sport (and yeah, I really messed up with the whole Mike thing), I shake her hand.
Agent Billings makes a phone call. Soon the place is swarming with more FBI personnel. The first thing they do is whisk Joey out the door. Sally is about to be escorted out too when she stops and turns around. She looks like she wants to say something but I beat her to it.
“So, all those weeks pretending to be a librarian. Did you even read the books we talked about? Do you even like to read? Or was that all just a big sham?”
“Of course I like to read. I’m not a total monster, you know.”
Well, at least there’s that.
“Lucy, don’t forget what we talked about before. Life’s too short.” She tosses me a meaningful look over her shoulder right before the feds take her out of the house in handcuffs.
“What’s that about?” Will asks once she’s gone.
“Nothing,” I say a little too quickly.
He gives me an odd look. That’s when I notice he still has the gun in his hand. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t realize that he’s still holding on to it. “So what now?” he asks Travis.
“We have everything we need from you two,” Travis says.
Rats! It’s just occurred to me that I missed dinner at my parents. “Will, we have to go. My mom’s probably going beserk wondering where I am.”
“Yeah, sure.” He sounds dazed. Not that I blame him. It’s not every day you have a life and death encounter with a notorious killer.
“Let’s get out of here,” I say, and then because I can’t help myself, I add, “Leave the gun, take the muffins.”
It’s nearly midnight, and I’m still at my parents’ house telling the story of how I caught El Tigre for the umpteenth time. Half of Whispering Bay has come and gone to either hear the story, congratulate me, tell me how they thought Sally was suspicious from day one, or eat some of my mother’s home-made toffee bars. I definitely have to give that interview to the Whispering Bay Gazette so everyone can read it all at once and I won’t have to keep repeating myself.
Mom has barely left the kitchen since all this happened. Her cheeks are flushed as she scurries around the house making sure all our “guests” have had something to eat or drink.
Dad, I think, is stunned by it all.
Paco has had his share of the limelight too. Everyone is praising him and telling me how lucky I am to have him. I couldn’t agree with them more.
Will and Travis are both here too, and I have to say it’s a bit awkward because:
A. Travis knows how I feel about Will, and he thinks I should tell him.
B. I can’t stop thinking about my kiss with Travis.
