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“I’m with him.” Leroy nodded at George.
“Where did he come from?” Gaines asked.
“We’re from Reston, in Virginia,” Leroy answered.
Gaines shook his head and rolled his eyes. Definitely not members of Mensa.
The security guard took the lead. “I got a call from someone saying there was a suspicious-looking truck behind the building. When I arrived, a man wearing a welder’s mask was detaining Leroy with an acetylene torch.”
“An acetylene torch?” Gaines looked stupefied. “I must say, you people are truly creative. Good thing we’re at an art center.” Gaines let out a guffaw. “Where is the masked man now?”
“He took off once I arrived and put this guy in cuffs,” the security guard said.
Chi-Chi and Luna looked at each other at the same time, and exclaimed, “Jimmy Can-Do!”
“The baseball-bat guy?” Gaines was even more confused.
“That’s the one,” Cullen spoke up. “Odd. No one has ever seen him. He shows up before we open and comes back after we’re gone.”
“The honor-system dude.” Gaines remembered leaving the note about the bat, getting a call a few days later, and giving the man his credit card number over the phone. At that moment, it occurred to Gaines that he, too, had had a leap of faith. It could have been a scammer. There was still hope for humanity.
Several police cars pulled into the parking lot, lights flashing, sirens blaring. Ellie’s SUV was right behind.
The first one to get hoisted off the floor was Rowena. Luna nodded in her direction. “This is Rowena Millstone.”
One of the police officers began to read her her Miranda rights. “‘You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford one, one will be provided for you.’”
“Next?” Gaines helped them pull George off the floor as the second officer read him his rights. Then on to Leroy, who was protesting, claiming he didn’t do nothin’.
Ellie stood motionless and speechless. One thing was for sure, her security team had done its job splendidly. She surveyed the situation. “What on earth?”
“It’s a very long story, Ellie. I apologize for all the trouble this may have caused.” Cullen didn’t know what else to say.
“Nonsense. As long as everyone is OK. I’m glad my guys were at the ready,” Ellie replied.
“And you can thank Jimmy Can-Do as well,” Chi-Chi added.
“What does he have to do with it?” Ellie was totally confused at that point.
“We have it on good authority he derailed part of the getaway plan,” Gaines said.
“Getaway plan? Can someone please start at the beginning?”
As the police marched the three trespassers out to the squad car, Cullen explained the Millstone situation to Ellie, and how Luna had found a document that turned out to be the last will and testament of the fabulously wealthy Randolph Millstone, stuck in a table drawer, and the domino effect that discovery had had.
“And Luna saved the day with a fire extinguisher?” Ellie chortled.
“She did, indeed.” Gaines looked at Luna. “Are you all right?”
“I’m just fine, thank you.” Luna curtsied.
Cullen took the fire extinguisher from Gaines and placed it back on the wall.
“That was rather clever of you,” Gaines said, admiring her quick-wittedness. Then he chuckled. “I can’t wait to hear all the details as to how you got yourself into that situation.”
“Well, if a certain person hadn’t left his cell phone behind, we might have been able to avoid all of this.”
In an effort to lighten the mood and change the subject, Cullen addressed the others. “Three Brothers?”
