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“I’ve been here a while. But thanks.” Warily, he shook Conor’s hand. Generally he didn’t get along with the Ivy League type. There were plenty of them at the FBI, not to mention in the ranks of lawyers he’d dealt with. But this was Bliss’ half-brother, so he could at least give him a chance.
First test. He explained his plan to lift the far corner of the fridge and dislodge whatever was jammed under it. Conor listened closely, then said only, “How can I help?”
Test passed. Not that he was an expert in this kind of situation, but certainly more so than a financial advisor.
“You can help stabilize it. I was thinking that Bliss could sit on the stove with a broom and poke at the obstruction. But we’ll need a piece of plywood to place on the stove.”
Conor nodded. “I’ll get something.”
He disappeared, just as Kendra came back with a pry bar and some pieces of dimensional lumber. They danced around each other, then paused to chat, heads together, Kendra probably telling him where to find plywood.
He felt Bliss’ hand on his arm again. “Conor seemed happy to see me, didn’t he?” The hope in her eyes made his heart twist.
“I’d say so. Why wouldn’t he be?”
“With us, you never know. My mother used to tell me not to trust my half-siblings. She always said they were trying to crowd me out so Gault wouldn’t pay attention to me. But when he did pay attention to me, she got upset and worried that he was trying to steal me away.”
He felt his eyebrows climb up his forehead. “She sounds a little paranoid.”
“Oh, she’s completely unstable.”
“Ain’t that the truth,” said Alvin from behind the fridge.
Bliss went pink. Apparently she’d forgotten he could hear perfectly well from his trapped position. “We’re in the cone of secrecy, right?”
“It’s no secret, B.”
A wide smile transformed her face into something magical. “B. I haven’t heard that in so long. Anyway, Mom’s much better now that she lives in Bali and has a live-in life coach.”
From behind the fridge, Alvin gave a surprised exclamation.
“You didn’t know she had a coach?”
“Not that. This box back here. I think it’s for you.”
“What?”
“Shine that light again. I just remembered where I saw it before.”
Granger grabbed the flashlight and angled it toward the obstruction.
“It says Box o’ Bliss,” Alvin said. “Gault made it for Bliss. I remember it now. I thought he gave it to you a long time ago.”
Granger looked back at Bliss, who shrugged in confusion. “I know nothing about it.”
“Must have fallen back here when we moved the new stove in. Used to be a cabinet here.”
Kendra reached them and handed Granger the pry bar. They filled her in on the box and the plan. A moment later, Conor returned with a half sheet of plywood, and they were underway.
When everyone was in position—Granger with the pry bar, Bliss perched on her knees on the plywood-covered stove, Conor braced to stabilize the fridge, and Kendra poised to help extract her father, Granger said, “On three.”
He counted down, then slowly put his weight on the long end of the pry bar. The angle was awkward, the pick point sketchy, but even so, the enormous piece of steel equipment slowly rose up from that corner. Bliss jabbed at the box with the broom. Kendra checked in with her father. “Still okay, Pop?” Conor kept the fridge from wobbling too much.
Bliss rose onto her knees to get a better angle on the box. “Come on, you mother-effer,” she swore at it. “Get out. Get out!”
Granger smothered a laugh, which would seriously compromise his physical safety right now. But she was pretty adorable as she swore at the Box o’ Bliss.
“It’s out,” she called. “It’s not jamming the fridge anymore.”
