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  Maggie’s voice broke on a sob, but she rushed on. “I’ve always been there for each and every one of you, time after time, and you damn well know it. Yeah, sometimes I’m bossy, yeah, sometimes I’m over the top with my ideas and plans, but in the end, it always worked. Until recently,” she said, her tone fierce.

  “I called off the detectives. You guys are unfettered now to do whatever it is you’re doing. I’m sorry, too, about that banana tree. It was a stupid thing to do. I just wanted you all to know you weren’t as smart as you thought you were, and if I could figure it out, so can certain other people. Well, that’s all I have to say. Good luck with whatever it is you’re doing.”

  To her dismay, tears started to roll down her cheeks. Cyrus started to whimper. Maggie gave her muffler a wide swing, wrapped it more securely around her neck, and turned to go.

  She was almost to the door when she felt her feet leave the floor and she was suddenly airborne. And then she was falling and felt someone catch her. Jack! Harry had tossed her to Jack. Oh, God, they were going to kill her. Cyrus barked his head off, then started to howl.

  Everyone started talking at once but whatever they were saying made no sense to Maggie. Either they were going to rip her apart or they weren’t. “Okay, okay, how many times do I have to tell you I’m sorry? I’m sorry, okay? I’m going to get out of your hair; there’s no need to kill me or . . . to . . . do whatever it is you’re . . . ah . . . planning.”

  “No one is killing anyone,” Harry said. “We accept your apology in the spirit it was given. We’re going to welcome you into our little club, aren’t we, guys?”

  “Uh-huh,” Jack said.

  “You bet,” Abner said.

  Maggie looked at the Big Three: Ted, Espinosa, and Dennis. The three of them were smiling and nodding. She swooned. “You forgive me?”

  “It’s either that or kill you, and we have never been in the killing business,” Harry snapped.

  “Oh, God! I love you guys!” Maggie said, as more tears flowed down her cheeks.

  Chapter 9

  Maggie walked on air as she made her way upstairs to Harry and Yoko’s spacious apartment on the second floor of the dojo. She would spend an hour with Yoko and Lily until Harry and the boys finished their seven P.M. class and Jack offered her a ride home. She felt light-headed with relief that the boys had welcomed her back into the fold. Even Ted, who had been stone-faced in the beginning, had hugged her and then given her the famous lopsided grin that she loved. For now her world was right-side up. Childishly, she crossed her fingers, so that it would stay that way.

  Yoko hugged Maggie and ushered her into the kitchen, where she offered tea and rice cakes. Lily, she said, was in her room playing and would be ready for bed in a few minutes. “You look . . . I don’t know, extra happy.” Yoko smiled. “Do you have a new man in your life, or did you and Ted patch it up?”

  Maggie debated a full moment. What to say, what not to say? She pointed to the floor, and said, “Let’s just say I have a whole bunch of guys in my life.” Before Yoko could ask any more questions, Maggie inquired about how the nursery was doing. The nursery was the love of Yoko’s life. She loved planting seedlings in her greenhouse and watching them sprout and come to life. She loved the Christmas season and pretty much lived on-site, with Harry taking care of Lily because business was better than brisk.

  “You aren’t going to believe this, Maggie, but guess who came by to buy a Christmas tree today? I waited on him myself. The vice president, that’s who. He said his secretary always buys her trees from me and recommended me. I had Secret Service all over the place. I wanted to whip out my gold shield, but I was very good and I didn’t.” She giggled, and Maggie giggled, and then they were hugging each other and laughing till their sides ached. Oh, this feels so good, Maggie thought.

  The two women talked then about everything and nothing, just two old friends playing catch-up. They stopped once to put a sleepy Lily to bed. Cooper, Lily’s protector, eyed Maggie warily until she left the room. At which point he hopped on the little girl’s bed and dropped his head on his paws as he settled down to guard his small charge.

  Maggie and Yoko returned to their tea in the kitchen and picked up where they had left off. They chatted until Jack whistled from the bottom of the steps that he was ready to leave.

  Maggie grabbed her coat and pack, hugged Yoko, and promised to help out at the nursery on the weekend, the last weekend before Christmas, when things got so hairy Yoko’s workers didn’t know if they were coming or going, and any help at all was appreciated.

  Maggie was stunned at the snow on the ground when she climbed into Jack’s car. She shivered until the heater kicked in, then relaxed. For the most part, they made the trip to Georgetown in silence, Jack concentrating on the road conditions and Cyrus being uncommonly quiet. When they reached the street they both lived on, Maggie noticed that Jack and Nikki’s house was dark, which meant Nikki wasn’t home yet. “Want to come in for a beer or a sandwich, Jack? I don’t know about you, but I didn’t have much to eat today, and I know you guys never eat before a workout. Your house is dark, so Nikki isn’t home yet. It’s up to you.”

  “Sure,” Jack said agreeably. “Just let me drop Cyrus off at home.” Maggie’s sigh of relief at not being rebuffed made Jack grin in the darkness.

  When she and Jack got back to her house after settling Cyrus at Jack and Nikki’s, it was not until she slid her key into the lock that Maggie remembered about her new roommate. She froze in place and slapped at her head. “Oh, my God, I forgot about . . . jeez, I hope he’s okay. I just got him. Oh, Jack he was so bedraggled. I need a name. I couldn’t come up with a name because I was so upset with all of you, and . . .” She pushed at the door and looked around frantically. Jack stood rooted to the floor as he looked around to see what Maggie was talking about. He smiled when he saw a skinny yellow cat with green eyes coming toward Maggie. The mangy cat circled her feet and purred so loud, Jack laughed out loud.

  “This is your new roommate?”

  “Yeah. Yeah, he is. He’s not much to look at right now, but I’ll fatten him up. He likes to sit on your lap. He’s sweet. He came . . . at just the right time. I had pretty much hit bottom. I was ready to throw in the towel and hit the road.” Maggie’s tone turned defensive as she scooped up the yellow cat and nuzzled him under her chin. He purred even louder. “Everyone needs someone at some point in time, Jack. Today was my point in time.”

  Jack nodded. That, he understood. “What do you call him?”

  Without missing a beat, Maggie blurted, “Hero. Because he is.”

  “Sounds good to me,” Jack said as he tweaked the cat under his chin. Hero hissed his disapproval. Jack laughed. “Once he gets to know me, he’ll love me. Animals love me. I bet Cyrus and he will get along. Maybe a play date. While you cuddle with him, do you want me to make my own sandwich and yours, too?”

  “Sure. I have some pickles in the fridge. Put some on my plate. Coffee or beer?”

  “Too late in the day for coffee. I’ll go with the beer,” Jack said, taking off his jacket and making himself at home in Maggie’s kitchen. Something he’d done often in the past.

  Maggie looked around, set the cat down, and removed her jacket. It was almost like old times. Almost. And almost wasn’t going to cut it with her. She needed to hear words, wanted precise explanations. In short she wanted yesterday but was not foolish enough to think that’s what she was going to get. But she was desperate enough to take whatever she could get and work from there. “So, talk to me, Jack.”

  Jack talked while he made the sandwiches and uncapped the two beers he set on the table, laid out napkins and paper plates. Even though it was bad manners, he talked while he was eating and was still explaining things as he opened the second set of beers. He finally wound down by saying, “That’s pretty much it. I don’t think I left anything out. You got questions, ask me now before I head on home.”

  Maggie’s arms flapped in the air. “Why?�
�

  Jack shrugged. “It just evolved, Maggie. Everyone seemed discontented, especially me, so I guess you could say I was the catalyst. You girls had moved on. Then there was that disastrous Thanksgiving last year with Charles. I guess you could say we were all ripe for doing something. Especially me since Nik and I hit a rough patch, Abner and Isabelle were snapping and snarling at each other, and you and Ted were ... whatever you and Ted were doing, which, according to Ted, was that you left him swinging in the wind.

  “We were actually starting to talk about it before dinner that Thanksgiving, and Charles was on board. The truth is that of all of us, Charles was the most gung ho. He said he was sick of writing his memoirs that no one would ever read. That’s one of the reasons I think we decided to forge ahead once he was gone. We couldn’t have gotten it off the ground without Dennis and his money.

  “Yeah, we were trying to keep it secret, at least for a little while. Stand on our own laurels, so to speak. We’re on a case right now. There’s no doubt in my mind or the others’ that if we somehow managed to run aground, we’d call on you girls. If you need more than that, you’re out of luck, I’m afraid. It’s the best I can give you right now.”

  Maggie nodded. “I’m good for now with what you’ve told me. Does the case you’re on have anything to do with that slew of pictures Ted and Espinosa sent me? It’s Lieutenant Governor Sandford, right? You’re gonna take him down and are using his wife, Fiona, as bait, right?”

  Jack was shocked. He almost jumped out of his skin when Hero leaped onto his lap and started to purr.

  Maggie laughed out loud at the expression on Jack’s face. “Now be nice to him.”

  “How’d you figure it out?” Jack asked as he reared back as the cat tried to climb his chest.

  Maggie made a disgusted sound deep in her throat. “I’m a reporter, for crying out loud. I sense things, feel things, and my gut kicks in. It’s what I do. It’s in my blood. You guys are going to nail that slum landlord, right?”

  Jack gave up being surprised. “Sandford got away with it the first time around because he’s wealthy, his family is powerful, and he’s the lieutenant governor. If the law won’t step in, then we’ll do it for them. We’ve got a plan, and we’re going to make that skunk wish he’d never been born.”

  “Your . . . ah . . . plan . . . that isn’t like that pumpkin plan you had back in Utah when things went to hell, is it?”

  Jack grimaced. “Damn, am I ever going to live that down? In the end, it worked. But to answer your question, our plan is foolproof. Trust me.”

  In spite of himself, Jack found that he was stroking the skinny cat’s head. Hero purred so loud that Jack laughed out loud. “Cyrus is going to pitch a fit when I get home and he smells this cat on me.”

  Maggie giggled. “Into each life a little rain must fall. Suck it up, big guy.”

  “I gotta go, Maggie. Listen, for whatever it’s worth, I’m glad you’re on board.”

  Maggie reached for the cat and cuddled it close to her chest. The little animal felt warm and safe in her arms. “Me, too, Jack. Me, too.”

  Maggie rolled over and groaned. What was that noise? The phone? The doorbell? She squinted at the red numerals on her bedside clock, which read 4:58. It was the doorbell! Who rang someone’s doorbell at this time of the morning? An emergency? Cops? What? She swung her legs over the side of the bed and raced from the room and down the hall. She took the steps two at a time and almost threw herself at the door. She didn’t even bother to check the peephole to see who was on the other side of the door. She swung it open, and barked, “What? Do you know what time it is?”

  Ted didn’t say a word; he kicked the door shut with his foot, grabbed her and kissed her until her teeth rattled. When he broke away, he stared down at Maggie, and said, “Say something, or I am outta here forever, and this time I mean it.”

  “Do that again, that thing you do with your tongue,” was all Maggie could manage to say. Ted obliged.

  When they broke apart the second time, Ted took charge. “It’s too cold in here. I’ll make a fire, you turn up the heat and make us something to eat and lots of coffee unless you want to skip all that and we head to the second floor now.”

  Maggie blinked. Who was this guy who was suddenly in charge of her life? Whoever he was, she decided in that moment that she liked him. She turned and galloped up the steps, Ted right behind her. She flew to the bed, jumped on it as she was ripping at her pajamas. “What’s taking you so long?” she yelled as Ted tripped over his own feet.

  The yellow cat hopped up on the bedroom chair and curled into a ball as he tried to shield his ears from the wild whooping sounds that filled the room. Eventually, he fell asleep when the room turned quiet.

  Chapter 10

  Jack Emery laughed out loud when he walked out his front door at six o’clock with Cyrus to see the Post van parked in front of Maggie’s house. Maybe this time the relationship would take. At least he hoped so. Ted and Maggie were meant for each other, in his opinion. He looked around to see Cyrus lifting his leg on the lamppost. He whistled as he clicked the remote in his hand. It chirped, and his car door unlocked. Cyrus beat him to the car and hopped in the minute the door was open.

  Jack shivered in the early morning air as he scraped at the ice on the front and back windshields. He was so sick of snow and cold weather, he vowed once again to move to a warmer climate. Inside the car, he waited until the heater kicked in before he inched the car away from the curb.

  Jack stopped for a bagel and coffee and Cyrus’s early morning treat along with a bag of bagels for the guys, then made his way to the BOLO Building, where he tapped in the code to the new security gate. He was surprised to see that Harry, Abner, and Dennis were already inside. He was surprised because usually he was the first one there in the morning. Noticeably absent were Espinosa and Ted.

  “Okay, meeting, five minutes. Someone get Bert and Sparrow on the Web and let’s get this show on the road,” Jack barked.

  “What about Espinosa and Ted?” Dennis asked.

  Jack shrugged. He wasn’t about to gossip about Ted, and he knew Espinosa would show up sooner or later. “We can always fill them in later. Someone make coffee. I bought a bag of bagels for whoever wants one.” He tossed the bag to Dennis, who caught it in midair.

  The guys scattered, and Jack headed for the conference room.

  “Jack, did you forget the time difference? It’s four in the morning in Vegas. Are you sure you want me to roust the guys out of bed?” Abner asked.

  “No, no. I did forget. Guess we’ll fill them in later, too. Ah, I just heard the door, so that has to mean Espinosa is here.”

  Abner frowned. “What about Ted? You look kind of funny, Jack, do you know something you aren’t saying?”

  “You mean like my seeing the Post van at Maggie’s house when I got up this morning? Nah, I’m not saying anything about that.”

  Abner grinned, then burst out laughing as he booted up his laptop, flexed his fingers, and went to work as Jack started pulling out stacks of files and folders from his overstuffed briefcase and making neat piles on the big conference table. When he finished, he looked up to see Espinosa, coffee cup in one hand, bagel in the other, saunter into the room.

  “Where’s Ted, anyone seen him?” Espinosa asked as he chomped down on the bagel in his hand.

  Abner ignored him, and Jack shrugged. “I haven’t seen him.” Which was true—seeing the van wasn’t the same as seeing Ted in the flesh.

  “I’ve been calling him for the past hour and either he has his phone turned off, which he never does, or he lost it. I called him nine times and nine times it went to voice mail. I sent him four different texts. This is not like Ted. I’m starting to worry.”

  “Then why don’t you try Maggie’s house if you’re so worried?” Abner mumbled.

  Espinosa almost choked on the bagel he was chewing. “Why would I want to do a dumb thing like that?”

  “Maybe because that’s wh
ere he is,” Abner said slyly.

  Espinosa’s fingers flew over the keys like lightning. He sat back and waited. “I’m not getting a response,” he groaned.

  “And this surprises you?” Abner cackled. “Try this: They are together. If he doesn’t respond, and she doesn’t respond, what do you think that means?” Abner didn’t bother to wait for Espinosa’s response and answered the question himself. “It means they are together and probably doing something that’s none of our business.”

  Dennis took that moment to walk into the conference room, carrying a tray with coffee cups and a cup of tea for Harry and a plate of bagels. “What did I miss?”

  “Ted and Maggie are shacked up,” Harry said through clenched teeth. “How long did you let the tea steep?”

  “Four minutes precisely, just like you said. And it’s flurrying outside, in case anyone cares. They’re really shacked up! Wow!” Dennis said, his face beet red.

  “We don’t care if it’s snowing. It’s been snowing off and on for days, so that’s nothing new. Can we get down to business here? I have a class in forty minutes,” Harry said, sipping at what Jack called his shitty tea. He nodded approvingly, to Dennis’s relief.

  Jack whistled to get everyone’s attention. “Listen up. We have five days to pull this off. Now let’s all get serious here. For starters, the Sandfords and their Christmas decor will be running in the Post every day, along with the other entries in the local Christmas contest. Ted and Maggie came through on that, and Espinosa, I have to say, those were some real gritty pictures. You did good.

  “Dennis, you’re on top with Luther Jones, right?”

  “Got it all locked up tight. We own him. He’ll do whatever we say. He got the other gang leaders to agree to a meet, and things actually worked out. All they want is a decent neighborhood. The Christmas festivities at the church are all taken care of. We can ride in, do what we have to do, ride out, and it’s like we were never there. In other words, Luther and his boys have our backs. There is only one little problem. Luther said if we don’t come through for them, all bets are off. I assured him we were sincere, to which he replied that actions speak louder than words. I’m certain we have a lock on it.”