Bob! Sydney shouted, and grabbed the phone back from him. What's wrong with him?

Don't worry about it, I said. The only thing that matters is that you're okay.

Patty, talking into her own phone, was saying, Yeah, I'm here with Mr. Blake, on the bridge, and Bob and Sydney are going to be here in just a second, and then we're all supposed to head back.

Now Bob was back on the phone. Hey, Tim, he said, doesn't some of what Sydney just told you sound kind of goofy? To Syd, he said, No offense.

Yeah, I said, looking at Patty. It does.

Patty said, Okay, see you soon. And she put her phone away.

I said to Bob, Get here quick.

Give us a minute to make sure the coast is clear, he said.

I put my phone away. Patty eyed me nervously. So that's great, she said, trying to smile. We're all going back.

What's this game you've been playing? I asked her, keeping my voice level. Telling Sydney to stay up here until it was safe? What was going on in your head?

Don't yell at me, she said.

I took hold of her by the shoulders. You think this is yelling? Patty, why did you do this?

She tried to wriggle away, but I held on to her.

I hate you, she said. I thought I could love you, but I hate you.

I wasn't letting go. Why did you do it?

She stopped fighting me, but wouldn't look at me. At first, I thought if she came back, I'd be in deep shit.

You? Why would you be in trouble?

Because' I gave her the tip to work for the hotel. I put her in touch with somebody.

I thought about what Andy had told me, about finding Gary and Patty meeting over a milk shake.

You knew Gary, I said. Andy saw you together.

Now she looked at me. She was puzzled. Knew?

Gary's dead, I said.

Dead? Patty said.

How did you know Gary?

I did some work for him. Couple of places I worked.

Stealing data off credit cards?

It was no big thing. She looked away. But I knew, if Sydney came back, and told everybody everything, it'd come back on me. How Syd got the job, that I knew Gary, that I used to rip off numbers for him. I'd be in deep shit.

Patty, Patty, Patty, I said softly, thinking of all the anguish she'd put me, and so many others, through the last few weeks. Didn't Gary, and the others at the hotel, didn't they think you'd know where Sydney was? Because you were friends?

They didn't know we were that close. I mean, they came to see me, right? I wasn't going to tell them where Sydney was, but I had to give them something, so I told them they should watch your house and Sydney's mom's place, but so what? I knew Sydney wasn't going to show up, because she was listening to me. She'd call me every few days and I'd tell her to keep laying low, right? And come on, let's face it, she's been safe all this time, right?

I heard a car pull up, a door open and close.

But you still could have told me, I said. It didn't make any sense to trick Sydney into staying away.

The thing is'

What?

She bit her lower lip. Then, I liked it that she was gone.

I felt a chill that had nothing to do with the night air. I thought of all the times Patty, since Syd's disappearance, had dropped by to see me. Showed up with dinner. Popped into the dealership.

Patty wanted to take Sydney's place. She could be my daughter if Sydney didn't come back.

Then why had Patty finally decided, in the end, to come to Stowe to bring Sydney back?

Unless that hadn't been the plan at all.

That's when I realized that someone was standing on the covered walkway only a few steps away. I'd been so focused on Patty, trying to figure out what she'd done, that I'd failed to notice we were no longer alone.

I whirled around. There was a woman standing there. She was holding a gun, and it was pointed at me.

It was Veronica Harp.

Chapter FORTY-SIX.

YOU LITTLE BITCH, VERONICA SAID TO PATTY. You mean you knew where she was all along? You waited until yesterday to tell us? You couldn't have mentioned this a couple of weeks ago?

So, there it was.

Patty had led Veronica here. To get Sydney. I could guess when she'd decided to make her betrayal of Sydney complete. After I'd told her I had one daughter, and didn't need another.

He has a gun, Patty told Veronica.

Great.

Veronica, keeping her weapon trained on me, said, Take it out slowly and toss it over the railing.

I reached behind me, pulled the Ruger from behind my belt, and did as I was told. A second later we heard it splash into the creek.

Do your Yolanda Mills voice for me, I said to Veronica. She held back a smile. Emailing me that picture was what really clinched it.

That was a bit of luck, Veronica said. I really was trying to figure out how to take pictures with my phone. I'm not very technical, you know, but I want to be able to take lots of shots of my grandson, and I don't want to have to carry a camera around if the phone will do the trick. So I was fiddling with it up in the hall when Sydney walked by. Who knew it would come in handy later? To Patty she said, You told me you hardly knew this Sydney kid. You're friends?

More than that, I thought.

I didn't want something to happen to her, Patty said. Then.

Veronica sighed. Working with children, I swear.

I said, I don't get it.

You don't get what?

How does someone like you, a goddamn grandmother, sleep at night doing what you do? Bringing people into the country, farming them out as slave labor. Taking all their rights away. Turning them into prostitutes and God knows what else.

Veronica became indignant. They get lots of good jobs. Nannies, hotel work, restaurants, construction. Let me tell you something. They've got it a lot better here than they did back in the countries they came from. You see any of them trying to go home?

Would you let them? What do they pay you to come here? What kind of horseshit stories do you tell them to convince them they're going to have a better life when they get here?

Veronica had nothing more to say. When it was clear she wasn't interested in debating with me any longer, I said to Patty, You know she's going to have to kill Sydney. And me. And Bob.

Patty said nothing.

And probably you, too, I said.

Don't listen to him, Patty, said Veronica. You fucked this up, but you've been a lot of help to us. You made the right decision, telling me how to find your friend. She was agitated. Where are the rest of them?

They should be here any second, Patty said. If they see your car It's across the street, behind a gift shop. Go out onto the road, flag them down, tell them to come onto the bridge, that Mr. Blake has turned his ankle, something. You're good at lying. She smiled. Aren't you, sweetheart?

Patty took a couple of hesitant steps.

Go! Veronica hissed.

Patty ran.

The shit's hit the fan back in Milford, I said. Have you heard?

She looked at me.

Gary's dead. Carter is dead. Owen's in the hospital.

I could tell that she didn't know about this. She was trying to hide her surprise.

The whole thing's unraveling, Veronica. You'd be smarter to forget about us and just get in your car and drive as far away as you can.

Shut up, she said.

You can't go back. I'll bet the hotel is swarming with police right now. When Owen's able to, he'll probably tell them everything if it means he can cut some kind of a deal. I'll bet he gives you up first.

I have friends, Veronica said, but her voice lacked confidence.

Out in Seattle, maybe? Did one of them send you that cell phone in the mail?

Just shut up.

I don't care how many friends you have. I don't like your odds now. I think, basically, you're fucked, Veronica.

Her eyes dazzled angrily as she held the gun on me. I don't think so.

We could both hear a car approaching. Then, in the distance, Patty yelling, Over here! Over here!

My gun was down in the creek, but Bob would still have his. The problem was, he had no idea he was going to need it. If I didn't think I could get the drop on Veronica she was careful to stand several feet away from me I would have to wait until I was sure Bob and Sydney were out of the car before I started shouting.

I heard the echo of a car door closing, then some girlish squealing. Patty and Sydney embracing. Sydney genuinely excited, Patty giving an Oscar-worthy performance.

They needed to quiet down, just for a second.

I could hear them approaching the end of the covered walkway.

Run! I shouted as loud as I could.

Fuck! Veronica said, and fired.

I was already moving, but not quite fast enough. My left ear suddenly felt very hot and my hand went up to it instinctively. I could feel blood trickling out between my fingers. The bullet had nicked the top of my ear. The shock of it bounced me off the walkway wall and down to the floor.

Instead of scaring everyone away, the shot brought people running.

Bob was in the lead, reaching around to his back, which suggested to me that he had the Ruger with him. He could see me down on the bridge, and Veronica, gun still in hand.

He brought out the weapon, fired one shot wild, using all the skill he'd employed when he'd taken a shot out the window of the Mustang.

Veronica threw herself up against the wall and fired back, even though Sydney and Patty were already on the bridge behind Bob, and at risk of getting hit.

Bob, as it turned out, was an effective cover for both of them. Oh shit! he shouted. The gun fell out of his right hand. He grabbed his upper right arm with his left hand and tripped over his own feet. Jesus! he said. I'm fucking shot!

Sydney screamed.

Now Veronica was running down the bridge, away from me. Sydney turned to run, but Patty blocked her way long enough for Veronica to grab her. She took hold of her by the arm and started dragging her back to where I was leaning up against the walkway wall.

Veronica said to Patty, Get that gun! Meaning Bob's, which had slid away from him. He was in too much pain to try to reach it.

Patty did as she was told, held the weapon down at her side in her right hand.

Veronica turned on Sydney and said, Get over there. She kept pushing Sydney along the bridge, then shoved her down when they reached me.