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“Pizza’s fine by me, Mom,” Olivia called out to her.
Leave it to her daughter to overhearpizza… “Two times this past week is enough.” Sandra was laughing as she took out the meat and set about getting everything ready to cart to the dining table.
“Anything I could do?”
She looked up to see Nolan in the doorway. She resisted saying something sassy like her heart was tested enough this week and his offer to help might be the shock that sent her to the hospital. “Sure. Thank you.” She directed him to what needed to be taken out and where to place it.
“Nothing changes.” He smiled as he set off with a bowl of potatoes and carrots.
When he returned, he said to her, “You just had to call his bluff.”
“I really didn’t think he’d do it.”
“Well, at least his detonator was faulty, allowing us time to evacuate.”
“Yep. It worked out. And what can I say? Time had run out.”Maybe that sounded heartless…
Nolan laughed. “Huh, and you’re always the one asking for more.”
“I see the irony. And what’s up with you? Though I should have known you’d be packing a gun in an ankle holster, GI Joe.”
“I’d prefer Rambo, but I’ll accept the compliment. As for the backup gun, I wouldn’t leave home without it.” Nolan set off with two more dishes, and she finished slicing the beef. She took it out and found everyone was seated at the table.
There was only one person missing from tonight, though she wasn’t invited. Sandra’s mother, and she’d never know what happened to Olivia. With her failing memory, there was no reason to put her through that turmoil for the recollection to be gone the next moment.
Sandra sat at the head of the table and said grace. Even after she finished, she looked around the table at those closest to her digging in, and she was filled with gratitude. She smiled at Brice, and he mouthed, “Thank you,” to her, but she was the one thankful to him. She’d kept him at a distance for so long, but after everything that took place last week, she’d adopt him as chosen family. He was by her side from the start, sacrificing sleep and his well-being for her and Olivia.
She lifted her champagne flute and softly tapped her fork to the glass. Everyone looked at her. “I’d like to say a few things, but I’ll keep it brief. I don’t want the food to get cold. But I just want to thank everyone at this table for helping get Olivia back home to us safe and sound.”
Her table guests were Eric, Nolan, Brice, Elwood, Gabe, Lakisha, and Simon. As she took them all in, she felt her eyes warm with tears.
“We’re just happy it worked out,” Elwood said when no one else responded.
But there wasn’t much else to say. It had been a grueling few days, but it had a happy ending. “Who knew that one little tracker from my bra could have helped get us home too.” She smiled at her daughter and cupped her chin.
Olivia smiled.
“Tracker in your bra? I didn’t know about that one. I thought it was the one I stuck to your Mercedes,” Nolan said.
“You stuck one on my car?”
“I popped it in the back when I helped load the crate of gold.”
“Why doesn’t that surprise me?”
“And I assumed it was the tracker in the crate with the gold,” Gabe put in.
Sandra laughed. “I guess it wasn’t our day to die, huh, kiddo?” She winked at Olivia. “I’d like to make a toast. To Olivia!” Sandra touched her glass to her daughter’s. She’d allowed her a full glass tonight.
“To Olivia!” everyone chorused, clinked glasses, and tossed back some bubbly.
After the cheers, people returned to eating and conversation began to roll again. Most of it was about the case still, the one thing that bound every person at this table, so it made sense. There was talk about the abandoned warehouse. It had been a roofing company where Jennings’s father had worked when he was a teen, and they’d shut the doors about five years ago. Their trade explained the need for wood tar like that found on Dennis Eaton’s shoes. They also retrieved Olivia’s backpack and violin from Jennings’s van.
“I’ve got something else to toast about. Recovery of the real gold,” Nolan said.
There were someoohsandahhs.
Nolan continued. “Or at least most of it. So it turned out the crewman in charge of demolishing the fishing cabin disappeared just after the job.”
That much Nolan had filled Sandra in on before tonight.
“We finally tracked him down this week.” Nolan nodded his head toward Brice, clearly identifying the partner in hiswe. “He was living it up in some mansion in Miami. Most of the bars remained in a huge home safe. He’d take out what he neededhere and there. He’ll be going away as an accessory after the fact.”
“I’ll toast to that,” she said, raising her glass again.
“Wait,” Brice cut in. “I probably shouldn’t say this, but also to Jennings getting his comeuppance.”
Knowing she wasn’t the only one thinking that relieved her conscience some. “Salut,” she said. At least where Jennings had gone, there wouldn’t be any parole requests to protest. There was also justice in the fact he’d died by his own hand. He brought it on himself, but he never should have messed with her family. Same too, for Darrell Patton, who would remain behind bars for years to come, right where he belonged. “Actually, let’s just toast to us.” She smiled. She had everything she could possibly want right here. Eric on one side of her, Olivia on the other, and the rest of the table was filled with people who had her back. Who knew where life would take them next.
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