Page 57 of Summertime Rapture

“If Mallory’s right about these people, they could be violent,” Bruce shot back. “They might want to do anything to protect the secret of what they’ve done.”

“You don’t understand. Agnes, Peter, Aiden, and I used to hang out all the time. They were practically like second parents to my children.”

Elsa’s heartbeat ramped up.Was Bruce right?The pie was minutes from fully baked. All they had to do was wait for it to cool a little while, jump in the car, and head over.

“I really hope you don’t do this,” Bruce said. It was almost a threat.

“Bruce, come on. We have it handled,” Elsa insisted.

Bruce exhaled loudly. “I have to meet a client right now. Will you at least hold tight until I finish the meeting? We can talk about this more. Think about it more rationally.”

“Bye, Bruce,” Elsa said, rolling her eyes toward Mallory as she stepped in from the back porch.

“What’s he up to?” Mallory asked, just as the beeper for the oven blared out.

“He thinks he knows better,” Elsa said mischievously. “But I think we have something a bit better on our hands. A gorgeous blueberry pie— and enough spunk to get the information we need out of Agnes. With Bruce there, it would never fly.”

Mallory saluted her mother, grinning so hard that the dimple she hadn’t shown since her girlhood years popped in. “Aye, aye, captain.”