Page 136 of Too Old for This

I am supposed to spend my remaining years arguing with telemarketers, gossiping about petty-cash thefts, and playing with my new grandbaby. I am not supposed to be famous or infamous or a killer on the run.

“She was really passionate about this project, as you know,” he says. Cole can’t help himself. He is still trying to be the hero.

“How thoughtful of you,” I say.

“And I want to ask you the same thing she asked. Will you consider being interviewed for the show?”

I stand up. “Let me get some napkins. Why don’t you show me what you’ve got in mind?”

He takes out his phone. I shuffle over to the umbrella standand grab my old one. It feels so solid in my hand. The handle would crush his skull in an instant, same as it did to Plum’s.

Instead, I let go. The umbrella drops back into the stand.

Maybe it’s because of what Cole said. Ever since Spokane, I’ve been thinking about my conversation with Burke. Specifically, about his obsession with being remembered.

I won’t be. Not as things stand right now, anyway. And for Archie’s sake—along with those of Morgan, Olive, Noah, and the baby—I don’t want to be remembered for my past. Which means I have to do something new, something amazing, something people will talk about for a long, long time. Somethinggood. And I have to do it fast.

“What if I help you make one of these shows?” I ask.

“By help, you mean doing an interview?”

“I don’t mean a series about me, but about someone else who was wrongfully accused of a crime.”

Cole scrunches up his face. “Who?”

“We could figure it out together. You and I could continue what Plum started.”

He sits back, appearing to think about this.

“And if we made a series about someone elderly like me,” I say, “they would be more likely to talk to someone their own age. I could help you with this.”

“I didn’t think about making more shows,” he says. “Just the one about you.”

“But then Plum’s dream would die, wouldn’t it?”

He slowly nods his head. “That’s true.”

“We can’t let that happen. If you want Plum to be remembered, it has to be something that continues on.”

The more I think about it, the more I love this idea. It’smurder-adjacent, but it doesn’t put me at any risk. I wouldn’t kill anyone. My job would be to talk about it, and to get others to open up.

Now, that I can do.

“She did a lot of research,” Cole says. “There are quite a few cases she was considering.”

“Well, of course. There areso manywrongfully accused people in the world. We could make a real difference.”

“In Plum’s name.”

“Absolutely.”

I smile, he smiles, and it feels like the start of something new and exciting. Even at my age, that’s possible. There’s a whole world out there that doesn’t include murder. Not directly.

Cole shifts in his seat. I glance under the table and purse my lips. I’d forgotten how tall he is. I’d have to break his legs to get him in the freezer.