The Country Guesthouse (Sullivan's Crossing #5)(88)

“That’s right, Victoria. You’re caught. Roger wore a wire while you gave him instructions on how to kidnap Noah,” Wilhelm said. “Your own grandchild, yet. You’re sinking lower every year.”

“You don’t have anything on me,” she said. “Hearsay, that’s all.”

“No, we have a warrant. The testimony of your partners on the seniors’ services scam and the guardianship fiasco got us an extradition warrant, and we had a warrant to wire young Roger here...”

“You’re an idiot,” she spat at her son.

“Nah,” he said. “I’m just done. And if someone doesn’t stop you, you’ll end up really hurting someone. Like Noah. I never thought you’d go that far. But then, what’s the difference between helpless kids and helpless old people?”

“And then there’s the matter of your cancer,” Wilhelm said. “How many people have you ripped off with that one?”

“I’ve been lucky! I’ve gotten better! I have medical records!”

“I know,” Wilhelm said. “We’ve been collecting them. Pure art, I’ll give you that, but the doctors whose letterheads you used don’t have you registered as a patient.” One of the marshals pulled out handcuffs.

“You can’t be serious,” she said. “You’re going to cuff a little old lady for some fancy paperwork?”

“With your reputation, we should put you in leg irons,” he said.

Helen sidled up to Hannah. “Where is Noah?” she whispered.

Hannah smiled. “Noah and Romeo are with Sully. Time to go get them, I think.”

  Hannah wanted to go to Noah at once while Owen was waiting around with the police until Victoria was taken away. Helen offered to drive Hannah to the Crossing, and Owen agreed to catch up with them when business at the house was settled.

Noah and Sully were sitting at a table on the porch, playing checkers. The dogs made perfect bookends, lazily reclining on either side of them. Hannah leaped from the car the moment it stopped in front of Sully’s house. She ran across the yard and up the porch steps, wrapping her arms around Noah and pulling him right out of his chair.

“Noah, Noah,” she said, nuzzling his neck.

“Wow, you might be overhugging, Hannah. I can’t hardly breathe.”

She loosened her grip a little. “Sorry. I guess I was missing you.”

“I’m right here,” Noah said. “Hey, you crying?”

“I’m just a little emotional today,” she said.

“Women do that, Noah. Might as well get used to it,” Sully said.

“That’s okay, Hannah. Sometimes that happens to me. Is Owen coming?”

“He’s coming in the SUV so we can take Romeo home. He’s just finishing up a couple of things. He should be here soon. And then we should figure out dinner.”

“Sounds like you should relax while I figure out dinner,” Sully said.

Helen caught up. “I think once we dig around in the freezer, we’ll be ready to serve. I know there’s marinated chicken and salmon in there. Hannah, tonight you and Owen should sit back and let us cook. I’m sure Cal and his crew will show up. It’s time to relax.”

“I won’t be fully relaxed until certain people leave the state,” Hannah said.

  Roger Addison had permission from a judge to accompany Detective Wilhelm to Colorado to participate in a sting that would corner his mother. He went with the detective back to Minneapolis on a commercial flight. Victoria was escorted back on a different flight by two US marshals two days later. The marshals were involved because some of her guardianship scams crossed state lines and drove into federal territory, as did some of her cancer fund-raisers, promoted on social media. Previous partners in the short-lived seniors’ benefit business had agreed to testify against her; she had waited too long to turn against them. And once the story hit the papers, a number of landlords recognized her picture and called the police, offering their own testimonies about failure to pay rent and unpaid loans.

A successful career in conning people was finally cut off. She’d be facing a grand jury but it was impossible to know what charges she might stand trial for. Undoubtedly there would be a lot of fraud, which was her main career. But any good grifter knew you could never go back to a mark who has found you out, which made Hannah, Owen and Noah pretty much out of the target area. Still, Cal vowed to keep in touch with Bruce Wilhelm for a long time, keeping track of Victoria Addison and, though he had not been charged with any crime, Roger Addison.

On a perfectly and blessedly normal evening at the Abrams household, Noah and Hannah were finishing up their evening reading. They were almost done with Treasure Island and looking to start a new book on another day. Owen came to the room carrying a brandy and sat close to Hannah.

“Don’t let me interrupt,” he said.

“We’re just about done for the day,” she said. “We’ve been talking about what we should read next.”

“I’m thinking about Swiss Family Robinson,” Noah said.

“That’s a good one,” Owen said.

“And I been thinking about something else. That thing you told me to think about. Like when I feel ready for us all to have the same name. I’m just about ready.”