Free Elizabeth Zelvin - Bruce Kohler 04 - Death Will Save Your Life by Elizabeth Zelvin Page B

stable?”
    “God grant me the serenity,” I said. “We did it together.”
    Barbara thought about it for a few seconds.
    “ ‘And when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.’ Okay, we did it together.”
    We heaved Annabel into the kayak, stowed her in the stern, and flopped in after her. With exhausted dips of the paddle, we headed back around the bend. The beach was no longer deserted. Someone had lit a string of lanterns. Flashlight beams cut through the gathering dusk. But the sight I liked best was Jimmy paddling toward us.
    “Jimmy!” Barbara shrieked. “It’s okay! We’re okay! We got her!”
    “Hey, get down,” I said, “you’re rocking the boat.”
    “How’s Annabel?”
    “Still out cold.” Just as well.
    Jimmy was making excellent time through the water, yelling like a Celtic savage.
    “He was worried about me,” Barbara said happily. She doesn’t mind her menfolk fretting. She just doesn’t like anyone to rescue her.
    Annabel began to stir as our two-boat convoy made its way to shore. I didn’t have enough juice left for another fight. My ankle throbbed. My paddling muscles ached. If Annabel tried to run, we were all far more likely to fall into the water than to succeed in stopping her. But I needn’t have worried. Callaghan waited on the beach with a couple of his minions. While they dealt with Annabel, Jimmy rushed over to pound me on the back and give Barbara a hug that squeezed the breath out of her.
    “How did you get Callaghan to come?” she asked. “I was afraid whoever answered at the police station wouldn’t put you through to him and that if they did, he wouldn’t believe you.”
    Jimmy grinned. He had that secret AA twinkle in his eye.
    “I reached him at home,” he said. “I had his private number.”

    It took me a while to recover. Apart from the near drowning and the sprained ankle, I was shaken by the final scene with Annabel. I had never thought I’d feel sorry for her. Honey felt the same.
    “I came back up here,” she told me, “to see what I can do for her.”
    “Not to see me?” I looked at her sideways, not sure what answer I wanted.
    We sat on a big rock with our feet in the brook. The water was low after weeks of beautiful weather. Maybe none of this would have happened if it had rained more.
    Honey laughed. She’d gained a lot of confidence in a short time. Now everyone could see that she was beautiful, like the girl in a Thirties movie who takes off her glasses.
    “That too. But Annabel comes first, because she’s in trouble. You’re not in trouble.”
    “You don’t know how amazing that is.”
    Honey leaned her head against my shoulder and played with the top button on my shirt.
    “Would I have liked you before?”
    “I doubt it.” I didn’t like to think about it.
    “I don’t believe you,” she said. “You’ve been so sweet.”
    Then we got mushy.
    Barbara’s glee at my having needed to be rescued kept me from going completely soft. I let her tease me. I liked it. I didn’t even remind her more than half a dozen times that I’d participated in Annabel’s capture.
    “Speaking of codependents,” Barbara said, “are you and Honey going to see each other in the city?”
    “I love the way you circle about.” I grinned at her. “I’m not sure. Honey wants to go out to Nebraska to see her folks for a while.”
    “You could go with her.”
    “She says they’ll be shocked enough at how she’s changed from that sweet farm girl they knew. Anyhow, she needs a break from all this. Then we’ll see.”
    “You can email,” Jimmy said.
    “Thank you for sharing. We already thought of that. Barbara, what would the shrinks call Jimmy’s voice in my head?”
    “Your geek introject,” she said. “So why didn’t anyone come when I screamed? Okay, we called, so it was all right, but that wasn’t until after I’d gone up against her by myself and brought Bruce in. I’m a bit pissed off about that. Here I had the presence of mind to