pick up every one of those coins, and then they’re going into my SUV. Dana, I’ll give you my keys. It’s newer than your car, and in a lot better condition, plus CJ won’t be looking for it. We’ll throw your suitcases in, too, then you’re going to get Lizzie, and you’re going wherever you think you need to. I won’t be following. If you want to leave my car somewhere and buy something nobody can trace, you have my cell number. I’ll pick it up wherever you tell me to. In the meantime, if you’ll give me your keys, I’m heading off in your car. If CJ comes looking, it’s me he’ll find.”
“Why?” Dana moved closer so she could see his expression in the near darkness.
He met her eyes. “I was lead investigator on the Greenwald case, and it haunted me. I couldn’t find peace until I had all the pieces. I have them now. I thought you were Isabel Carlsen, but I had to be sure. And while I grew more certain, I also realized the truth. The important one. Ivy Greenwald’s been laid to rest, and Lizzie Turner deserves a mother who loves her. I don’t know all the details, but I can make some good guesses about how you’ve managed all these years. You could say I’m just going with the spirit of the law this time.”
“We’ll be running the rest of our lives.”
“No reason. CJ isn’t going to be looking for you. You know too much about him now. He won’t want you talking to the cops. And how could he prove this money belongs to him? He’s not supposed to have any money.”
“What about your colleagues?”
“I’m the last one from Grand Forks who couldn’t stop looking. Someday maybe I’ll tell the right people that I finally tracked down Isabel Carlsen through her brother’s mail from prison—”
“That’s how you found me?”
“I had to do some fast talking, but yeah, that’s how I found you. I’ll let people know you had nothing to add to what we already knew, and I’ve laid the case to rest.”
“Could it be that easy?”
He hesitated. Then he touched her hair, just for a moment. “Has it ever been easy?”
They shared a long look. Uncomfortable, Tracy glanced at the other women. Wanda knelt and began throwing coins in the lockbox. In a minute Tracy was helping, and so was Janya.
Tracy stood when all the coins had been returned to the box. “Are we just going to leave CJ like this?”
Pete stepped away from Dana, but reluctantly. “He’ll be coming around any moment. We’d better get moving.”
Pete took the box and led the way. Tracy brought up the rear. She took one more look at CJ, who was beginning to moan softly, then she followed the others out to the road.
Pete handed Dana his keys, then he helped Wanda and Janya transfer the suitcases to his SUV. Dana took her own keys out of her purse and held them out without a word. He took them and nodded.
She looked at each of the women and ended with Tracy. “A case could be made that this money belongs to you,” she said.
Tracy thought about the past two years, all the things she had lost and gained, and she smiled a little. “You know, there’s only one treasure that matters here. Take care of Lizzie, and tell her we love her.”
Eyes glittering with tears Dana nodded. She took one last look at Pete, then she stepped up into the driver’s seat of his SUV. In a moment she was gone.
“Just like that,” Wanda said. “Gone for good. Dana. Lizzie.” She paused. “All that money.”
Tracy put her arm around Wanda’s shoulders.
“I’m taking off,” Pete said.
Tracy had to ask. “Do you think you’ll ever see her again?”
His expression was unreadable. “She knows my number.”
“And if she calls you?”
“Maybe I’ll let you know.”
He got in Dana’s car, and in a minute he was gone, too.
“We will have to walk home,” Janya said.
Tracy started down the road.
“What about CJ?” Wanda asked.
“I’ll drive back and check in a little while.”
“You’re sure?”
Tracy thought about it. “No.”
“You will.” Janya sounded certain. “And I will come, too, but I will ask Rishi to accompany us.”
“And how will you explain that?”
“I will tell him you may have lost something on the path. And it will be true.”
“He’ll be gone,” Wanda said. “I’ve seen it before. Men like CJ always pick themselves up. He lost this round, but he’ll win another one down the