the air. Luckily or not so luckily, Bunny came to the rescue by wailing very loudly from the bathroom.
Julia sat up straight and furrowed her brow. “Is she okay?”
“Well, she was very upset when she heard about Michelle. And she’s been . . . out of sorts anyway. She probably just needs some time.” I was beginning to regret sending Bunny in on this job. She didn’t exactly have all of her wits about her to pull off a James Bond-like maneuver.
“I hope she doesn’t wake MoMo. He’s been very cranky lately.”
Uh oh.
“MoMo?” I asked, panic setting in.
“My son, Morgan. We call him MoMo. He’s been a grumpy Grumperson all day and finally fell asleep on Michelle and Lance’s bed.”
Holy cow. The plan was for Bunny to get the Pooh Bear from the dresser in their bedroom. If MoMo the brat had set up camp in there we were in deep doo doo. Bunny quieted down, so I pressed on, trying to keep the charade going even though I really just wanted to run out the door and call the police to come gather the clue themselves.
“She sounds like she’s calm now. I’m so sorry.” I cleared my throat. “How is Lance taking all of this?”
Suddenly, Julia became very animated. “Oh! It’s just awful,” she said, her hands going into the air in a gesture of disbelief. “His wife is in the hospital fighting for her dear life and he can’t even be with her!”
“Why is that?”
“The police are holding him for questioning as a suspect, can you believe it?”
Two loud thumps turned Julia’s attention toward the hall. Worried that Bunny was bungling our mission, I scrambled to keep Julia talking. “Really?” I said. “That’s awful. Tell me more.”
“He has a lawyer, but there’s been no bail posted, and the police won’t discuss the matter with anyone in the family. Even the lawyer won’t tell us anything. Our father is at the police station right now trying to get some answers.” She was shaking her head and pursing her lips. “This whole thing is a nightmare like I’ve never seen.”
“Wow.” The comment was lame, I know. My conversation-machine was on the fritz.
Bunny returned and sat back down stiffly on the couch next to me. “I’m sorry,” she said to Julia. “I’m not feeling well. Could I have a glass of water?”
“Oh. Um, sure.” Julia didn’t seem keen on hostessing, but she stood, if somewhat grudgingly, and disappeared into the kitchen.
“There’s a kid in the bedroom,” Bunny whispered.
“MoMo—her son.”
“MoMo? What kind of name is that?”
That sure was the crackpot calling the kettle black. “Why were you making that awful noise?”
“I was trying to wake him up so he’d leave.”
If I were a hitting woman, I would have slapped her silly. “That’s a stupid idea. And it didn’t work. Although I’m sure you woke a few corpses.”
“I know. I’m not thinking clearly.”
“Why didn’t you just sneak in? Kids sleep through anything.”
“I tried that too.”
I didn’t like the sound of that. “Tried?”
“It’s not there.”
I heard glasses clinking in the kitchen and then water running from the faucet.
“What do we do?” Bunny asked.
“Abort, Abort.”
Bunny grabbed my arm. “But I need that bear.”
I heard Julia shut off the faucet and then her returning footsteps. “Oh! MoMo, you little devil!”
Julia appeared back in the living room with a glass of water in one hand and a toy in the other. “He found this in Michelle and Lance’s room and he insists on playing with it. I hope they don’t mind.” She set the stuffed animal on the coffee table in front of us and handed Bunny a glass.
It was the miracle of the wayward Winnie-the-Pooh Bear. Bless little MoMo and his grubby, spoiled rotten little hands.
If I were Catholic, I would have genuflected. Surely, somewhere, angels sang.
Bunny gulped some water then coughed a little. She couldn’t take her eyes off the bear.
Okay, the eagle had landed. Now we just had to figure out how to snatch the sucker and make a clean getaway. I stared at it for what seemed like an hour, but in a flash of brilliance, blurted out, “My Pooh Bear!”
Yes, I took a risk. The maneuver could have backfired. Julia could have grabbed it away shrieking, “Who do you think you are you stupid, idiot, lying bag of dingo barf? This was a gift from my brother to his beautiful wife in honor of his deep and committed love for her.”
Thankfully she didn’t say any of that. Instead, she blinked a few