“But will you keep your little duplex?”

“Yes, if possible. Mayo has a small residence inn on the property. If they have room for me there, I’ll be all set. Oh, Helen, I’ve had to survive some very tough times in my life. If I can get through this, I might have a grandson in my future. Maybe not right away but even if it’s in a few years... It’s something to look forward to.”

Helen was thinking, She stole my wallet and she lied about being in the hospital. She’s got something up her sleeve.

Victoria’s phone chirped in her purse. She pulled it out and looked at it. “Oh, no! I don’t want to answer it. It’s my son. I told him I don’t want to have anything to do with him anymore.”

“Then don’t answer,” Helen said. “Does he know where you are?”

“He might guess I’m in Colorado,” Victoria said, but she let the call go to voice mail. Then she listened to the message and her face went white. “He says I have to call him immediately, that it’s about the boy, Noah.”

“Then call him!” Helen said. “Put it on speaker!”

But Victoria didn’t put the call on speaker. She pressed it to her ear as she slid out of their booth and paced toward the door. In seconds she was back. “Helen!” she said in a stricken whisper. “My son has kidnapped Noah! He thinks he did it for me!”

“For you? How? Why?”

“I don’t know. My son and I—we have a troubled relationship but we have yet to part ways entirely. But he’s crazy, I’m telling you. And he’s dangerous. I have to go to Hannah immediately.”

Helen gasped, dug around in her purse and tossed a loose twenty on the table. “I’m going with you!” Helen said and followed.

Victoria jumped in her car and sped away, driving a bit too fast. Helen followed, her heart hammering. Of all the things she worried about, that Victoria was a grifter, a scam artist, she had never in her wildest imagination thought she would put an adorable little child such as Noah in danger.

* * *

When Victoria pulled up to the house, she was pleased to note they had immediately called the police. She had been counting on that. She had this all worked out in her head. She was going to save the day and it would lead to a major payday. After all was well and Roger was arrested, Hannah would realize that Victoria was inherently good down to her toes and they would fund her cancer treatment, probably out of money that had been her daughter’s anyway.

She nearly sprinted up the steps to the deck and right in the front door without knocking. “My son called me!” she exclaimed.

Owen slowly stood to his great height and Hannah did the same. The police officer stood, as well. “Who is this?” the officer asked.

“This is Noah’s biological grandmother,” Hannah said. “And, as it happens, Roger Addison’s mother.”

“I’m Chief Stan Bronoski,” he said. “I was called because Noah’s gone missing and you, it seems, could be a suspect. You’ve been trying to see the boy, is that right?”

“But I came to help!”

Helen came in the door and stood inside, right behind Victoria.

“My son called me and said he had the boy! I don’t know what he could be thinking, but even as unstable and dangerous as Roger is, he listens to me. I think I can find out where he is and I think he’ll give the boy over to me if try to get through to him. He can be defiant but he also tries to please me.”

“Where were you at the time the boy was taken? A couple of hours ago?” Stan asked.

“We were having a glass of wine in Leadville,” Victoria said. She glanced over her shoulder at Helen, who nodded. “We’re friends and get together for an afternoon glass of wine quite often. When I’m in town, that is. I’ve been away—at the Mayo Clinic. I have cancer. I was having tests and now... Never mind all that, the most important thing is Noah. Do you want me to see if I can locate him?”

“Not just yet,” Stan said. “Let’s back up a little bit. So, you’re the grandmother? The same one who sued for custody? Why would you do that?”

“Don’t be so melodramatic—it was the best way I could get at least some visitation with the boy, my only daughter’s only child. That was on the advice of my lawyer and it’s all been settled. I don’t see as much of my grandson as I’d like but at least I see him. I think down the road, when Hannah understands I’m sincere and well-meaning, I’ll see more of him.”

“Why on earth would your son take him?” Owen asked.

Victoria shrugged. “Maybe in his twisted mind he thought that might please me, which it would not. Or maybe he was hoping for some kind of ransom. Really, I won’t know until I ask him. But he rarely does a good thing...”

“I think we’re going to have to get a little more backup before we try to flush him out,” Stan told Owen. “Let me make a call.” He used his own cell phone to call and separated himself from the people in the room. Then he was back, facing Victoria. “And now,” he said to Victoria, “please tell me how you’ve come to all these conclusions about Roger Addison.”

“Well, no one knows him better than I do.”

“Is he likely to hurt Noah?” Hannah asked nervously.

“Probably not if that gets in the way of him profiting.”

“Your son has been in a lot of trouble, has he?” Stan asked.

“Oh, he can find trouble anywhere. He shouldn’t even be here! He’s on parole and isn’t supposed to leave Minnesota!”

“But you assume he’s in Colorado...?”

“How long ago did Noah go missing?” she asked. “Because I just got the call from Roger twenty or thirty minutes ago. He certainly couldn’t have done that from out of state!”

Stan’s face tightened up a little bit. He gave Victoria a nod. “Why don’t you go ahead and ring him up, see if he’ll tell you where he is?”

With a heavy sigh, Victoria pulled out her phone, turned away and hit the number. The distant sound of a cell phone chirping could be heard and Victoria turned back to Stan, confused.

Roger stepped out of the hallway that led to the master bedroom. Behind him were Bruce Wilhelm and two federal marshals. Behind them, Cal Jones observed.

Victoria’s lips pulled away from her teeth and she hissed.

“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.