“Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today,” a bear chirped.
“I’m not moving. They’re just settling or something,” Liz said hastily.
“Still, it’s good advice,” I said, stepping over Doc to get to the switchboard. Using my bandaged left hand, I managed to knock the receiver off the hook, snag the cord with my arm, and drop it down where Doc could grab it.
“I’ll dial 911,” I said. “You talk to them.”
Once I was sure the police were on the way, I gave Doc the gun and told him to guard Liz for a couple of minutes. I left him sitting on the floor, clutching the gun with both hands and telling George, who was still perched on his head, what a good, brave buzzard he was. I went back to the library. Everyone looked up anxiously when I came in.
“Relax, folks,” I said. “George and Spike saved the day, I’ve called the police, and Doc is keeping Liz out of mischief until they get here.”
I could tell if they hadn’t all been gagged I’d have heard a collective sigh of relief. They all began squirming, each obviously hoping to catch my attention and get untied first. The room looked like my fifth-grade science project the day all the cocoons began hatching at once.
I played favorites and untied Michael first. He reacted the way you want the love of your We to react after a close brush with the grim reaper, and we briefly ignored the restless wiggling of the others.
“One of these days I will manage to rescue you, you know,” he said finally, in a shaky voice.
“The way my life keeps going, I have no doubt of it,” I said. “Go help Doc keep an eye on Liz.”
“Oh, God,” Rob moaned when I took off his gag. “This is terrible.”
“Relax,” I said. “The danger’s over.”
“Yes, but think of the bad publicity we’re going to get,” he said.
I was momentarily stunned into silence. When had my happy-go-lucky brother begun worrying about publicity? But he looked so miserable that I took pity on him.
“Don’t worry,” I said. “It was a lawyer gone bad. Can’t you see the headlines already: Real Life Lawyer from Hell Attacks Mutant Wizards CEO. Hit Game Comes to Life in Hostage Crisis. You couldn’t buy better publicity if you spent millions.”
“You think?” Rob asked, rubbing his wrists.
“Sales will go through the roof,” I said. “Go untie Dad.”
I headed back to the reception room. Not that I didn’t trust Michael to keep Liz neutralized. But Chief Burke had a very big “I told you so,” coming, and the way I wanted to deliver it was to have him walk in to find me holding a gun on the real killer.
I never claimed to be subtle.
It was several more hours before Michael and I finally got back to the Cave.
“I could sleep for a week,” I said, gazing fondly at the lumpy sofa bed and thinking how wonderful it was that I’d been too busy that morning to transform it into its sofa incarnation.
“We could fly back to California in the morning,” Michael said. “Give me one good reason why we can’t do that. In fact, give me one good reason why we can’t just get back in the car and drive up to Dulles right now.”
“I’ll give you three,” I said. “One, I’m too tired to pack right now.”
“I could pack for you.”
“Two, I don’t plan to wake up till tomorrow afternoon.”
“Yes; but what about tonight?”
“Three, we have better things to do tonight,” I said, hitting the light switch.
“You’re right,” Michael said, a little later. “Tomorrow afternoon.”
“You’ve finished everything you need to do at Mutant Wizards,” Michael said, finishing the last of his morning coffee.
“Just sit on the suitcase so I can close it.”
“Here, let me do it. You’ve proved Rob’s suspicions were right, there was something fishy going on, and you’ve exposed the perpetrator, not to mention solving Ted’s murder. I don’t see why you need to go back there.”
“I just need to pick up a few things and delegate a few things,” I said. “It won’t take more than an hour, and we’ve got plenty of time. You booked the three P.M. flight, right?”