“I’m afraid I’m going to explode if I have to wait much longer.”
“I’ve been a little worried about the spontaneous human combustion thing, myself.”
They stared at each other in the dim light.
“How would you feel about hiring the world’s best babysitter so we can have a date this afternoon, just you and me?” he asked.
Evie looked thrilled—for about one second. Then she scrunched her brows together. “I can’t even . . . no. I couldn’t do that under the best of circumstances, but now? No way. They would call the police.”
Clancy smiled. “You’ve forgotten that I am the police. And the babysitter I had in mind would be my sister, the pretty mermaid.”
Evie gasped. “Seriously?”
“We can go to the house together, see how comfortable Christina is with Rowan. Maybe she’d enjoy hanging out with the mermaid for a couple hours.”
“But—”
“Rowan and I have always been there for each other. I trust her completely and have no doubt she would come to me directly with any concerns. You have nothing to worry about.”
Evie lay down again and he did, too, snuggling against her and gently bringing her head to rest on his chest. They stayed like for a long while, so long that he thought she had fallen back asleep.
“Clancy?” Evie’s voice sounded small and tense. “I’m going to get out of this mess, aren’t I?”
“You are.” He hugged her tight. “I’ll speak to your IT friend today, then do some snooping around on my own. If Wahlman used money or favors to get his way in the custody case, there will be a trail somewhere—somebody with a new job or a new car or a big deposit in their savings account.”
“Thank you.”
Clancy kissed her hair. “We’ll get that message to your dad today, before we go see the mermaid. I know how important it is to you that he knows you’re safe.”
Evie raised her head from his chest and kissed him. It was sweet and sensuous. She was saying thank you, the way she always seemed to do.
“There’s one other thing.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“We should dye your hair.”
Evie laughed. “I know. I hate it, too.”
“That’s not it. I think it’s kind of funky. But you should change the style and go darker, so you don’t match the surveillance video from Logan Airport that’s now playing on every TV in the nation.”
“I’ll give it my best shot, but obviously, hairstyling is not my specialty.”
Clancy chuckled.
“Now it’s my turn to ask for something.”
“Shoot.”
“I want to watch the sun come up with you.”
He smiled down on her. “Ah, sweet Evie, sometimes I think you really can read my mind.”
* * *
After talking to Hal and spending three hours digging on his own, Clancy shut the door to his office and dialed the numbers he had memorized a long time ago. The call was picked up but there was no voice on the other end.
“Flaherty. It’s Clancy Flynn.”