Page 106 of Gideon

“Beautiful.”

“This isn’t going to work out how you think it will,” Fairfax said. “Things won’t go back to the way they were.”

“That’s what we’re hoping for,” Gideon said.

“The reason everything’s gone so smoothly while I’ve been in charge is because I gave everyone what they wanted. As soon as I’m gone, you’ll carry that weight. They’ll tear you apart, Nikki, like they did to your dad.”

Nikki stiffened.

“Don’t waste your energy,” Gideon whispered. “He’s not worth it.”

“I know. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to punch that smug look off his face.”

“Don’t worry. He’s going to get what’s coming to him.”

Gunther carried the case he’d put the guns into up to Gideon. “I’m ready if you are.”

“Let’s take this inside, shall we?”

“Are you really going to make us do this tonight?” Fairfax said. “It’s late. Why don’t we all get some sleep, and we can sort everything out in the morning?”

Gunther laughed. “Yeah, right,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll hang around till morning.”

“I’m not really that tired,” Gideon said. “In the morning, we’ll figure out who we can call, but not until I’ve got all my paperwork together and I’m confident the town is safe from you.”

Chapter 27

“Can I have a word in private?”Fairfax said to Gideon when they entered the study. Nikki had wandered over to the fireplace and was prodding the dying embers with the poker. There were only the three of them in the room together. The rest had gathered in the living room.

“You can say whatever you have to in front of her,” Gideon said.

She was facing the fireplace, so they wouldn’t have seen her smile.

“I’d rather not,” Fairfax said.

“Too bad. You don’t get what you want anymore.”

“Fine. Have it your way. I can see that you two mean a lot to each other. Perhaps it will work better this way.”

Nikki stopped poking.

“I don’t know what our friendship has to do with anything,” Gideon said.

“Right. So you’re at that stage of your relationship.Still, as I’m sure you are aware, I’d rather avoid going to prison.”

“That’s something you’ll have to take up with your lawyer.”

“Yes. And I will certainly do that if I need to, but I’ve acquired quite a nest egg for my retirement. More than I need, if I’m honest.”

“No surprises there,” Nikki said.

“If you’d like to start things off on the right foot, you could take a sizable portion to start your life together. Nikki, your mom could live out her days very comfortably.”

“My mom’s fine, and we don’t want your money,” she said. “Money you stole from the hard-working people of this town.”

“There’s no one else in the room. You don’t need to pretend to be all self-righteous. No one has to know. I can give it to you now, and you can both turn your backs so I can climb out the window. You can say I snuck away while you were having a little alone time after a big day.”

“That’s enough,” Gideon said. “There’s only a few more hours until morning. Get to work. You have a lot of writing to do. I want all the names. I want to know how Agent Beck fits into it. He’s going to regret getting involved with you.”

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