Page 62 of S.O.S. Mizzay

Missy quickly outlined the rest of what Cobble had come up with, and after spilling it all and getting no pushback, she was buoyed up. That didn’t mean it was being given the rubber stamp.Nope.

A lot of additional opinions flew on how, exactly, things should be played out, and the strategy—in minute ways—was tweaked.

Sarge took copious notes on his computer while final versions of the plan came together, and before an hour was up, they’d settled on a way forward that not only sounded good, but crossed a lot of T’s and dotted a lot of I’s that Missy and Cobble’s original strategy hadn’t covered.

Damn.She loved this group.

“When are we thinking of executing all this?” Smalley finally asked, after having reluctantly grunted in a few suggestions of his own during the round-table discussion.

“Tomorrow is Saturday,” DAAG Cavateral pondered. “If we do it in the next two days, not all our people will be in our respective offices to hear that Agent Tertia has been arrested. So I suggest we wait until Monday. That way, we can make sure our suspects are present to get the news first person, loud and clear. That additional time also means that if anyone here has any more clever ideas for moving forward, they can be voiced before we set the final wheels in motion.”

“I second that opinion,” Del stated, clapping his hands. “And if we’re done here, I promised my wife dinner out tonight. I’m dropping Liam and Lila off at Prez’s, so his girls and Rory can babysit. If I’m late, I’m going to hear it fromallfactions.”

He wasn’t wrong, Missy snickered to herself.

Bri, Del’s wife, would be semi-understanding, but their two little ones would be climbing the walls to get with the older girls they adored. Lakisha, Rainie, and Rory, who always looked forward to seeing their young “cousins”, would also be champing at the bit.

Yes, Rory. She was still at Prez and Maygan’s house; her very often home-away-from-home, and honestly? Rory hadn’t been exactly happy when Missy had come back to Boston early from what had been a planned week away.

Yeah. She’d actually sulked. So she and Missy had negotiated. Rory would have permanent sleep-over privileges until Cobble, and by extension Missy, were out of danger.

Rory had, of course, immediately agreed.

Secretly, Missy was giddy about that arrangement.

It meant she could spend some quality time alone with Cobble.

CHAPTER NINETEEN

“So, how did it go?”

Cobble had been waiting on the porch of his “borrowed” bungalow, gazing out at the ocean. It was a gorgeous spot that Tucker Devons had found. What a shame Cobble had been too on edge all morning to be able to completely enjoy it.

But Andy was here now, and his heart lifted.

She walked the last few steps toward him, straight faced, but apparently, she couldn’t keep up the ruse.

At his question, she broke into huge smiles.

“They liked it. Even after they pulled everything apaht. With a few fixes, we’re a go,” she told him enthusiastically. “Andwe’ll have everyone’s help, too. Nobody backed out, not even Chuck.”

Cobble grinned, feeling relieved. “I’ll bet he was fit to be tied.”

“You might say that,” Andy agreed, walking up the two steps to slip easily into his arms and give a sigh of contentment. “But once he’d been completely ovah-ruled, he donned his team hat and joined in on the logistics. And…” she got an impish grin on her face, “I was right about him and Agent Tertia.”

“You’re kidding?” Cobble couldn’t help but laugh. “She must be a brave one. Are you telling me she’s not onlyable, butwillingto put up with Chuck’s shit?”

“Uh, huh.”

Wow.Maybe the dark days for Chuck were coming to an end; not that Cobble knew exactly what had caused his cousin to become such a taciturn personality. It was a shame they’d lost touch for long stretches over the years, or maybe Cobble would have a better understanding of today’s version of his cousin.

This present rendition of Chuck certainly wasn’t the hell-raiser with whom Cobble had grown up.ThisChuck was jaded, sullen. Somewhere, during the time that he and his cousin had been traveling their own paths, Chuck’s devil-may-care youth had been lost to him. Cobble had a feeling it was all wrapped up with this fucked-up, prolonged case.

Chuck never let on, but Cobble’s absence had clearly affected him.

Perhaps Elody Tertia would be good for him; bringing Chuck’s clouded soul back out into the sunshine. Then when Cobble was finally in the clear, blinding light would burst back into his cousin’s life.

“I adore Elody,” Andy continued. “But she certainly has her hands full with Chuck.” She chuckled. “You should have seen her today, standing up to him when… Oh. I didn’t tell you. She volunteered to be our red-herring at the FBI. Baskins is going to do his thing on Monday morning and loudly arrest her.”

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