Kelly cut in. “Later. I’ve been patient long enough. It’s cold out there.”
“Then you heard I was Plumber’s assignment,” Gabby said. “He doesn’t love me. So, don’t push him into saying something he doesn’t mean.”
“If you don’t mind,” Plumber interjected, and stared at Gabby. “He does love you. I love you. I have for a long time.”
“Okay, then,” Lys said. “Never thought you’d get there, Plumber, but glad you did. And I’m calling it settled.” She clapped her hands together. “Now can we please focus on what are we going to do to keep Bain and Mick Fallon from killing Gabby?”
Sara frowned. “We need a plan.”
“We do.” Kelly looked from Plumber to Gabby and then to Sara. “A really good one.” She hugged Gabby. “I’m really am sorry about your parents.”
He loved her. Gabby had never expected to hear those words from anyone, much less from a man like Plumber. Or in a situation like this. Still, her heart might be bruised and battered, but love was in it, too. He loved her.
Plumber stepped back, spoke to Gabby. “I know you are floored and angry, and you can’t forgive me for not telling you the truth sooner—”
“No one could forgive that, brother dear,” Kelly said.
“You’re not helping,” Plumber chastised his sister.
“Sorry.”
“I know you can’t forgive me yet,” he went on. “But I am asking you to, and I am asking you to trust me.”
Forgive and trust him? Now? Hard. Really hard. But after all he had done to protect her. To get her to safety. To help her. “Trust you with what?” Gabby asked.
“I have a plan,” he said. His expression sobered. “Fair warning. If it fails, we’ll likely both die.”
Gabby frowned. “That’s not reassuring, Plumber.”
“No, but it’s the truth,” he shot back at her. “And if it works, you can really live.”
“Life’s a risk. It’s a shot at all she wants,” Kelly grumbled. “Let’s hear it.”
He looked at his sister. “I’ll need your help. It’s dangerous. But with Bain and Fallon already here, there’s no time to get an operative in to do it—and not a word out of any of you about my job or my company or I’ll cut your tongues out.” He narrowed his gaze. “I am not exaggerating.”
“We heard. One person only,” Lys said. “Which is why we have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Right.” Sara agreed.
Kelly nodded. “You fix computers.”
They stood firm with him. Gabby loved that. “I don’t want Kelly in danger because of me, Plumber. Whatever you need done, can’t I do it?”
“No, I’m afraid not,” he said then went on to explain. “Kelly is a trained law enforcement officer. Our odds for success are better with her, Gabby. But you’ll have to pretend to be her while she’s pretending to be you.”
Kelly stiffened. “I can’t do that. Bain talked to me at the station. He knows me.”
“I’ll do it,” Lys said. “He doesn’t know me, and I’m trained.”
“Lys, if I were lost in the woods, you’d be the one I’d pray would be searching for me. But I need Kelly for this. She reads me well. Always has. We could need that edge.“
“He’s right about that, Lys.” Sara pointed heavenward with a fingertip. “I can think of at least a dozen occasions over the years—”
“All right.” Lys glared at Sara.
Plumber pivoted to his sister. “We’ll disguise you. No one will recognize you.”
“If she’s going to be disguised, I can be disguised,” Gabby insisted. “I told you, I don’t want Kelly at risk, too.”
“You can’t shoot,” he said. “She can. If the need arises, I need backup.”
Gabby took in a sharp breath.
Plumber ignored it. “Gabby, you’re going to be dressed as a cop. Kelly will get you a uniform.”
“This isn’t going to work, Plumber,” Sara said.
“It will work. It has to work. If it doesn’t, those men are going to kill Gabby and I’m going to have to kill them.”
Kelly took that in. “We’ll make it work. Just don’t shoot up Christmas Cove, Plumber, and I mean it.”
She turned to Lys and Sara. “You spread the word and get us some help out here. Tell everyone exactly what’s at stake, and that Gabby needs our help. Pastor Ruther will activate the call list. Go to him first.”
Plumber passed the chip he’d removed from Gabby’s coat. “Plant this on a truck leaving town.”
“Tracked her here, huh?” Lys frowned. “On it.” Lys moved toward the door.
“Don’t worry, Gabby. We won’t let you down.” Sara walked out and closed the door.
“Kelly, stop them. I can’t ask the people here to put themselves at risk. I just can’t.”
“They won’t ask,” Kelly assured her. “I’m serious. People in Christmas Cove—all of us protect each other. The only thing Sara and Lys have to say is Gabby’s in trouble.”
“That’s not true.” Gabby didn’t believe her. “No one does that for someone they never met, or that they barely know.” Gabby’s gaze slid to Plumber. “People just aren’t built that way.”
“They are here, Gabby,” Plumber said. “You’ve made some friends already. I was at the coffee shop and Alyce Crawley told me about the chest you gave her daughter. You wanted it for your store, she said, but you knew her daughter loved that chest and she’d been eyeing it for months.”
“The clerk told me.”
“You bought it and gifted it to her.”
“I wanted her to have something she loved for Christmas.”
“Alyce won’t forget that.”
“I didn’t do it to be remembered,” Gabby said, explaining herself.
“I know. So did Alyce.” He tilted his head. “Then you asked her if she had a problem with you selling exotic teas?”
“She owns the coffeeshop.”
“It was considerate.”
“She told me, too.” Kelly chimed in. “She was touched by that. So were the other vendors. “I’m going to go pick up a uniform for Gabby and some disguise props. Be back shortly.”
When Kelly left, Gabby turned to Plumber. “So, Alyce told you about the chest and the tea?”
Plumber nodded. “But I already knew about the chest. Pastor Ruther told me, and he said you were exactly the kind of role model others needed. A good example for the likes of me.”
Gabby gasped. “You’re a wonderful role model.”
“I’ll tell him you said so. He’s remembering too many incidents from my early years.” Plumber disappeared upstairs for a second and returned with a duffle bag. He set it down, unzipped it, and began pulling out guns.
“Ah, I see.” Gabby tried not to overreact. She paced a few steps toward the French door, then turned. “I get that Kelly and I are to pose as each other. But what does that do for us? I’m not getting the big picture on your plan.”