Fallon and Bain got out of the SUV. “Hello. I’m Agent Bain, FBI.” He looked around and raised his voice to be heard over Jeremy. “Officer Meyer was supposed to be here.”
“She called,” Plumber said. “There’s been an accident at the festival. She’s been delayed. She said she was going to call you and postpone, but we told her your coming without her was fine. We’d talk to you on our own. Must be important to bring you all the way out here.” Plumber walked closer to the edge of the porch. “So, what can we do for you, Agent Bain?”
Kelly stepped forward. “I’m so sorry about the crying. I can see you cringing from here. He’s teething, poor angel. It’s a nightmare.”
Bain feigned a sympathetic nod. “Are you Gabby Johnson?”
“I am, though at the moment, I half-wish I was anyone else.”
Bain actually smiled. “I remember those days.”
“Tell me they end.”
“Afraid not.” He grunted. “You just go from worrying about one thing to another until they’re about twenty-five. Doesn’t stop then, but you do get breaks now and then.”
“I was afraid of that.” Kelly grunted, bounced the baby at her chest. “Well, at least there are good moments, too.”
As if on cue, Jeremy started screaming, “Mama. Mama. Cookie, Mama.”
“In a minute, honey.” She smiled at him, and he started wailing again. “I am so sorry,” she told Fallon and Bain in a voice strange to Gabby’s ears.
“It’s not her,” Fallon told Bain. “Let’s go.”
Bain nodded. “We’re sorry to have troubled you,” he said. Our Ms. Johnson has been missing. Her family is deeply concerned. We’ve been searching for her, and we’d hoped we’d found her here, but clearly we have not.”
“No trouble,” Plumber said.
“Why would anyone show up here that doesn’t have to be here?” Kelly asked, making it clear she wasn’t a fan of Christmas Cove.
“We don’t know that she would,” Bain said. “We got a tip she could be here, and so we had to check it out. If a stranger comes around with your same name, will you let us know right away?” Bain passed Plumber a business card. “You can reach me on the mobile twenty-four seven.”
Plumber took the card. “Do we need to be careful, Agent? Is your Gabby Johnson dangerous?”
“Oh, no. No.”
Plumber feigned confusion. “Then why are you looking for her?”
“We’re trying to find her to protect her.”
“From what?” he pushed.
“I’m afraid I can’t divulge that information,” Bain said. His regret almost sounded genuine.
“Well, I hope you’re successful,” Kelly said. “I can’t see anyone coming here on purpose, but if she should, it’s good to know she’s not a serial killer or something.”
“My wife bends a little low on the dramatic side,” Plumber lowered his voice. “Is there any reason that whatever you’re trying to protect your Ms. Johnson from will impact my wife? Her having the same name brought you here. Could it bring—”
“No, not to worry. There’s no way your wife could be mistaken for Gabby Johnson. The other Gabby Johnson, I mean.”
Plumber looked a little affronted and sniffed. “If we hear of anything, we’ll let you know.” He looked at Kelly. Take the baby inside. It’s cold out here, and his wailing is rattling my nerves.”
“Sorry, honey.” Kelly went into the cottage and closed the door.
Plumber looked back at Bain. “I’m recalling fondly my days of—”
“Solitude?”
“Peace and quiet,” Plumber said. “But I could settle for solitude.”
Fallon was on the phone. “Got it.” He turned toward the SUV. “We need to move. They just picked up a signal about twenty miles south of here.”
Bain stared long and hard at Plumber.
He didn’t flinch. “Have a good day, Agent Bain—and Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.” He pivoted and he and Fallon hustled back to the SUV.
Plumber stayed on the porch and watched until Bain and Fallon cleared the driveway and turned onto the paved road.
Gabby forced herself not to rush to the porch, to stay put in the woods. She even entertained the idea of speeding back to the station, but the deception in that galled her.
“Gabby?” Plumber called out. “You can come out now.”
She gulped in a sharp breath. He knew she was here? How had he known?
“Gabby?” He shouted again. “Come out. It’s okay.”
She cut through the trees to the porch and climbed the steps.
“Did you even go to the station?” Plumber was vexed, and she couldn’t really blame him. “Well, did you?”
“I did. But I thought you might need some backup, so I came back.”
“With a baseball bat.”
“Everything was closed. I couldn’t get to a gun.” She walked into his arms. “I thought, if push came to shove, I could be a distraction.”
“And grateful we are that you couldn’t.” Kelly came out of the cottage without Jeremy. “People not trained to handle firearms just shouldn’t handle firearms.”
Gabby hugged her. “I’m glad you’re okay.” She pulled back. “Where is Jeremy?”
“With Alyce.”
“He was right here,” Gabby said.
“He was earlier,” Kelly said. “He left right after Bain arrived.”
“But I saw him in your arms. I heard him crying.”
“A recording,” Plumber said. “You never saw his face.”
That was true. He’d had his head buried against Kelly’s shoulder and under the blanket the whole time, and he was wailing so loud, all Gabby had focused on was the crying, him asking for a cookie and crying some more. “I didn’t.”
Plumber frowned. “In five years, have you ever known me to put a child in jeopardy?”
She hadn’t. “Sorry.” Gabby should have thought of that. “Kelly, I didn’t even recognize your voice.”
“That was the objective.” She smiled with the strange teeth.
“Thank you for doing this,” Gabby said, then looked at Plumber. “And you.” She stiffened. “Do you think they’ll stay away now?”
“There’s no reason for them to come back. This Gabby Johnson is not their Gabby Johnson. She can’t be here and twenty miles south at the same time, can she?”
“No, she can’t.” Gabby smiled. “And she isn’t their Gabby Johnson. She’s barely even their Gabby Blake anymore.”
Plumber frowned. “What do you mean?”
“It’s nothing.” She shook her head.
“Tell me,” he insisted.
“I used to dream of a life like this. One where I could just be me and be happy. One where I knew people’s names and they knew mine, and we—”
“We what?” Plumber pushed her to go on.
“We shared our lives. The good and bad, the ups and down. I dreamed about having that kind of life. I prayed for it and wanted it so badly. But down deep I never believed I would actually have it.”