Part 39 (1/2)

”You know who that sounds like?” Jill let Sam go and hurried from the kitchen just as the doorbell rang. Sam and Steven were right behind her, and she opened the door wide.

Standing at the threshold was Abby, next to Special Agent Harrison, who held a pet carrier.

”Abby!” Jill cried, throwing open her arms.

Chapter Seventy.

Jill, Victoria, and Megan embraced Abby as Beef ran around them all in excitement and the entrance hall became a whorl of hugs, wet eyes, and wagging tails. A smiling Sam and Steve stood wisely off to the side, next to Special Agent Harrison, who set down the pet carrier on the floor.

”I'm so happy to see you all again,” Abby said, with a teary grin. ”I missed you guys!”

”We missed you, too.” Jill grinned, but she was bewildered. ”What are you doing with Special Agent Harrison? Did he pick you up at the airport?”

”No, he's my new best friend, along with Special Agents Tella, Leonard, and Palumbo.” Abby counted off on her fingers. ”I've been living with FBI agents for the past week.”

”Real FBI agents?” Megan's eyes popped. ”Like on TV?”

”Better,” Abby answered. ”They're women FBI agents and they even make quilts, for fun. They call themselves the Needle & Gun Club, and they meet every Monday night. How cool is that?”

”What? Why?” Victoria asked, confused, and Special Agent Harrison turned to Jill.

”We picked Abby up for her own protection. We've had her in a safe house with some of our female agents.” Special Agent Harrison paused, glancing at Megan. ”This may not be the right time for details, but I will fill you in.”

Abby turned to Victoria. ”I'm sorry, you were really worried about me, weren't you?”

”Of course I was.” Victoria's eyes brimmed, too. ”I love you, you idiot.”

Jill was slowly coming up to speed. ”Abby, does this mean you weren't in L.A.? And there's no Brandon?”

”Right.” Abby nodded. ”None of that was true. But you believed it, right?”

”Yes,” Jill answered, secretly relieved.

Victoria nodded. ”Totally.”

Abby pursed her lips. ”I knew what you'd expect to hear, so I said it, and you know what? It taught me something. I don't want to be like that anymore.”

”Aw, Abby.” Victoria embraced Abby again, and Jill held Megan close to her side.

”Anyway,” Abby said, ”know what I decided? I'm going back to college, to study criminology. I really loved the agents, and it might be weird to say now, but I think I'm good at it.”

”That's wonderful, honey.” Jill felt bittersweet, sensing why Abby had made that choice. ”I'm so proud of you.”

Sam came over, putting his arm around Abby. ”Great idea, kid. If there's any way we can help you, let us know. We're here for you.”

”Thanks, Sam.” Abby grinned. ”You guys are the best, and I think I'll be fine.”

Victoria smiled. ”Of course you will. We already decided we're all going to be fine. We have each other.”

”Right,” Jill added. ”Family is forever, and so are pets.” She gestured to the pet carrier. ”And that, I bet, is Pickles. I knew it was strange that you didn't mention him.”

”Oh, I almost forgot!” Abby bent down and opened the wire door, and out of the carrier flew an adorable corgi puppy, scampering around like a bunny rabbit out of h.e.l.l. Everybody laughed as Beef gave chase, barking.

”Wait, don't I know that puppy?” Jill asked, astonished. ”It looks like Nina D'Orive's dog.”

”It is.” Special Agent Harrison nodded. ”We were on the scene that night, and I noticed the puppy. The locals wanted to bring it to a shelter, but I knew my wife would love it, except that our son turned out to be allergic.”

Abby smiled, sadly. ”So I took her, and I call her Hobo, short for Hoboken. I named her in memory of Nina.”

”Way to go.” Jill patted Abby on the back, touched. ”I'm proud of you.”

”Thanks. Now here's Pickles.” Abby went over to the carrier, cooing, and just then an orange tabby crept out, meowed loudly, and bounded off. ”Great. Good-bye, Pickles.”

Special Agent Harrison turned to Victoria. ”Ms. Skyler, I made you a promise that I'd answer your questions, and I always keep my promises.”

”I remember.” Victoria turned to him, her smile vanis.h.i.+ng. ”I'm ready, if you are.”

”Let's all go have that talk, shall we, folks?”

Chapter Seventy-one.

A thunderstorm raged outside, but Jill, Sam, Victoria, Abby, and Steven were safe and warm, if not exactly happy, in the family room, gathering on soft couches and chairs with Special Agent Harrison, watching the eleven o'clock news. The screen showed men in suits being led in handcuffs from an office building on Wall Street.

The voiceover was saying, ”The FBI made arrests late today in Operation Hedge Clippers, for alleged acts of insider trading and securities fraud by an individual and a manager at Piper, Flanagan, one of the largest hedge funds on Wall Street. The Justice Department says that the indictments will begin to clean up illegalities on Wall Street, in the wake of the Galleon Group case and wave of Occupy Wall Street protests. And in other news...”

”Okay, we've seen this twice now.” Jill aimed the remote to turn off the TV and put her arm around Megan, who sat with her, Victoria, and Abby on the couch. ”Special Agent Harrison, can you explain what's going on?”

”Of course.” Special Agent Harrison straightened up. ”Before I begin, you asked me to confirm or deny your theory in the hospital, and now I can confirm it. You didn't have the whole picture, but you had a piece. Nice work, for a doctor.”

Sam winked. ”That's my girl.”

Abby smiled. ”She's Dr. Watson.”

Megan looked up at Jill, her eyes s.h.i.+ning. ”Wow, Mom.”

Jill waved it off with a smile. She hardly felt like celebrating, after all the people who had died, including William.

Special Agent Harrison continued, ”Operation Hedge Clippers started a few years ago, when the SEC notified us that Piper, Flanagan was showing a suspicious trading pattern, short-selling Pharmcen stock before recalls of two drugs, Deferral and Riparin. We investigated whether Piper, Flanagan was engaging in insider trading, and we learned that the trades in question were made by the same fund manager, Skip Priam, who was indicted today. We investigated and were able to gather sufficient evidence that Priam was trading on the information that he bought from Joe Zeptien.”

Jill asked, ”Was Zeptien a drug rep?”

”No, he's a former stockbroker.” Special Agent Harrison turned to Victoria. ”We then were able to connect Zeptien to your father, as a result of visual surveillance at Zeptien's homes and electronic surveillance on Zeptien's cell phone. We gathered evidence that Zeptien was buying the inside information from your father, whom he first knew as Neil Straub. Zeptien was paying your father with money he got from Skip Priam.”