OBIE DROVE.

This time Julie was shotgun.

Vance was in the backseat.

They had mostly recovered from their injuries, though Julie still limped a bit and Vance’s face was still puffy.

“Where are we going?” asked Julie.

“Somewhere you’ve already been,” he replied.

He had explained what he could to her about her parents’ deaths. He had watched her sob, given her tissues. He’d talked with her quietly as her anger grew, peaked, and then faded to more tears. The fourteen-year-old street-hardened kid had finally and fully unraveled in the face of overwhelming misery and grief. But at least she had some closure.

He parked the car and the three got out and walked into the bar.

Jerome Cassidy was waiting for them.

His face was scrubbed pink and he was dressed in what looked to be a new suit with shiny black shoes. His hair had been cut short and lay neatly on his head. From the whiff Robie got, the man had used hairspray to keep some errant strands in place.

“What are we doing here, Will?” asked Julie, as Cassidy came forward to greet them.

Robie and Cassidy had worked out the story beforehand.

Cassidy said, “He brought you here so I could tell you the truth.”

“Truth, what truth?” asked a bewildered-looking Julie.

“I wasn’t just friends with your parents.” He paused, eyed Robie, who gave a bare nod.

“I was your mom’s half brother. That means I’m sort of your uncle. Well, technically I guess I am your uncle.”

“We’re related?” said Julie.

“Yes, we are. And I seem to be the only relations you have left. Now, I know you don’t know me or anything, but I have a little proposition.”

Julie folded her arms across her chest and looked at him suspiciously. “Like what?”

“Like we take some time getting to know each other. See, the reason I was trying to track you all down was because your dad and my sister really helped me out when I was down. I owed them big. Never got a chance to repay that debt.”

“I see where this is going,” said Julie. “You don’t owe me anything.”

“No, Julie, it’s a real debt. They loaned me money. I signed a note. That note was transferable into stock in a company I started with the loan. That company now owns all of my businesses, including this bar. If the note wasn’t repaid by a certain date the loan amount plus accrued interest was transferred into stock. The loan never was repaid and the stock was issued. You’re a forty percent owner in my business, Julie. I’ve got the documents to back it up, if you want to see. I should have told you when I first met you, but I was so surprised to see you, I just didn’t. But I’m a man of my word. And what your parents did for me changed my life. They earned the right to share in the rewards. Well, since they can’t, you should. Because whatever they had now belongs to you. I’m a man of my word and that’s just the way it is.”

He stopped talking and looked at her uncomfortably.

Julie’s suspicious look faded. She glanced at Robie. “Is this really on the up-and-up?”

“We checked out his story. It’s all true. You’ll be able to go to any college you want. You’ll be able to do anything you want.”

She looked back over at Cassidy. “So what does that mean for you and me?”

“Well, it means you can live with me. I can even legally adopt you. Or if you prefer, you have the financial means now to have a guardian appointed until you reach the age of eighteen, and live in your own place. It’s totally up to you.”

“Live with you?”

“Well, it would be flexible. I keep pretty busy, but I’ve got a housekeeper who’s been with me a long time. She’s got a daughter about your age. I think it would work out. But again, it’s up to you.”

“I’ll need to think about it,” said Julie.

“Absolutely. Take all the time you need,” said Cassidy quickly.

Robie said, “Why don’t you start trying to get to know each other right now? I don’t think Mr. Cassidy here dressed up just to talk to you for a few minutes. Would that be okay, Julie? I can come back and pick you up later.”

“I guess that would be okay.”

Robie looked at Cassidy and smiled. “Have a good time.”

“Thank you, Agent Robie. From the bottom of my heart.”

Robie and Vance turned and walked out.

Julie caught up with them before they even reached the car.

“Okay,” she began. “That story was total bullshit. What’s really going on here?”

Robie said, “I was telling you the truth. You are related to him. He cared for your parents deeply. He will care for you deeply. He’s rich. Life will not suck.”

A smile crept across Julie’s face. “Pick me up in two hours.”

“I will.”

She held up something. It was a small canister. “It’s the paralytic spray you gave me. Just in case he turns out to be a creep.”

She walked back to the bar.

Vance said, “I feel sorry for whoever ticks her off.”

“I don’t. They’ll have deserved whatever they get.”

Vance looked at him as they got into the car. “You ever going to tell me the real story about Cassidy?”

“No.”

“Okay.”

Robie put the car in drive and pulled away from the curb.

She touched him on the shoulder. “You doing all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“I hate to bring this up, but what did bin Talal mean when he said…”

Robie slowed the car and looked at her.

She glanced away and said, “Never mind. So we have two hours. You want to grab some lunch?”

“Yeah, I do.”

They ate, talked about things they might do together, but part of Robie wasn’t even listening. They said their goodbyes.

As she was climbing out of the car Vance said, “If you keep saving my life I’m really going to start developing an inferiority complex.”

“There’s nothing inferior about you, Nikki. You’re top-notch in my book.”

“I don’t understand you completely, Robie, but I want to understand you. Does that make sense?”

He looked at her, a smile edging across his lips. “I think you’ll have the opportunity.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

He picked up Julie at the appointed time and drove her back to an apartment the Feds had temporarily gotten for her. It came complete with a housekeeper who packed a gun and could kick the crap out of most intruders.

Before Julie got out of the car she turned back to Robie.

“Is this goodbye like forever?”

“Do you want it to be?”

“Do you want it to be?”

“No, not really.”

“But you’re not sure.”

“I don’t want you to ever be hurt again because of me.”

“Life is what it is, Will. You take it as it comes.”

“That’s always been my philosophy.”

“Where do you think I learned it from?” She playfully punched him in the arm. “Thanks. I mean it. For everything.”

“I think I owe you more than you owe me.”

“How about we split it down the middle?”

She reached over and hugged him. He was tentative at first, but finally Robie hugged her back.

She got out of the car and slowly walked up to her apartment. She turned back, waved at him, and then, despite her still-gimpy leg, Julie skipped up the last few steps.

Like a kid.

Robie smiled and watched until he could no longer see her.

Her injuries would fully heal. At least her physical ones. And her emotional ones might too, given her age.

Robie could not say the same for himself.

The image of Annie Lambert came bursting into his mind like it had been fired there with a rocket launcher. Every moment they had spent together. Everything they had said to each other. Every possibility he might have given thought to about what could have been between them.

And she had been a killer.

Just like he was a killer.

His had been by choice.

She had had no real choice in the matter.

So who was the guiltier one?

It was like Julie had said. You had to take life as it came. It gave no quarter, spared no feelings. Limited no pain. Put no ceiling on happiness.

This was his world.

He was who he was.

He could not change that.

He was not an innocent.

And the people he hunted certainly weren’t innocent.

Maybe the best Robie could do was protect those who actually were.