“I think so, but I’m not sure yet.” Everly folded her hands in front of herself. She wore a puzzled look.
“Why don’t you start by telling us what you saw or heard last night,” Ronan suggested.
“Great idea, Daddy.” Everly beamed up at her father. “I could feel a buzzing energy in the theater when I got to my seat. Kind of like what it feels like on Christmas Eve, when youknowSanta is going to visit and bring toys. Anticipation, I think is the right word, but I think there’s more to the weird energy than that.”
“You think the people in the black outfits knew what was going to happen and when?” Ten asked. “I have to say I didn’t know at all.”
“Me either,” Cope agreed.
“They knew Alistair was going to pick Fake Samantha first. I’m sure of it.” Everly’s uncertainty was gone.
“Wait! What?” Cope asked. “Alistair’s excuse for what happened last night was that he knew what was happening all along, that Fake Samantha was planted in the audience on purpose so that he could prove she was trying to defraud him and you’re saying that he’s telling the truth?” Cope was stunned. He hadn’t believed a single word that had come out of Alistair’s mouth the entire time he’d been at West Side Magick and now Everly was almost confirming that the conman had been telling the truth? It was a world gone mad.
“I don’t know what de-frog means,” Everly said with a giggle, “but if you’re saying Alistair knew she was there to hurt him, then my answer is yes.”
“Could you read Alistair, honey?” Ten asked. “I have to admit, I didn’t even try to read him or Samantha. I was just happy to have a night out that didn’t require me using my gift.”
“No.” Everly shook her head. “When I got the message that something bad was going to happen, I tried to read him, but got a blank. Then, that awful siren started to play and my entire head felt scrambled. All I could think about was helping Aurora.I knew if the sound was hurting my ears, it was doing worse to hers.”
“I appreciate that, Everly,” Fitz said. “You’re always thinking of Aurora.”
“She’s my girl bestie, Uncle Fitz. I don’t like the way it feels when Aurora’s in pain.”
“Me either,” Fitz agreed. “There’s one more thing I need to talk about.” He looked at Everly and then over to Ronan, as if to ask if it was okay to speak in front of her. Ronan nodded. “When Cope was calling out Hooke, he mentioned something about Aunt Endor’s heart attack.”
Everly giggled. “Endor is the planet the Ewok’s lived on inReturn of the Jedi. The aunt is Endora, like onBewitched.”
Fitzgibbon barked a surprised laugh. “Girl, we need to talk aboutBewitchedlater,” Fitz said with a grin. “It was my favorite show growing up, but for now, I need to know if Alistair did something to cause Aunt Endora’s death?”
“I don’t know. Like I said I couldn’t really read Alistair, but I’ll try extra hard Friday night when we go to the show.” She sat up straight, looking proud of herself.
“Oh, no! No, no, no!” Ten said. “You’re not going anywhere near that place on Friday night.Idon’t even want to go.”
“Because you have a bad feeling?” Everly asked, wearing a curious smile.
“Yeah, among other things,” Ten admitted.
“Which means youneedme.” Everly waggled her eyebrows at her parents, looking as if she already knew she was going to win. “I don’t have to be in the audience. I could be in the lobbyor in the parking lot with Nana Kaye or Carson. Daddy could wear an earpiece connected to my phone and I could talk to him that way.” Everly looked back and forth between her fathers. “Please?”
“We need to think about that honey.” Ronan said, looking very much like his mind was already made up. “Is there anything else we need to know?”
“Look into Aunt Endora’s death. I’ll try to reach out to her.”
“We’lltry to reach out to her.” Ten pointed back and forth between himself and Cope.
“Dad, I’m on vacation. You said I could pick one thing I wanted to do during winter break and this is it. I want to be part of the investigation. If Alistair did something awful I want to be one of the people to help take him down.”
“Fuck my life,” Ronan muttered under his breath.
“I’m not even gonna collectthatdollar for the swear jar, Daddy.” Everly wore a smirk that said she knew she was on the case.
“Okay, you’re in, but from a distance.” Ronan looked like he regretted the words as he said them. “Welcome to the team.”
Everly kissed Ronan’s cheek and hopped off her chair. “Damn skippy, chippy!” With a giggle she ran out of the room.
“I like the idea of Everly helping out even less than you do, Ronan. So let’s see if we can get to the bottom of this before Friday.” Fitz pulled out his notebook. “Jude, I want you and Greeley to work on Alistair himself. Does he have a criminal record? Has he had trouble with the law under his legal name? You know what to do.”
“You got it,” Jude agreed, biting the inside of his cheeks. He didn’t want Cope to see how excited he was about going back to work a few days early.
