Faraday stood and eyed me keenly. “You remember his deathdate, Maddie?”
I shook my head. “I don’t. But I don’t think I ever met him. I mean, I only babysat for the family when Nathan couldn’t watch his little brother.”
Faraday got up and grabbed his coat from the hook in the corner of the room. “Call your uncle. Tell him that we’ll want to talk to the two of you in a few hours.”
I started to shake my head. “It wasn’t me! I’ve been here the whole time, Agent Faraday!”
He shrugged into his coat and put a hand on my shoulder. “I know. Go home for now and tell your uncle that we’ll need to see you in a couple of hours, and he should be present. I’ll call him with the time.”
And with that, Faraday and Wallace swept out of the room.
Donny was so furious with me that he hung up in the middle of the conversation. He arrived at the house red-faced and still so angry that I didn’t know if I should let him inside. “Open the door!” he yelled from the back step.
I took a deep breath and undid the lock. He barreled in and gripped me by the shoulders. “Do you know what you’ve done?” he roared. “How could you have gone down there without me?”
I waited while Donny paced back and forth in the kitchen, yelling about how anything I said to Faraday could be used against me, and how I’d now be lucky if he could keep me out of jail, and how I’d likely jeopardized Stubby’s freedom, too…and then his cell rang. “What?” he snapped, not even bothering to look at the caller ID.
His expression changed within half a minute as he listened to the caller. “Thanks for calling, Barb. That’s great news.” He hung up and tapped his chin with the phone, his eyes faraway until he turned his gaze back to me, but now he didn’t appear at all angry—merely stunned. “What did you say to them?”
“Nothing, Donny, I swear. I just had Faraday test me.”
Donny scratched his head. “Yeah, well that must’ve been a hell of a test, Maddie, because that was the assistant DA. She’s dropping the case against Arnold. He’ll be free to go after they process the paperwork, which should be sometime tomorrow.”
I felt a smile burst onto my face, and I was about to rush forward to hug Donny when his phone rang again. This time he squinted at the caller ID before answering. “Donny Fynn,” he said crisply.
I waited through the short call to learn that it was Faraday. He was ready to meet and wanted us to come down to the bureau offices as soon as possible. Donny told him he’d be there as soon as he could.
“What do you think they want?” I asked.
“Faraday didn’t give me any specifics except to say that he thought we could help.”
“Do you think it’s a trap?” I asked, more because Donny looked very worried than because I didn’t trust Faraday. The truth was, after sitting with him in his office and seeing that he’d been true to his word about telling the DA to drop the case against Stubby, I thought I could finally trust the agent.
“A trap?” Donny repeated. “I’m not sure, kiddo, but if you don’t want to go, we won’t. It’s up to you.”
I thought about it for a minute before I made up my mind. “Let’s go. But if you think they want to try and trap me, don’t let me talk.”
Donny eyed me through half-lidded eyes. “Like that’s worked so well before.”
“Sorry,” I said. “I had to, though, Donny. Stubby really needed my help, and I was the one who got him into this mess in the first place.”
Donny sighed and came over to give me a brief hug. “For the record, Maddie, you didn’t get anyone into this mess. Stubby decided all on his own to go see Payton. And if I recall, you told me you even tried to warn him about contacting her.”
“It’s still not his fault,” I replied stubbornly.
Donny eyed me soberly. “It’s not yours, either.”
We made it to the bureau offices before six. Donny had called Mrs. Schroder on the way over, and I’d heard her happy sobs through the phone. Donny promised her to have his office call the jail and hound them until Stubby was released the next day. “I’ll try and get it expedited as quickly as I can, Mary Anne.”
When Donny hung up I realized he was a little emotional, too. For such a tough guy, my uncle had a really sweet soft spot.
We met Faraday and Wallace in Faraday’s office. They motioned for us to sit, and then Faraday took out a photograph and slid it toward me. It was a picture of a kid a couple of years younger than me with light blond hair and hazel eyes. I didn’t recognize his face, but I knew I must be staring at Nathan Murphy.
“This is weird,” I said, looking up at the agents.
“What?” Faraday said.
“You want me to tell you if he’s dead, right?”
Faraday nodded, and after a quick glance at Donny—who nodded, too—I said, “His deathdate isn’t until July twelfth, twenty seventy-seven.”
They both seemed surprised. “Then where is he?” Wallace asked.
Donny sat forward, probably sensing a trap, but I shrugged. “I have no idea.”
Wallace frowned. “I thought you were psychic?”
I sighed because I’d been through this with him before. The whole thing had such a weird déjà vu quality about it, except for the fact that Nathan was going to live another sixty or so years. “I can only see his deathdate. Nothing else.”
Wallace’s frown deepened. “Do you get anything off the photograph?” he pressed.
“What else would she get off it?” Donny snapped. “She’s already told you the only thing she can see is his deathdate.”
Wallace got defensive. “Hey, man, she’s the one that wants us to believe she’s got these abilities, not me, and how the hell am I supposed to know how all this freaky-deaky stuff works?”