I went into more detail about Ronnie. There was something very intimate about relating the story of my relationship to my cousins. I guess I’d gone it alone so long I didn’t think I’d ever need someone to talk to. Gin, Dak, Liv and Paris listened patiently as I started with meeting Veronica in Nebraska to our angst-filled meeting when I dropped off the envelope containing Senator Anderson’s sins. I guess I gave them a welcome distraction from our immediate problem. Once I finished, Gin pulled out her cell phone and ordered pizza while Dak ran across the parking lot to score a case of beer.

“Wow,” Liv said softly. The look in her eyes told me she was impressed.

“And you didn’t want to kill him?” Dak asked. Gin punched him in the arm. “Not even a little bit?”

I laughed and took a swig of beer. “Yeah, okay. Maybe I did a little bit.”

Paris stared into space, chewing thoughtfully. “There were rumors of murder after Anderson ’s death.” He shrugged. “I knew he was a prick so I never thought anything about it.”

“Well, you can’t serve Veronica up to the council,” Dak said. “That’s a bit of a deal breaker.”

Gin punched him again. “And what about this Drew thing? Why didn’t you give Veronica a chance to explain? Maybe once she found you, she didn’t want him anymore.”

Liv nodded. “You should have told her how you felt, Coney. Maybe that would’ve changed things.”

Paris leaped to my defense. Good man. “She totally played him! This Ronnie never told Coney she was already in a relationship.”

“Love is a little more complicated than that, little brother,” Liv said. “You should never assume anything.”

Gin nodded. “Coney can’t do this by himself. And we can’t let things keep going as they are.”

“But you’re retired!” Dak cried out again. “This doesn’t even affect you!”

Gin shook her head. “As far as you guys are concerned, it does affect me.”

“Okay,” Liv said. “So let’s do it.”

Chapter Thirty-one

“I’m not sure this is a good idea,” I said to Sartre as I drove the remaining sixty miles to Iowa City. The guinea pig looked up at me from the passenger seat as if to say she didn’t think she should be riding without a seat belt.

My cousins and I had agreed on this course of action the night before, but we’d had a lot of beer and may not have been thinking clearly. What we were about to do flew in the face of the Bombay family creed. We were confident that Missi would be on board with it, but there were five other cousins we hadn’t consulted. Were we making a mistake?

Sartre wheeked, implying that I was driving too fast. Maybe I should have put her back in her cage.

The thought of seeing Ronnie again twisted my intestines in a way I did not find very comfortable. Seeing Drew again was a necessary evil. Seeing them together would probably burn out my eyes. But if I left them here and went off to confront the council, they might just get picked up anyway. The safest place for Ronnie was with me. Unfortunately, the council could use Drew to get to her. As much as I didn’t want to admit it, both had to come with me.

I pulled off of I-80 and coasted into the very edge of the city. Stopping at the first car rental agency I found, I traded my RV for a black Kia minivan. What? Obviously I’m beyond the whole image thing or I wouldn’t be driving a motor home, in the first place, and I’d have a rottweiler instead of a guinea pig in the second.

It only took fifteen minutes before I pulled up in front of Ronnie’s house. This would have to be done very carefully. Carolina would have had time to alert the rest of the council to do…what? I had no idea, but I knew better than to underestimate them. Many a Bombay has been quite surprised to find their mother bursting through the door to gun them down. It has been known to happen.

This plan had me torn up inside. I wanted to help Ronnie because…well, because I loved her. I also did not want to help Ronnie, because she loved someone else. Oh, the philosophical questions.

Looking both ways, I raced up to the house and knocked on the door.

Veronica answered. “Cy? What the hell is going on?

I pushed past her into the house. “Where’s Drew? We’ve got to get going.” I worked my way through the rooms while she followed.

“Stop! You can’t just barge in here and make demands like that!” She grabbed me by the shoulder but I shrugged her off. “Cy! Dammit! Listen to me!”

I spun around to face her. “Ronnie. You and Drew are in danger. I need to get you out of here right now.”

She folded her arms over her chest in a move I’d seen so many times before. “Don’t be ridiculous. Why would Drew and I be in danger?”

“You met the kind of people I deal with back in Ulaanbaatar. I’d consider trusting me if I were you.” Yes. Trust me. Not like I can trust you, Ronnie. But you should trust me.

She went pale, and I could see the name Arje Dekker on her lips. For a moment I thought I saw an unasked question in her eyes. She wondered what I had done with him. Something stopped her from asking.

“Drew?” she called. “Drew! We have to run an errand!”

Drew came down the stairs wearing nothing but a pair of jeans and deck shoes. His physique was flawless. The boyish way he smiled at me made me feel sick. I said nothing as he pulled on a T-shirt and followed us out to the van.

“Sartre!” Ronnie squealed as she scooped up the pig and buried her face in its fur. Sartre purred with glee. I drove the car as the woman I loved showed the man she loved my guinea pig.

“Where are we going?” Drew finally asked. He must have been incredibly trusting. Why on earth would he get into a car with a man he didn’t know without asking before we left the house?

“Yes, Cy.” Ronnie narrowed her eyes at me. “Where are we going?”

I could see Drew frowning in the rearview mirror.

“You mean you don’t know?” he asked her.

Veronica looked at him, then me. She chewed her lip. In spite of myself I thought that was pretty damn adorable.

“Ronnie?” Drew asked. What kind of moron was he? You don’t get into a vehicle with someone you don’t know to go to an unknown location!

Veronica decided to answer him. “Remember when I told you about that guy who jumped me in Mongolia?”

“Is he after you?” Drew asked with surprise. Of course he’d be shocked. This was a man of education. In his world, men didn’t beat one another up. They used words. And I used to be one of those bozos.

“No,” I answered. “It’s someone else.” I glanced at Ronnie to check her reaction. Fear played across her features. She must have thought I’d killed Dekker eventually. Of course, she couldn’t possibly know that I’d kept him alive for relationship advice and then refused to kill him.

“Then where are we going?” Drew was starting to grow a pair now. I wanted to hate him. I really did. But this wasn’t his fault.

“Someone else is after you. We are going to the airport to board a private plane there.”

Veronica and Drew simultaneously shouted, “Who?”

I said nothing, because there was nothing more to say.

Ronnie grew angry. “Who is after us?”

“No one is after you…yet,” I said finally.

“But you said-” she started.

“I said nothing specific.”

She looked at me, then glanced back at Drew, who now leveled his gaze on me. Well, really on the back of my head.

“It’s just safer if you come with me,” I said through gritted teeth.

“What? Why? Who would threaten our safety?”