Nicole sat silently in the passenger seat, eating her cookie and watching Michael through the windshield. He laughed at something Ainsworth said. Nicole relaxed a bit. Bonnie wasn't sure what to say to her. So, she decided to do what Michael suggested and involve Nicole in her work checking over Kitt. Bonnie handed the girl a cloth bag with her tools.
"Please hold this for me, Nicole."
"Of course, Dr. Barstow, ma'am."
"Okay, I need the third tool from the left." Nicole handed it over. "Thanks."
"You're welcome, Dr. Barstow, ma'am."
They continued in that vein for several of the longest minutes Bonnie had ever lived through. Bonnie would ask for a tool by position or hand back a tool to be put away. She would thank Nicole for her help. And Nicole would politely respond, calling Bonnie 'Dr. Barstow, ma'am' every time. And then, to Bonnie's relief, Michael walked back over to Kitt. He came to the passenger door, which Kitt opened.
"Okay, Nicole, your turn. Just tell Sheriff Ainsworth what happened and answer any questions he has. I'll help Bonnie."
Nicole got out as Michael nodded encouragingly at her. He walked her over to where Ainsworth was standing with Devon and gave her a gentle squeeze on the shoulder. Then Michael came back over to Kitt and got into the passenger seat Nicole had just vacated. Kitt shut the door once he was seated.
"I don't . . . I don't know how you do that, Michael. Handle Nicole like nothing's out of the ordinary, I mean."
"When I was with the LAPD – before joining the Foundation – I had a f . . .riend, an attorney. Said child abuse cases were the hardest. You want to cry at what the victims have been through. But you can't."
"Why not?"
"The victims have been told they're evil, monsters, bad. If you cry when you see them, they believe they're somehow marked. That everyone can tell just by looking at them what they've been through. Instead, you need to smile, and tell them repeatedly they don't deserve what was done to them."
"Sounds like your attorney friend had heart and brains."
"Yes," said Michael quietly.
Bonnie recognized that his previous life was a painful topic for Michael and changed the subject. "Kitt doesn't really need any repairs, you know."
"I know. But it gave Nicole a reason to be in Kitt, so she couldn't hear what we were saying. Which reminds me: Bruce said we weren't supposed to meet. Any idea what he meant?"
"The Summers accused you of kidnapping Nicole. Which is why the sheriff was here at the Home Office, talking with Devon."
"That makes sense."
"Oh?"
"Just before I was knocked out, Eddie Summers said something about two birds and one stone. If I disappeared and so did Nicole, that would discredit me and my investigation."
"However, Michael," interjected Kitt, "if Nicole dies, the land reverts to the state rather than remaining in Kylie and Eddie's hands."
"No body. It would take a while to get the courts to declare Nicole dead."
"Plenty of time for them to strip the resources," observed Bonnie.
"Probably even legally. To get the money to find Nicole. The courts would certainly approve that request."
"I believe Sheriff Ainsworth and Devon have finished talking with Nicole," said Kitt.
"Thanks for the heads up, pal. And for letting Nicole eat her cookie in the car. I know how you feel about crumbs in the upholstery."
"In this case, Michael, I can make an exception."
Devon picked up Nicole and carried her first to the cabinet with the cookies and then back to the passenger seat. Kitt rolled down the window so Michael could talk with them.
Devon said, "Nicole has been most helpful, and she has earned another cookie. Nicole also asked whether you, Michael, had earned a cookie, too. Which you have."
Nicole shyly handed Michael one of the two cookies she had.
"Thanks, Nicole."
"Sheriff Ainsworth is giving the driver directions. We should be at our destination in about 10-15 minutes."
"Michael? What is going on?" Nicole sounded concerned.
Michael got out of the car, took Nicole from Devon, and then placed her on the car roof so she was at eye level. "Your parents owned land with valuable minerals. That land is now yours. Your aunt and uncle are selling those minerals without permission. Which is why they were so mad at you today. They didn't want you to know what they were doing."
"Oh." Nicole thought it over, then asked, "Do you think that's what Mommy and Daddy were arguing about with Aunt Kylie and Uncle Eddie?"
"When was that, Nicole?"
"The day of The Accident."
Ainsworth had just returned from talking with the driver. He perked up at Nicole's words, but let Michael continue to question her.
"Your aunt and uncle were at your parents' house that day?"
Nicole nodded. "We were supposed to go to their house for dinner. But Mommy and Daddy had a fight with them that morning. On the phone."
"Do you remember what they were fighting about?"
Nicole shook her head sadly. "No, Michael, I don't. I'm sorry. I just know they were yelling really loudly. I could even hear Uncle Eddie's voice over the phone."
"That's okay, Nichole. What happened after your parents hung up?"
"They talked, and then Daddy called someone else. But I don't know who. And then later, Aunt Kylie and Uncle Eddie showed up. Aunt Kylie had made a blackberry pie, which was Daddy's favorite. They gave us the pie and left."
"And you ate the pie?"
"Yes, we had it with lunch. Daddy said it was good pie, though not as good as Aunt Kylie usually made. Said it tasted a little off."
"And then everyone was friends again."
"I guess so. I mean, I fell asleep after lunch. And when I woke up, I was lying on a rock near the road. So Mommy and Daddy must have decided to have dinner with Aunt Kyle and Uncle Eddie after all. But the car had . . . they were . . . were . . ."
Nicole couldn't continue because she was crying. Michael held her, letting her cry into his chest. Ainsworth came closer, standing by Kitt's hood.
"Kylie called the police because her sister and brother-in-law were late to dinner. But she never said anything about an argument or a peace offering of pie earlier that day. Neither did Eddie. And no one thought to question Nicole." Bruce kept his voice low.
"A peace offering of pie that only the Brinleys ate," observed Michael, in a similarly low voice, as he gently stroked Nicole's hair.
Nicole finally stopped crying, though she was still sniffling in Michael's shirt. The driver announced they would be stopping soon, and that everyone should brace themselves. Michael braced Nicole on Kitt's roof as the Home Office came to a stop. Then he picked her up and went with Ainsworth, taking Nicole to see the Hodgsons.
Devon noticed Bonnie had a bemused look on her face. "You seem surprised at something."
"Michael. I've never seen him so . . . focused."
"That, my dear girl, is because you normally see him before or after a case, not during one. Wilton did handpick Michael for a reason."
"Clearly the right choice," said Bonnie, who was rethinking her initial impression of Michael as the nut behind the wheel.