Lark! the Herald Angels Sing by Donna Andrews

Author:Donna Andrews
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Chapter 21

Somehow I was no longer in the mood to give anyone chapter and verse of my morning’s adventures. Randall was going to get the CliffsNotes version.

“Tracked her to Clay County and dragged her back,” I said instead. “And stashed her at the Inn for the time being. FYI, there are definitely Dingles slinking about Caerphilly looking for the Caverlys.”

A longer pause.

“Clearly I need to have a few words with Fred and the boys.”

“Don’t be too hard on them,” I said, through a mouthful of pita bread and hummus. “They were watching for Dingles sneaking in, not damsels in distress sneaking out.”

“Still. Maybe I’ll pull them off the roof and send them out to look for Mr. Caverly.”

“Rumor has it Clay County’s already caught him.”

“Rumor had it that way last night, but it turns out they’d just waylaid some poor random tourist who took a wrong turn when he left your grandfather’s zoo.”

“Yikes.”

“Yeah. Your idea about that warning sign on our side of the county line is looking smarter every day.”

“The one that would say ‘Abandon hope, all ye who enter here’?”

“Truth in advertising. Maybe I’ll get Fred and the boys to run one up, as a penance for letting their prisoner go.”

“She wasn’t exactly a prisoner.”

“Maybe she should have been.”

“Well, she is now.” I set the phone on the desk so I could use both hands to remove the skewer from a steak kebab. “I’ve told Ekaterina to make sure she doesn’t leave.”

“Good. Meanwhile, I think we should leave Fred and the boys on the courthouse roof for the time being, if there are apt to be Dingles loose in town. I’ll find someone else to make that sign.”

We signed off. I surveyed my plate, trying to decide which delicacy to nibble next. One of the miniature quiches? The tempura veggies? The—

“Good news!” Dad bounced into the office. “Ekaterina was right,” he called over his shoulder. “She’s in here.”

“What’s the good news?” I asked.

“Rob’s off the hook.”

“So Grandfather’s lab finished the DNA?”

“And Rob’s not Lark’s father.” Dad beamed, and began rummaging through the bowl of Christmas candy on Ekaterina’s desk. “It’s definite.”

“You can never be a hundred percent certain where paternity is concerned.” Grandfather ambled into the office after Dad and slouched into one of the guest chairs.

“The odds are a million to one against.” Dad’s words were slightly garbled by the candy cane he was sucking. “Good odds.”

“Stranger things have happened.” Grandfather had also taken a candy cane, but he was just sitting and staring at it as if it were a dose of bitter medicine he was steeling himself to swallow.

“I think this good news calls for a little bit of celebration,” Dad protested. “We can prove to Delaney that Rob’s not the father.”

“Yes, that is good news,” I said. “The only problem is that while the DNA tests prove that Rob isn’t the father—”

“They don’t prove that.” Grandfather sounded annoyed. Why was he sulking so? Did he want another great-grandchild that badly?

“I stand corrected,” I said.

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