"Thanks."

"Did Penelope say how she did everything?" I asked my brother. "I have some ideas, and Lily and I figured out how she bought tickets at the airport by impersonating Juliet, but I don't know all of it. I don't know how she got away with it for so long. I also don’t know why. Not for sure."

"Why?" asked Maddox. "Money?" he guessed.

"Jealousy."

"Lexi's right," cut in Garrett. "Penelope was simply jealous of Juliet. Apparently, it was also very easy. With Penelope and Juliet employed by the same firm, Penelope had no trouble gaining access to Juliet's passwords as well as her computer. She even had spyware installed so she could send emails remotely, thereby enabling her to do the rogue trades. She had access to all of Juliet's accounts and her phone and used them all to alienate people, leaving Juliet no one to turn to. We picked up Juliet's home computer and I'm sure we'll find evidence on that one too. I don't think the lamp with the cut cord you found will help, unfortunately."

"Shame, I'm sure she sabotaged it. Penelope was always in and out of Juliet's house," I told them. "She had no problem copying keys and could enter as she pleased. In the garage, she even said she took Rob's new keys the day she took him and Robbie to the park. She made an imprint to copy later. She was relentless. But she was greedy too. When Donahue searched her house, he found all the fraudulent bags and clothes ordered on Juliet's credit card at her home. Her aunt lived next door to the vacant house, where she had everything sent, and personally identified her."

"She masqueraded as the perfect friend just so she could ruin Juliet's life?" asked Maddox. "That's sick."

Lily reached across and laid a hand over mine. "I would never do that to you."

"Thanks."

"I don't have the energy."

"Good to know." I waited a moment, wondering if Lily was about to change her mind. When she didn't, I asked Garrett, "Did she move the car?"

"Car? Hmm, she rambled something about moving a car and messing with Juliet's house. She's a mean piece of work."

"She can't have always been like that. She and Rob were in love once."

"She probably wasn't; and I don't think love has anything to do with this. Jealousy does bad things to people. We all have jealous traits from time-to-time, but Penelope's went into overdrive. She turned nasty and obsessive. Instead of making her own life better, and letting go of the past, she thought she could take Juliet's identity and make it her own. So she infiltrated Juliet's life, always looking for a way to get rid of her and restart what she considered was her family all along," said Garrett.

"Penelope said all that?"

"Pretty much."

"Did you think to give her a sedative?" asked Lily.

"No, but we made sure to record everything. Listen, I gotta go. I'll keep you updated with what's happening," said Garrett, rising and buttoning his jacket. "Donahue would appreciate any files you have on the case. We have Penelope on fraud, assault, and attempted murder, but he's still unraveling the financial aspects that got Juliet into hot water."

"No problem. I'll talk to Juliet later and drop them off as fast as I can."

"Solomon's files too?"

"I'm going to his office soon, but I'm sure either he or Lancaster Friedland already turned over whatever he has."

"I'll call Donahue and tell him you'll be by."

"Does this mean you're on the case?"

"Only for the attempted murder part of it. If work gets slack, I know who to call to speed things up," Garrett said, shaking his head at me.

I grimaced, then remembered what I meant to ask him. "Sorry. Can I have my gun back now?"

Garrett leaned over to hug me. "Soon. Don't ever make me investigate another attempt on your life," he said, kissing my cheek.

"I'm kind of worried about joining a mom and baby group now. What if they're all homicidal maniacs just waiting to break free? Ugh, bathroom break," said Lily, sliding out from the booth. "The baby seems to think my bladder is a squishy pillow."

"This has been a crazy case," said Maddox. "I'm glad you called me for help. It makes my case load look easy."

"You still have open cases? I hope we didn't distract you too much."

"No, not even a little bit. Besides, I'm all done for now."

"So what's next? Another case?" I asked.

"Something better. I'm going to Paris." He clapped his hands together and grinned, looking happy.

"For a vacation? Sounds great!"

"A case actually. I applied for a confidential position a while back and I got it. I leave tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? Wait... what? I thought the FBI wasn't for you."

"It isn't with the FBI. You could call it a loan of sorts. I can't tell you a lot about it, sorry."

I raised my eyebrows. I suspected the answer already, but it didn't stop me from asking. "Classified?"

"One hundred percent. What I can tell you is it might take me back to my roots. I hoped the FBI would be the pinnacle of my career, one step from being a detective, but it isn't what I expected. Perhaps, this will change things. I'll be investigating a very interesting case." Maddox checked his watch. "I have to get back now. Let's catch up when I'm home again."

"Sounds good."

"Say bye to Lily from me."

"I will." I got up as Maddox stood and we embraced briefly. "Send me a postcard?"

"You bet."

I sat down again, watching Maddox leave, wondering what his top secret case might be that it would take him to Paris. He hinted that it wasn't with the FBI, but I knew better than to press him about the recruitment source. If he wanted me to know, he would have told me, and he clearly didn't. I was still staring as he turned at the corner, raised a hand, and waved before he disappeared.

"Hey, where'd everybody go?" asked Lily. "I didn't take that long! It's just like the wedding! I almost missed that too when you were getting patched up. Can you believe Juliet and Rob actually got married after all of that? Their fake wedding turned into the real deal."

"They said it seemed like the best thing to do under the circumstances."

"How are they holding up?"

"I spoke to Juliet yesterday. She said Robbie is upset, but he's settling into life with them; and they found him a therapist so he can discuss his mom and his feelings. I don't think he really understands what's going on. Rob said he told him he was so excited about having a new little brother or sister that he talked non-stop about it to Penelope."

"Do you think that's why she finally flipped out big time?"

"I don't know. I hope not."

"Poor kid."

"Yeah. Poor kid. Juliet's taking some time off work to look after Robbie; and she even got Jane to be her personal assistant."

"Jane?"

"Her former assistant. The one who Penelope pretended Juliet fired," I reminded her.

Lily sighed and pushed away her tea. "This is one messed-up case."

"Tell me about it. Hey, Maddox said to say bye. He had to get back to the office. Speaking of office, I need to meet Solomon at his."

"You're taking the job?"

"Yes, I am." I'd decided the night before. The agency was where I wanted to be and I planned on telling Solomon as soon as I got there. Just like Maddox, a job move had seemed like a good idea but it wasn't what I thought it would be.