“Special Agent Derek Malchowski.” He stuck out a hand, and because I didn’t know what else to do, I shook it. He pulled a leather wallet from his back pocket and flashed his credentials. “FBI.”

My mouth fell open. “That’s why you lied for Beyla about the night Drago died.”

John-er, Derek-smiled. “Sorry to make you look bad in front of the locals. But Beyla needed an alibi, or the local cops were going to find out what was going on. We couldn’t risk it. Not that early in the operation.”

“And that explains what the two of you were doing in cooking class, too, right? It was an excuse for you to meet with Beyla. A way for you to get together and talk without anyone knowing.”

John-er, Derek-smiled again. “We were afraid Drago was onto Beyla, and we couldn’t take that chance. She was too valuable a source. And yes, since I know you’re going to say it, that’s why we missed bread class Saturday. Important meeting at headquarters.”

Suddenly, my attention snapped back to my best friend. “Eve! we have to…” But Derek was way ahead of me.

“Called an ambulance,” he said when I made a move to check on her again. Eve was still on the floor, but now she was curled up on her side and breathing peacefully.

With that worry out of the way, I had the luxury of being mortified. “I was so stupid to believe anything Yuri said. We almost ruined everything!”

Derek pursed his lips. “Actually, I think you conducted one heck of an investigation. Without you… well, we would have found the disc eventually, but you found it sooner. And thanks to you, it didn’t fall into Yuri’s hands. If it had, we’re pretty sure he would have disappeared. We’ve been expecting a new shipment of weapons, a big one. If Yuri disappeared, we knew we’d never be able to track him or that shipment. That’s why we held off arresting Drago, in case you’re wondering.”

He smiled. “You did fine there. Your only problem was assuming you knew who was guilty right from the start. Let me offer you a little professional advice, Annie: never make up your mind. Not about anyone. Not until you have all the facts.” He dug a business card out of his wallet and gave it to me along with a wink. “Give me a call the next time you start on a case. I might be able to help out.”

He turned and walked away just as the sound of sirens started pulsing outside the gallery. A team of paramedics rushed in and lifted Eve onto a stretcher, and I headed to the door to ride to the hospital with them.

But not before I took one last look at Yuri’s body.

Once upon what seemed like a very long time before, I’d promised him that I would do whatever I could to bring Drago’s killer to justice.

I wondered if he dreamed it would ever turn out this way.

I shook away the thought and stepped outside. Just as I did, a black car pulled up to the curb. No sooner had it stopped than a man stepped out of the passenger side. He waved Beyla over.

“You kept your part of the bargain.” That was all he said before he opened the back door. Crowded into the backseat was a woman with iron-gray hair who looked a whole lot like an older version of Beyla, another man, and three small children. When Beyla saw them, she let out a gasp, and tears ran down her cheeks.

“Thank God!” She grabbed my hand, and honest to gosh, I think she would have kissed it if I didn’t stop her. “This is my family. They are here. From Romania. They are no longer in danger.”

I wasn’t so sure that I had all that much to do with it, but I accepted her thanks. “I hope I can see you again,” I called out as she rushed to the car door. “I’ve got a lot of apologizing to do.”

Beyla turned and cast me a beaming smile.

“No need. And I will send you my sauce of tomatoes recipe. I think maybe it will taste better than yours.” With that, she ducked into the car and from what I could see, there were tears and laughter all around.

“Just let me know when we can get together,” I said, but the man who’d gotten out of the car first took my arm. He abruptly closed the car door and as soon as we backed off, the vehicle pulled away.

“Witness Security,” he said. “What most folks call Witness Protection. You won’t be seeing Beyla again.”

Honestly, the thought made me a little sad. But in the great scheme of things, I guess it really didn’t matter. After all we’d put her through, it was enough just to see Beyla happy.

“OK, TELL ME ONE MORE TIME.” EVE SETTLED HERSELF more comfortably against the pillows I’d mounded on the couch for her, but not before she leaned forward, scooped up another spoonful of peanut butter, and slopped it onto a chunk of chocolate. “You’re saying that Beyla was really the good guy in all this?”

“Exactly.” I emphasized my point by gesturing with the spoon I was using to do some major damage to the peanut butter myself. “Like I told you back at the hospital, we had it all wrong the entire time. I’m only glad it worked out the way it did.”

“And that no one got hurt. Well…” Eve’s complexion turned an unbecoming shade of green. “Nobody but Yuri.” She shivered. “Yikes, Annie, I was that close to him when he died.” She held two fingers just a tiny bit apart. It would have been easier to do if they both weren’t coated with peanut butter. “I could have been the one killed.”

“Not to worry.” I licked the remains of chocolate off my fingers. “Beyla made sure of that. As for Drago…”

“He was a bad guy, too, so I guess he got what he deserved.”

“And Magda.”

“Poor lady.” Eve lowered her spoon in tribute. “She just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“And we just happened to have solved the case!” We clicked spoons in a toast.

“We’ll have lots to talk about tomorrow at cooking class.”

“Except I don’t think we can.” My fingers were sticky, and I wiped them against a paper napkin. “I mean, Witness Protection and gun smuggling and John the accountant not being who he pretended to be… Something tells me we’re better off keeping our mouths shut.”

“Except when it comes to Tyler.” Eve’s grin was wicked. “Oh, don’t worry,” she assured me, “I’m not going to give away any national secrets. But I think I can mention that the FBI commended us for the thoroughness of our investigation.”

The way I remembered it, Derek had been commending me at the time, but since Eve had been drugged, I forgave her liberal editing.

“Tyler,” I reminded her, “has peanut butter for brains.”

“No way!” Eve turned her spoon upside down and licked it clean. “Peanut butter is way smarter. And tastier. I hope the man never crosses my path again.”

“Here’s to that.” I saluted her with my mug of tea. “And here’s to an end to all the danger we’ve been in. I don’t need any more of that, thank you very much.”

“Hear, hear.” Eve raised her mug. “We’ve done our duty. No more bad guys. No more danger. No more-”

Her words dissolved in a gulp.

Because Eve had heard exactly what I’d heard: my front door creaking open.

We couldn’t see out into the hallway from where we were sitting. I signaled her to remain quiet and quickly removed the peanut butter jar and the chocolate bars from the tray I’d used to carry it all into the living room, and tucked the tray under my arm. Though I wasn’t sure what she planned to do with it, Eve latched onto a pillow. Side by side, we crept into the hall.

The door creaked open a little bit more. Eve and I hunkered down into our positions. When it opened all the way, we flew at the intruder from each side, our weapons (such as they were) raised and ready.

“Holy Jehosephat!” Jim slapped a hand to his heart and nearly fell back into the hallway. “What on earth are you two doing?”

“And what are you doing trying to scare us to death?” I grabbed his hand, pulled him into the apartment, and closed the door behind him. “How did you get up here? You didn’t buzz.”