When we walked downstairs, Julie, Grace, Alice, Emma, and Merit were all waiting to hug Iris. Grace put her arm around her and said, “I’ve made you fresh warm cookies and milk. You’ve had quite the ordeal today. And you were quite the hero.”

“Grace, I really was.”

We all laughed.

Iris looked around. “Julie, where are the girls? It’s our last night!”

She smiled. “They’re at ballet, but they’ll be home in time for dinner.”

“So what I want to know,” I said, “is how exactly you came to obtain the phone you used to record Jeremy.”

Alice shook her head. “Jeremy,” she whispered. “It’s going to take a while to come to terms with that one.”

Merit and Iris shared a look that I found very interesting. It was a secret look, a brother-and-sister one.

“Oh, no, no,” Grace said. “Whatever it is, you two need to spit it out.”

Iris scrunched her nose.

“Honey,” I said, “I’m so happy you’re safe and Dad is coming home that I don’t care about much else right now.”

“Well…” Merit started.

“They have burner phones!” Emma exploded. She reached into her pocket and handed Merit twenty dollars.

“What?” Grace and I said at the same time.

“Like drug dealers?” Alice asked.

“That’s what I said!” Iris added.

Grace looked at Merit. “So, on the one hand, you should technically be punished for the burner phone. On the other, you might have saved Alice. Bill too.”

“I vote no punishment for Merit!” Julie said with the voice of a warrior.

I jumped in. “I mean, it is a little unrealistic for teenagers to have to be without their phones from six p.m. on anyway. Eight or nine? Sure. But I vote that this wasn’t Merit’s fault.”

Grace sighed. “Fine. No grounding, but also no burner phones. I mean, the things you don’t even think you would have to say.”

“While everyone is being so forgiving…” Iris said. “Chloe, Daphne, and I sort of broke into our house a few weeks ago. And Jeremy was in there stealing statements, and we maybe didn’t tell you—”

“What?” I protested, feeling like couldn’t breathe.

“But you didn’t even tell me that we could get back into our house,” Iris said. “So I think we’re even.”

“No punishments!” Merit said. “Now walk away slowly,” he whispered to Iris.