“Girls can’t dunk boys!” Ronan shouted from the tank.
Everly scowled. “Those are fighting words.” She wound up a second time and threw the ball toward the target. It bounced off the top of the metal disk, but didn’t send Ronan into the water.
“See! I told you girls can’t dunk me!” Ronan laughed.
Everly turned to the tank and offered her father a sweet smile. She strode toward him with a determined look on her face. “I love you, Daddy.” She blew Ronan a kiss and went up to the target and pressed it with her hand.
“Wait! No!” Ronan shouted before he was dunked into the tank.
“Mission accomplished.” Everly dusted off her hands and ran to Jude. “Who’s next?”
Tennyson was laughing so hard that he had to lean against Cope to keep from falling over. “I’ll never forget this moment if I live to be one hundred.”
“I recorded it!” Jace held up his phone. “The look on Ronan’s face was priceless.”
Ten took Jace’s arm and led him away from the tank. “Ronan said things went well with Spencer at the Mission yesterday.”
Jace nodded. “They did. Spencer and Ronan both worked in the kitchens for several hours. They helped serve lunch and Spencer sat with some of the people there for a meal. I think he really got a lot out of the day. Ronan said he wrote his report for Effy Lou’s lawyer and said he talked about him in glowing terms. Is it gonna stick or is he going to go back to being his old self when the inheritance hits his bank account.”
“I’m not sure,” Ten said. “I’ve been trying to read the situation all morning, but I’m not getting a clear picture. I do know that Carson and Cassie are both going to hire him to work part time at West Side Magick and West Side Sweets.”
“Did your gift tell you that?” Jace asked with a grin.
“No, Carson did.”
“Daddy! Watch me!” Aurora shouted from the dunk tank. She held a baseball in her hand and looked very determined to dunk Ronan.
“Go, Aurora!” Fitzgibbon clapped for his daughter. He wore a mischievous look that told Tennyson he wasn’t above hitting the lever to send Ronan into the tan.
“Yeah, go home, Aurora! You’ll never dunk me!” Ronan taunted from the tank.
Taking a deep breath, Aurora gripped the ball and threw it toward the bullseye. It hit the target dead on.
Ronan yelped and fell back into the water with a loud splash.
“I did it!” Aurora shouted. She jumped up and down with joy. “Take that, Uncle Ronan.”
“That was just a lucky shot. There’s no way you can do it again.” Ronan climbed back onto his perch. His prized chicken costume dripped, while several yellow feathers floated around in the tank.
“I wouldn’t say that if I were you,” Fitzgibbon cautioned. “We’ve been practicing in the backyard for three weeks.”
“Wait! What?” Ronan shouted, just as Aurora’s second pitch hit the bullseye and dunked Ronan again.
“Excuse me. Salem Police coming through,” a familiar voice called from behind Ten.
He turned to see Cisco Jackson and about twenty members of the Salem Police Department all in uniform. “Hey, Cisco.”
“Hey, Ten. I’ve got an announcement to make. How do I do that?”
“Jude’s got the megaphone. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind handing it over to you.” Ten snorted when he saw the wary look on his husband’s face. Ronan wasn’t going to like it. Not one bit.
After a brief chat with Jude, who burst out laughing, Cisco took the handheld device and turned it on. “Hello, Salem!” Cisco called to a smattering of applause. “On behalf of the Salem Police, Fire, and EMS, it’s my honor to announce that we’re donating twelve thousand dollars to Salem Elementary School. That’s two thousand to each grade, kindergarten through fifth.”
Cisco’s announcement was followed by more applause. “I hope that you won’t mind if we cut the line. I brought members of the police, fire, medic and dispatch with me to Dunk the Detective. I may have also spoken to friends of mine with the Danvers, Peabody, and Beverly departments, who are sending their officers and firemen to take their shot at Ronan.” Cisco laughed. “I told them Ronan’s a New York Yankees fan.”
“What?” Ronan roared, his voice echoing around the tank.
“Yeah, man, they’re all eager to take their shot at you.” Cisco laughed.
