Squirm

After Chrissie and Belinda arrive in Montana, they both seem pleased to be there. Chrissie is excited to float downriver and take photos of golden eagle nests, and Belinda is happy that cute cowboys are flirting with her.

One day in town, Billy spots Baxter’s beat-up Range Rover. He concludes that Rusty did the damage with a baseball bat. A barefoot man is dozing inside. Billy learns that the man bought the SUV from Baxter for a fraction of its value. The boy is alarmed to realize that Baxter is somewhere in Livingston in an unknown vehicle. He goes home to share this news with Summer because Chrissie and Belinda are out. She insists that they must tell Lil about the danger. After collecting Dennis, they all march into the kitchen to talk to Lil. When Billy blurts out that Dennis doesn’t work for the government, Lil placidly states, “Oh, Billy, I know that. […] I’ve known for a long time” (210).

Lil explains that she found out about Dennis’s real activities years earlier when Dennis was away on a mission and a lawyer came to the house with some information about his Aunt Sophie’s will. Through some pointed questions, Lil was able to piece together the whole story.