Pope brightened. "I will. Call me when this is over. And watch your neck."
"I will." Mia leaned on Solliday's desk. "She'll do it right."
But he wasn't listening. "Now serving number two," he said and again she twisted.
Margaret and Mark Hill must have passed Lynn Pope in the elevator. The brother and sister wore twin looks of grim resolve. "Mr. Hill, Miss Hill. How are you?"
"Have you caught him?" Margaret asked.
"No, but we're close. Why are you here?" It felt strange to be the one saying it.
Mark Hill drew an envelope from his coat pocket. "Our mother's lawyer read her will on Saturday. He gave us this. We agonized yesterday over whether or not to give this to you. But we want our mother's murderer found and punished. So here."
Mia took the envelope, read the letter inside. "Oh boy." She passed it to Reed who shook his head silently. "We'll try to keep your mother's name out of it. Thank you. I'll call you as soon as we catch him." The Hills walked away, Mark putting his arm around his sister's shoulders. Margaret leaned against him. "I guess they cleared the air."
Reed stood. "So it would seem. Come on, Mia. Let's get to morning meeting."
Murphy and Aidan was already there. Spinnelli frowned when they came. "You're late." Mia gave him the letter and reading it, he sat down. "Oh boy."
"What is it?" Murphy asked.
"A letter from Penny Hill," Mia said, "documenting what happened when she returned from disability, nine years ago. She went through her files, found Shane's buried at the bottom of some other records. No one had been assigned the boys. She then found Shane was dead and Andrew had been placed in another home. She went to her supervisor who told her to destroy the file. She threatened to go higher, he convinced her she'd be fired if she did. She had medical bills, so she stayed silent."
"This letter is dated six years ago," Spinnelli said. "She was experiencing a great deal of guilt, nightmares. She sealed the letter and gave it to her lawyer for safekeeping. I'll take care of this." He blew out a breath. "So where are we?"
"Either he didn't see the news or he made us," Mia said.
"I figured that out for myself," Spinnelli said darkly. "What will you do next?
"Follow him to Santa Fe?" Mia shrugged, frustrated. "Set up Tim Young as bait?"
Spinnelli's brows went up. "Tim Young it is."
Mia shook her head. "Wait, I was just… We can't use a civilian as bait, Marc."
Spinnelli's mustache went down. "He said he'd help. Kates must be stopped. And now we have one more victim. Mia, your super was found dead in the closet of an empty apartment in your building. Her keys were gone."
As Mia's mouth fell open. Jack came in carrying a box. "Kates was there. He left a mess in your bedroom, Mia. Blankets, pillows on the floor, clothes everywhere."
Mia felt her cheeks heat even through the shock of her super's death. "That doesn't mean he was in my place. I'm not much of a housekeeper. The bedroom was like that."
"Did you leave your photo album out?"
Her heart started to pound. "No. Hell." Jack put the box on the table and Mia lifted the album to the table, sorted quickly. "I'm not organized, but I know what was here. Bobby's obituary is gone." Then her pounding heart stopped. She held Dana's wedding invitation in her hand. "And so is Dana's reply card. He has her address."
Spinnelli reached for the phone. "I'll send a unit out there now." But Stacy poked her head in with a frown.
"Marc, there's a Dana Buchanan on line one for either you or Mia. She's upset."
Spinnelli put the phone on speaker. "Dana, it's Marc Spinnelli. I'm here with Mia and others. Kates has your address."
"Kates has Jeremy," Dana said, her voice frantic. "Mia."
Mia's blood went cold. She slowly rose, trembling. "How? How did he get Jeremy?"
"Let me talk to her." The phone changed hands. "Mia, it's Ethan. We're at Jeremy's school. We came in early this morning to get him enrolled. Jeremy went to his new class while we were still signing forms. The fire alarm went off right before school started and it wasn't a drill. Fire blocked one of the exits. It was chaos. We immediately started searching for Jeremy, but he was gone. How did he know Jeiemy was here?"
"He had your address from my apartment. Marc, when was my super murdered?"
"Sometime Saturday afternoon."
"I shook a tail when I left your place Saturday night, Ethan. I thought it was Carmichael. It must have been Kates. He must have come back yesterday and found Jeremy." Her knees buckled and she sank into her chair. "He was looking for me. He killed my super and now he's using Jeremy to get to me." She drew a shuddering breath. "Get Dana calm. This isn't good for the baby. We'll find Kates. And Jeremy."
"Was anyone hurt in the fire at the school?" Reed asked.
"Just bumps and bruises. The teachers got control quickly. We weren't sure if we should push Jeremy back to school so soon, but we couldn't let him sit in front of the TV any longer. We wanted to get him back into a routine. Please find him."
Mia rubbed her forehead. He'd taken Bobby's obituary. "I think I know where he is."
Chapter Twenty-four
Monday, December 4, 9:25 a.m.
Reed's hands fisted at his sides. "You can't do this." They had a SWAT team and every uniform and detective Spinnelli had been able to muster. They would wait, concealed in unmarked vans, a block away from Annabelle's house. They didn't want to spook Kates, so Mia would stroll inside alone, pretending to pay an ordinary visit.
Mia twisted at the waist. She wore a bulky sweater that hid the bulletproof vest and the weapon in her back waistband. "Damn Kevlar itches," she said, ignoring him.
"Mia, if he's in your mother's house, you're walking into a trap."
"If he's still setting the trap, I'll get him first." She met his eyes. "He's got Jeremy."
That a killer might also have her mother was absurdly absent. She was solely focused on the boy. And on Kates. After her initial shock, Reed had watched her training and skill take over. She was calm, while his heart was beating out of his chest.
"Reed." Her voice was quiet. Sober. "Let me do my job."
You're not a cop. She'd said it that night he'd wanted to chase Getts. She was right. At the moment he didn't feel like a fire investigator, either. He was a man, watching the woman he cared for wrapping herself in Kevlar and arming herself like Rambo.
He turned to Spinnelli. "You agree with this, Marc?"
"Not my first choice. But he didn't take the bait last night, so catching him before he's prepared is the best plan we've got. Mia's wearing a wire. She'll have backup."
"Let me go in with her."
Spinnelli shook his head and Reed could see the man understood all too well. "No."
"She's SWAT trained. Reed," Murphy murmured beside him. "Let her do her job."
Reed drew a deep breath. "Ben called. There were two points of origin at the school, so Kates used two more eggs, Mia. He may have one more."
"I'm counting on it. No pun intended." She flashed him a distracted smile. "Don't take this wrong, Reed, but go away. I have to focus and I can't with you here."
He cast his eyes up and down the street, looking at the utility markers. This neighborhood had gas lines. Mia could be walking into a fireball. No, she won 7.
He couldn't go in at her side. So he'd shore her up from below. Spinnelli and all the others were in deep conversation. Jack was pinning the same wire to Mia's sweater that she'd used with Wheaton yesterday. Nobody was watching him. He started walking.