“Paige was pregnant,” she said.
Quinn’s eyes flickered. “Merritt told me the other day.”
“I didn’t know.”
Dillon sat next to her, took her hands, and rubbed them in his. “You have to do something about Jeff Merritt,” Dillon told Quinn. “He can’t get away with doing this to her.”
“He won’t,” Quinn assured them. He ran a hand over his face and Kate realized he hadn’t slept the night before, either.
“Did something else happen?”
“I got a call at two in the morning that the police in Anacortes found a woman dead in her house. Paula Corbin. She’d been found by her sister who came by, worried because Paula wasn’t answering her cell phone or her house phone. The description matched the recording Scott sent to Kate, so I went out and confirmed that it was our gal. The FBI is working with the local police on collecting evidence.”
“What else?” Dillon asked.
“I talked with the head of the OPR this morning. She said that there’s paperwork missing from the Trask Enterprises investigation. Someone took them after the fact-there are references to certain documents that are nowhere to be found.”
“Why?”
“Because someone made a mistake.”
“Merritt.”
“Possibly.”
“Remember how I said Paige lied about the backup? I think Merritt lied. I think he was trying to scare her into quitting. Because she was pregnant.”
“But why would Merritt jeopardize her life if she were pregnant?”
“I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t think we were on to something. There were a lot of people who thought we were making a mountain out of a molehill, that April Klinger wasn’t dead and we were wasting resources.”
“That’s clear from the reports-in fact, that’s all that’s clear.”
“I have a copy of everything that’s supposed to be in those files,” Kate said.
“Where?”
“Mexico. I kept computerized files of all my reports out of habit. I have them all on CD.”
“I’ll send someone to retrieve them.”
“Someone trustworthy. If Merritt had anything to do with that sting going bad-”
“You don’t have to say it, Kate.”
“Thank you for everything you’ve done for me.”
“Where’s Jeff Merritt now?” Dillon asked.
“He had a flight out this morning to Washington. I’m going to alert the OPR about this latest situation. I imagine they’ll be doing something about it.” Quinn looked at Kate. “Are you going to be okay?”
She nodded, glanced at Dillon. Felt warmth, strength, and love pouring from him into her. “I could use a shower.”
“We have a full bath in the break room. I’ll show you where it is, but we only have thirty minutes before we have to leave to catch our flight to San Diego.”
Trask watched the Kincaid family from afar for nearly twenty-four hours. Jack Kincaid, the military brother, was the most dangerous. He was everywhere Lucy was. To get to her, Adam would have to find a way to take Jack out first.
Connor Kincaid pretty much stayed at the hospital with the other brother, Patrick. The female detective lived nearby. The sheriff went home with her. The parents were old, they wouldn’t be a problem.
The shrink who screwed up his plans was nowhere. Trask searched the Internet, found out that Dr. Dillon Kincaid owned a house only a few blocks from where Lucy Kincaid lived. He drove by several times, but it was dark. Had he stayed in Washington? Why? Was Kate still there? Did the doctor and Kate have something going on? Or was the shrink trying to get Roger Morton to talk?
Trask wished Roger had been killed along with everyone else. He didn’t trust him. The bastard would turn on him in a flash. If he’d been able to get to him, he would have killed Roger himself. But there was no way he could show his face.
He’d darkened his hair a bit, nothing drastic because he didn’t want the dye job to be obvious. He wore sunglasses, stuffed cotton in his cheeks, and put on colored contacts. Brown. The overall effect worked to tone down his appearance, making him look more average. If someone who knew him looked twice, they might recognize him, but at first glance he could pass as a stranger.
All he needed was one chance.
He’d never considered a woman a threat, except for that bitch Kate Donovan. But now he had the upper hand where she was concerned.
He knew exactly how to draw her out.
The only people living at the Kincaid house were Lucy, her parents, and Jack Kincaid. How long was Jack going to stay watching Lucy? Soon it would be just Lucy and her old parents.
Adam didn’t want to wait, but he was willing to. He had money-a fraction of his wealth, thanks to that idiot Paul Ullman, who didn’t have the brains to avoid the feds and let him know what was happening so he could transfer more funds.
He’d wait, but if he saw an opportunity he would act.
He drove by the doctor’s house again. Still dark. When would he be coming home? He wouldn’t be staying up north indefinitely.
But since the house was vacant now he had a place to hide. To put the finishing touches on his plan.
As soon as he had Lucy Kincaid again, he’d put her back online. Send the link to Kate.
Kate Donovan would walk right up to his door. And then he’d kill her and take Lucy with him, to serve him forever.
THIRTY-TWO
LUCY WAS BACK in the cabin. Tied to the floor. Trevor Conrad stood over her; Roger and Frank flanked him.
“You’re dead,” she said, but no words came out.
Roger and Frank disappeared, but Trevor remained. “I’m not.”
He poured gasoline all around her and picked up a phone.
“Patrick,” he said, “I have your sister.”
Patrick ran through the door. “Lucy!”
“It’s a trap! Run!”
The room exploded. Patrick flew through the air, his head bandaged. He landed in the wall. She smelled smoke and heard Trevor laughing at her.
Sharp steel sliced her neck.
Dillon jumped through the window, his face and hands bleeding. He grabbed Trevor by the neck and began to strangle him. Trevor took the knife and cut out Dillon’s heart.
Lucy jumped from bed, still half asleep. Frantic, she ran around her room, feeling the windows and the door. Cool. There was no fire. Her neck burned. She flipped on the light and looked in the mirror. The wild eyes that stared back couldn’t possibly be hers.
The bandage that had covered the wound on her neck was in her hands; the red welt throbbed and bled. She stared at her hands. Blood coated her fingers.
Her door opened. Jack stood there. “Lucy. It was just a nightmare.”
He crossed the room, concern on his face. Lucy must have looked frantic. She would never have imagined that Jack could be worried about anything.
Jack took the bandage from Lucy’s hands and together they walked to the bathroom. In silence, he cleaned the wound and reapplied the bandage. “Do you want to tell me about it?”
She shook her head. “I need to see Patrick.”
“Are you sure?” He looked at his watch. “It’s only seven.”
“Now. I have to make sure he’s alive.”
Jack hesitated, then said, “All right.”
Lucy relaxed. “I just need to get dressed. I’ll be downstairs in ten minutes. Okay?”
He nodded and left.
She sat in the bathroom for several minutes, gathering her strength, trying to push that awful vision from her mind. Her heart was beating so fast Lucy wouldn’t have been surprised to see it leap from her chest.
The dream had seemed so real.
Kate felt a million times better after a hot shower. She dressed in the same clothes she’d worn the day before, and went back to the interview room. No one was there. She found Quinn and Dillon in Quinn’s office. Both of them were on the phone.