“Patrick,” she whispered, “it was so awful. At first I didn’t want to die, I wanted to fight and hurt them back. Then, later, all I wanted to do was die. And I hate that. I hate that I was giving up when you and Dillon were working so hard to find me. You had more faith in me than I had in myself. I’ll never disappoint you again.”
THIRTY-THREE
JACK WAS STANDING outside Patrick’s hospital room when Dillon arrived at noon.
“How are they?”
“Lucy’s been in there for nearly four hours,” Jack said, nodding to Kate, who stood next to him. “You were right, Dil. She’s calmer since she’s been here.”
Dillon nodded, relieved that he’d been right. So much of psychology was second-guessing human nature, trying to understand people better than they understood themselves. Anticipating what they needed before they realized they lacked anything.
“Quinn got us an office so he could talk to her in private. We have it for two hours. I thought questioning her in a normal environment, instead of taking her to FBI headquarters or a sterile room, would help. Why don’t you take a break?” Dillon suggested to his brother.
“I’ll check in with my troop,” Jack said. “Don’t leave the hospital. If you’re right and Adam Scott is in San Diego, he could be watching this building.”
Dillon watched Lucy through the observation window as she spoke to Patrick. Dark circles framed her large brown eyes, her skin pale, her hair pulled harshly back from her unadorned face. But she was holding up.
He stared at Patrick, his head bandaged, immobile in the hospital bed. It was the first time he’d seen him since the explosion, and Dillon’s eyes burned.
Kate took his hand and squeezed it. “You okay?”
He nodded and tapped on the window. Lucy glanced over her shoulder, a brief look of terror crossing her face. It disappeared quickly, but Dillon couldn’t help but fear that she’d be living with that panic for the rest of her life.
He motioned to her. It was obvious she didn’t want to leave Patrick. Lucy kissed Patrick’s hand and whispered something in his ear, then met Dillon outside the door.
“What?” she asked.
“Let’s go for a walk.”
“Can I go back and see Patrick?” she asked.
“Of course.”
She relaxed a fraction, glanced at Kate as they started down the corridor.
“Lucy, this is Kate Donovan,” Dillon said. “She was instrumental in helping us find you.”
Recognition lit Lucy’s eyes. “Carina told me you were with Dillon on the island.”
Kate nodded.
“Thank you.” Lucy’s voice was a whisper, and she dipped her head.
Dillon opened the door of an office at the end of the hall. Lucy stared and said, “You’re the FBI.”
Quinn nodded. “Quinn Peterson.”
Lucy frowned, looked at Dillon. “What’s happening?”
“Quinn wants to ask you some questions.”
She shook her head. “No.”
“Lucy, I know this is hard for you. And we’re not going to talk about what they did to you.”
“You know it all anyway,” Lucy said, her voice quivering. “Everybody knows.”
Dillon wanted to address that fear of Lucy’s, but not now. “What we need to know is how Trevor Conrad found you online, what some of his messages meant, and if you heard or saw anything that might help the FBI find him.”
She shook her head again. “I don’t know anything.” She bit her lip.
“You might not think you do,” Dillon said, “but something you know might fit with something we know.”
She didn’t say anything.
Kate took Lucy’s hand. “Lucy, he’s out there and he’s angry. You beat him. He didn’t kill you. You’ve won and he’s lost. That doesn’t make him happy. If we can’t stop him, you’ll never be able to reclaim your life. Do you want to be scared forever?”
Lucy bit harder on her lip. Her hand went up to her neck, where the bandage was hidden under a high collar. She glanced at Dillon, then at Kate.
“Okay,” she said, her voice a squeak.
Kate looked at Dillon, and as much for his benefit as Lucy’s, she said, “I told you that Lucy was the bravest woman I’ve ever known.”
Two hours later, while Dillon walked Lucy back to Patrick’s hospital room, Kate frowned at Quinn. “Well, that didn’t get us anywhere.”
“We had to do it,” Quinn said. “And we were able to establish a better time frame. Analyzing the messages from Trevor Conrad will greatly help e-crimes develop better programs to spot online predators.”
Kate sighed. “Not that it will do any good. Neither the FBI nor local law enforcement has the resources to police the Internet.”
“Maybe not, but it will give people the tools to police it themselves.”
“What I don’t understand is, how did a smart girl like Lucy get sucked into his trap?”
“And she’ll never be able to forgive herself for it,” Quinn said.
“It just proves that it doesn’t matter how smart or careful you are; if a predator wants you he’ll find a way.”
“You sound defeatist,” Quinn said. He raised an eyebrow. “What would you suggest? Hiding out in the mountains of Mexico?”
“Touché.” Kate played with her fingers. “I never thanked you for standing by me for the last five years. I’ll never forget it.”
“I had a sense of what drove you.” Quinn paused and Kate looked up at him. “You did the wrong thing for the right reasons. It’s going to be okay next week.”
“I hope so. For the first time I’m looking at the future. I’m hoping I won’t be looking at it from behind bars.”
Dillon met up with Kate in the parking lot. “Where’s Quinn?”
“He had to take a call.” Kate motioned over toward the edge of the parking garage, where Quinn sat on the cement railing for better reception.
“Jack’s going to take Lucy home. Why don’t you come with us?”
Kate tensed. As much as she wanted to be with Dillon, she didn’t know if she was ready to face the Kincaids. She’d met most of them over the last few days, but together? They were a force.
“Quinn and I have the airline records from every flight leaving Sea-Tac from the time the Hummer was seen entering long-term parking until this morning. We have surveillance footage from the security checkpoints and we’re going to try to figure out where Scott went. If he’s not in San Diego, we need to alert authorities wherever he may have landed.”
“I’ll go with you. Six eyes are better than four.”
She shook her head. “Go with your family.”
Dillon took a step closer. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.”
He didn’t say anything, but his eyes spoke volumes.
“Lucy needs you,” she insisted.
“You’re making excuses. Why don’t you want to meet my family?”
“Now is not the right time. They have too many stresses on them.”
“Why is meeting you a stress?”
“Your mom doesn’t need to entertain company.”
“Why do I think you’re pushing me away?”
“I’m not.”
“Yes you are, Kate.”
“Am not!” Oh, God, she sounded like a child.
“Kate.” He pushed her chin up, forced her to look at him. “Don’t do this. I want to bring you home.”
“Dillon, the Kincaids are…” She couldn’t think of the right word. “Overwhelming. There’s so many of you.”
“We’re not going to all jump on you at once.”
“I feel like an outsider. And I’m going to remind them of what happened to Lucy.”
“Stop right there. Give my family credit. They’ll like you for you.”
“I don’t know how families act. My grandparents died before I even hit puberty, then foster care and all that crap. I just don’t know if I’m ready.”
“Kate.” Dillon forced her to look at him. He kissed her.
She swallowed. “Why now? Can’t we just hold off for a day or two?”