“No. Rocky.”
Luke leaned in. “You saw Rocky? What did he look like?”
“She.”
Luke sat back, stunned. “Did you say she?”
“Yes. Rocky woman.”
“Oh my God,” Susannah breathed, poleaxed. “All this time we assumed…”
Luke’s jaw was tight. “A woman. Hell. We’ve been chasing our tails for two days.”
Monica’s eyes filled with tears. “Sorry.”
Luke blew out a breath, abruptly relaxing. “No, no, Monica. This is not your fault, sweetheart. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you.”
“Luke,” Susannah murmured, “do you have a photo of Bobby?”
Luke searched his briefcase and pulled out the picture he’d shown Susannah earlier. “Monica, is this the woman you saw?”
“No. Young. Dark hair. Chin bob.”
Susannah’s gaze flew up to meet Luke’s and she saw he was thinking the same thing. “Do you have a picture of Kate Davis?” she asked.
Frowning, he searched his briefcase again. “Only this one.”
Susannah winced. It was Kate lying in the morgue. At least her face wasn’t scarred and bloody. Bobby’s bullet had hit her in the heart. “Monica, is this Rocky?”
“Yes.”
Luke let out a breath. “I’ll be damned,” he said softly. “Rocky is Kate Davis.”
“And Bobby killed her.” Susannah’s heart pounded hard in her chest. “My God.”
“I hate her. Said to kill the girls. Kill me.”
“But you escaped,” Susannah said, holding her hand. “And now you’re safe.”
“No. Other here. Hurt rev.”
“Rev? Reverend,” Luke said. “So Jennifer Ohman didn’t try to kill Beardsley?”
“No. Another. Not safe. Killed Jen sister.”
“The nurse’s sister is dead?” Susannah asked.
“Beat her death. Jen cry. Worry about son.”
“Wonderful,” Luke muttered. “We’ll check on the little boy. But Rocky’s dead.”
Satisfaction filled Monica’s eyes and Susannah didn’t blame her a bit.
“Monica,” Luke asked, “how did they get you?”
The satisfaction in Monica’s eyes disappeared. “My fault.”
“None of this is your fault,” Susannah said firmly. “You’re the victim.”
“Met boy. Online. Jason. Not. Was deputy.”
Luke’s eyes narrowed. “So Mansfield lured you, pretending to be Jason?
“Yes. Made me …” She stopped, closing her eyes. Tears seeped from beneath her eyelids, running down her temples, into her hair.
“We know,” Susannah said, drying her tears. “I’m so sorry.”
“Jason,” Luke murmured.
“Just like Agent Grimes said,” she murmured back. Harry Grimes had told them about the conversation records he’d found on the Cassidys’ home computer. He’d also told them that Monica’s father was missing, with foul play assumed, but Monica didn’t need to know that now. Not yet. She’d been through enough.
Monica opened her eyes and began to blink again, fast. “Who is Simon.”
Susannah started. “How did you…? You were awake. You heard everything.”
“Simon. Who.”
“My brother,” Susannah said, and Monica’s eyes flickered wildly. “He’s dead.”
“Good.”
Susannah smiled grimly. “I agree.”
“Monica.” Luke leaned close. “Did you know Angel? They called her Gabriela.”
“Yes.”
“What about Kasey Knight?”
“Truck stop whore.”
Luke’s face darkened and a muscle jerked in his cheek. “Bobby, Granville, and Mansfield had a truck stop prostitution business?” he asked.
“Kasey ran away. Deputy caught. Doctor put Kasey river place. Starved.”
“We found IVs in the river bunker,” Luke said. “We thought he was treating them.”
Monica’s eyes flashed. “Fixed us. Hurt again. I wanted die.”
Susannah could feel his temper boiling, barely checked. But it was checked, and when he spoke, it was with a gentleness that made Susannah want to weep. “You can’t die, Monica,” he said. “You die and they win. Live, and help me throw them into hell.”
Monica blinked away more tears. “Throw away key.”
Luke smiled down at her. “You heard that, too.”
“Want bite apple too.”
“You’ll have another bite at the apple, too,” he promised. “We have to go now, but I’m putting another officer on, so they’ll be inside and outside ICU. You’ll be safe.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you. You’re a very brave young lady. Now try to sleep. We’re going to look for your sister and all the others.”
“Mom.”
“She’s on her way,” Susannah said. “She said to tell you she never stopped missing you.” She smoothed Monica’s hair, then pressed a kiss to her brow. “She loves you.”
Outside of ICU, Luke pulled her to him. “That was good. We worked well together.”
He was right. She rested her forehead against his chest. “I should stay with her.”
“I’ll bring you back after we go to see Angie Delacroix.”
She pulled back to see his face. “But we know about Bobby now.” The thought of going back to Dutton still filled her with anxiety. “Why do we need Angie?”
“We don’t know where Bobby’s hidden the girls-or where her own two sons are.”
“All right. Let’s go.”
Atlanta, Sunday, February 4, 3:25 a.m.
When Luke got behind the wheel, Susannah was digging in her briefcase.
“What are you doing?” he asked when she pulled out a compact.
“I’m fixing my face. My mother never would have dreamed of going to the beauty shop without every hair in place and her makeup on. I never have either.”
“Then why go?”
She shrugged. “It’s a woman thing. Don’t try to understand it, Luke. It just is.”
“My sisters say the same thing. I was hoping it was just them.”
One side of her mouth lifted. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
“You don’t,” he said seriously. “You couldn’t.”
The hand applying her lipstick trembled, then steadied. “We’ll see,” she said cryptically. She shot him an annoyed glance. “Don’t you have work to do?”
“I can dial Chase and look at you at the same time,” he said, punching buttons on his cell. “I’m a multitasker on top of being sinfully sexy.”
“The sinfully sexy came from you.” She snapped her compact closed. “Not me.”
“But you agreed. Because I’m engaging on top of being sinfully-” He broke it off when Chase answered. “Hey, it’s Luke.”
“I’ve got news,” Chase said before Luke could say any more. “Ed got a match on the prints on that road atlas of Mansfield’s. Guess who else touched it?”
“Kate Davis,” Luke said. “Monica Cassidy identified her as Rocky.”
“Really? I shouldn’t continue to be surprised by anything on this case, but I still am,” Chase said. “You still going to talk to the beauty shop lady?”
“Yeah. But you need to check on Jennifer Ohman’s son. Monica said the nurse told her that her sister had been murdered and that Ohman was worried about her son.”
“So that’s how she bullied the nurse. I’ll follow up.”
“She also said the nurse claimed someone else tried to kill Ryan Beardsley.”
“Do you believe that?”
“I don’t know why she would have lied about it. Isaac Gamble had an airtight alibi, so he wasn’t the one in Beardsley’s room Friday night.”