“I think you did.”
“I don’t think she cares. She has a hundred little plans she’s working on, and we need to warn the warden that she’s dangerous. We need a psych evaluation immediately, and not just any court-appointed shrink. I’m going to talk to the AUSA about getting my brother Dillon appointed. He’s an expert witness, consults with the FBI all the time, and he won’t be snowed by her.”
And she wanted to see her brother. All of them. She wanted her family. For years she’d detached from her family because when they looked at her, they saw her as a victim. It hurt, and she couldn’t explain it to them or to herself. She’d brought them back into her life one by one. First Jack, then Dillon, then Patrick … and with Sean by her side, she realized she could face anything. Family made her stronger.
What kind of family had created Elise Hansen?
Brad and Lucy walked out of the observation room and through the maze of security in order to retrieve their weapons from the desk sergeant.
“What’s going on with Worthington’s estate?” Brad asked. “Between the congresswoman’s money laundering and Harper’s murder, I figure it’s a mess.”
“Logan Dunbar, the agent from D.C., is staying for a week or two to process the evidence found in her house and office. There was a file in her safe that is coded, but Dunbar thinks it’s proof of her money laundering, and once they figure it out, it will lead to Tobias. Barry is working with Dunbar and the AUSA on the case and any other indictments.”
“You don’t sound optimistic.”
“I’m angry, Brad. Harper Worthington is dead because he tried to do the right thing. First he came to us—the FBI—and we turned him away. So he investigated his own wife. Mona Hill, part of this conspiracy from the beginning, has disappeared. Maybe she’s dead, but the way Tobias works he would have left her to be found—not just for us, but to keep his own people in line. Nicole Rollins is still working on a plea agreement and I really believe she could have stopped all of this—but we’ll never know. A little boy was shot to death because his parents were gangbangers, and that just doesn’t seem right. As if just because of his birth, he was condemned. And that girl—” Lucy stopped and took a deep breath. “I promised myself I wouldn’t let her get under my skin.”
“What we do isn’t easy,” Brad said.
“No one promised it would be. Thanks for letting me vent.” Lucy wanted to go home and disappear in the pool house with Sean. No phones. No computers. Just the two of them. While she was still angry with Barry for talking to people about her behind her back, she owed him big for reminding her that she had a life outside of the job.
“We have one thing we didn’t have before,” Brad said.
“What?” She thought back on her conversation with Elise but didn’t know what Brad was referring to.
“She admitted to knowing about the bomb, about the entire plan. Conspiracy. Every crime we can charge to Tobias, we can charge to her.”
“You think she can sway a jury?”
“No. We’ll both see to that.”
She hoped he was right. But she was never going to underestimate Elise Hansen.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
One Week Later
Lucy stared at the tiny baby through the glass. Her nephew, John Patrick Thomas.
He was beautiful. Perfect. John Patrick was the future, the hope of the current generation.
She and Sean had flown in Sean’s Cessna and landed in San Diego only an hour ago. Now, John Patrick was twelve hours old and had already made a huge impact on the Kincaid family. He wasn’t the first grandchild—or nephew. That had been Justin, twenty-six years ago. Lucy’s nephew who had been her best friend for the first seven years of her life … until he’d been murdered.
Nelia had been young when she had had Justin—only twenty—but with the seven Kincaid children, Lucy was surprised—and sad—that there hadn’t been another grandchild born for twenty-six years. She looked at the newborn and couldn’t help but wonder if he would be the only one.
But it wouldn’t matter. He would be well loved.
Her hand went to her hollow stomach. She wondered how it would feel to grow a little human inside her. But she would never know. The emptiness filled her, overwhelming her with a grief she didn’t understand.
“Lucy.” Sean came up behind her and put his hands on her shoulders. “Why are you crying? Is everything okay with Johnny?”
“Yes,” she managed to say. “It’s just me.”
She turned to face him. He needed to know what she was thinking, how she felt. She’d kept this pain locked up for so long … she didn’t know what to say. “I can’t have one.”