‘Were they killed here?’
‘It doesn’t appear so,’ JD said. ‘Why?’
‘Just thinking about what Frederick told us. About there being seagulls in the background on the call from the fake detective to Sally Brewster.’
‘Right. Bernice Brown’s friend. Did Frederick check on Mrs Brown, by the way?’
‘Yes. She and her cousin have relocated. She didn’t tell him where. She said she’d be in touch.’
‘We’re going to need to talk to her at some point.’
‘I know, but she’s pretty spooked. I don’t think she’ll be coming out of hiding any time soon.’
They were quiet for a while, when both their phones started ringing at the same time.
‘Shit,’ JD barked.
‘Fuck,’ Thorne said at the same time, because this could not be good. ‘Mine’s from Jamie.’
‘Mine’s from Lucy,’ JD said.
They answered the phones simultaneously. ‘What’s happened?’ Thorne demanded.
‘Thomas.’ Jamie sounded terrified, and Thorne had to fight back nausea.
‘I’m here. Tell me what’s happened.’
‘It’s Phil. They got him.’ Jamie’s voice rose, hysteria breaking through. ‘They got him, Thomas.’
No. No, no, no. He found himself chanting the words in his mind for the second time that night, and fought for calm. ‘Where are you?’
‘On my way to the hospital. Frederick’s driving me.’
‘Which hospital?’ Thorne asked.
‘County.’ It was JD who replied, having obviously heard it from Lucy. He put on his emergency flashers. ‘I’ll get Thorne over there,’ he snapped into his phone. ‘You and Gwyn stay the fuck put.’ He hung up and pulled away from the curb, radioing Hyatt. ‘Something’s happened to Phil Woods. I’m taking Thorne to the hospital. Will keep you informed.’
Thorne returned his attention to Jamie. ‘We’re on our way. Tell me what happened. Where is Sam? And Agent Ingram.’
‘Sam’s unconscious,’ Jamie said hoarsely. ‘He was hit in the head. Ruby’s on her way to the hospital. Ingram . . . God, Thorne. He might not make it.’
Fuck, fuck, fuck. Thorne drew a breath and let it out. ‘One at a time. What happened to Phil?’
‘He had a heart attack. He lost consciousness for a while, but came out of it long enough to call 911. Ingram also called before he passed out.’ Jamie’s voice broke. ‘Blood loss.’
‘Who found them?’
‘I did. Frederick and I got there about a minute ahead of the first responders. Frederick took care of Ingram and I rushed into the house. Sam was on the floor near the front door. And Phil . . .’ He choked on a sob. ‘Phil was lying on the floor in the kitchen. I checked his pulse. It was really irregular. Ingram managed to call 911 for an ambulance. I called for two more, for Phil and Sam.’
‘All right,’ Thorne murmured, more for his own benefit. ‘Is Phil conscious now?’
‘I don’t know. I couldn’t ride with him in the ambulance. My chair . . .’
His chair wouldn’t fit in the back of the ambulance. God. Poor Jamie. ‘Phil will understand when he wakes up,’ Thorne said, amazed to be maintaining his calm.
‘I know. Frederick wouldn’t let me drive.’
‘Good. Frederick’s got a head on his shoulders. Let him take care of things at the moment. How did they get in the house?’
‘I don’t know. It’s not like Phil not to set the alarm.’
‘I know. We’ll figure that out. For now, know that he will be okay.’
‘What if he’s not?’
‘He will be,’ Thorne said forcefully. ‘I’ll be there in . . .’ He looked to JD.
‘Fifteen minutes,’ JD said.
‘I heard,’ Jamie said, his voice breaking again. ‘Hurry, Thorne. Please.’
‘I am.’ He swallowed hard. ‘Phil loves you. He will fight for you.’
‘But he was so tired. What if he’s too tired?’
Jamie sounded like a frightened child and it was breaking Thorne’s heart. ‘I’m on my way,’ was all he could think to say. ‘I love you.’
Jamie sobbed once. ‘Me too. We just got here. Frederick is stopping at the ER door. Hurry.’ And he hung up.
Thorne pressed his fist to his mouth. ‘Gwyn’s okay?’
‘Yes. Clay and Stevie are sticking close. Ford and Taylor are backing them up. Paige is taking Ruby to the hospital. She’s apparently a mess. Ruby, not Paige.’
God. Ruby and Sam were so damn happy. And they would continue to be, he told himself sternly. Sam was a tough bastard. But Ruby . . . ‘This can’t be good for Ruby or the baby.’
‘Let’s not borrow trouble,’ JD said sternly. ‘We have enough of our own already.’ He turned on his siren and punched the accelerator. ‘Hold on.’
Hunt Valley, Maryland,
Tuesday 14 June, 4.30 A.M.
‘Good Lord, Gwyn.’ Lucy tiptoed into Clay’s kitchen, Wynnie in her arms. ‘You scared me. I didn’t expect anyone to be in here.’
Gwyn looked up from the article she’d been reading on her laptop. ‘I was banished.’
Lucy chuckled. ‘Why?’
‘I was pacing and everyone was trying to sleep, but there’s no way I can. Not with Thorne so wound up over Phil. And Sam. And Agent Ingram.’ His texts over the last few hours had all been the same. Still waiting. No news. ‘I kept asking if anyone else had news, but I was doing it kind of often.’ She was actually annoying herself with her anxiety, so she didn’t blame the group for becoming impatient.
Yawning, Lucy settled herself in one of the chairs and cradled her baby to her breast. ‘I know there hasn’t been any news, because JD just called me.’
‘Then why did he call you?’
‘He says it’s because he found a big bag of your dog’s food in the back of Jamie’s minivan and figured you’d be needing it. I think he really just wants to see me and the kids. He does that sometimes when the stress starts to build, but don’t tell him I said so. He thinks he’s being all stealthy about it. Anyway, he wanted to be sure someone was awake to take the dog food, because he can’t stay long.’
‘Thank you. Thank him, I mean. I was going to have to go out and get some.’
‘Like anyone’s going to let you do that.’ Lucy rolled her eyes. ‘What are you doing?’
‘Well, I went through the club’s books, making sure that there wasn’t any trail that would lead from Mowry to the Circus Freaks, because the cops will subpoena our files. It’s just a matter of time. I mean, I could see the pattern now that I know it’s there, but I don’t think even a seasoned forensic accountant will find any irregularities. But my audit didn’t take as long as I thought it would, so I started looking into the Lindens, specifically Patricia. She gets mentioned a lot in the society pages, but I went back to the articles around the time of Richard’s murder.’
‘Anything interesting?’ Lucy crooned, not wanting to disturb Wynnie, who was suckling with concentrated determination.
‘Linden Senior and Mrs Linden had both been married before. Richard and Patricia weren’t blood relatives. But they took very pretty family portraits. I found an archive in the Lindens’ company website with the Christmas portraits they took every year. Patricia was devastated by Richard’s murder and apparently the media attention was pushing her toward a breakdown. Her parents sent her away to relatives in Europe, where she finished high school. Everybody paid a price for Richard’s death. Thorne and Sherri most of all. I found a photo of the two of them together in one of the articles covering her death. Sherri was very pretty. You could tell she was a dynamo, just from her picture and what her friends said about her when she died.’
‘Looks like Thorne has a soft spot for tiny dynamos,’ Lucy said fondly. She cocked her head. ‘That was the front door. JD’s here.’
‘I’ll tell him you’re back here,’ Gwyn said, shutting down her laptop and hurrying to the front door where JD was setting the bag of dog food against the foyer wall.
‘Thank you,’ Gwyn said, and he smiled down at her wearily.
‘You’re welcome. Where’s Lucy?’
‘She’s in the kitchen with Wynnie. How . . . how long are you gonna be here?’