"You sound like a mother, Bree."
"I want to make the choice that's right for her and not the choice that's right for me."
"Maybe one day it could be right for both of you."
"One day," she echoed, turning her gaze back to the Jansens.
Lindsay helped Hayley onto the bed, so she could hug her father. Then she turned and looked at Bree, enormous gratitude in her eyes, as she mouthed the words, "Thank you."
She nodded, her eyes blurring with tears, watching as Lindsay wrapped her arms around both her daughter and her husband. She knew she should step outside, but it was so difficult to leave knowing that she might never see Hayley again.
Finally, she forced herself to move. They stepped into the hallway, and she shut the door to Mark's room, wanting to give the family a few minutes of privacy.
The corridor was already filling with police and agents, and the media would be swarming in front of the hospital. Thankfully, this story had a happy ending.
Tracy moved over to join them. "We have a lot of dead bodies and a lot of questions," she said. "We're going to need you both to come into the office."
"Nathan needs to see a doctor," she said quickly.
"I'm fine, Bree," he said.
"You're not fine. You could have a broken rib or a concussion."
"I've arranged for Mr. Bishop to be seen in the ER," Tracy replied, motioning a nurse forward. "Nurse Collins will escort you down there. When you're done, an agent will bring you to the office."
"I really don't need a doctor," Nathan complained.
She gave him a smile. "Just get yourself checked out."
"All right. But I am fine."
"I hope so."
As Nathan left, Tracy gave her an assessing look. "Is something going on with you two? I thought you were just childhood friends."
"It goes deeper than that," she admitted. "Nathan and I have been through a lot together, not just this week, but at other times in our lives."
"He knew your deep, dark secret."
"One of a very small number of people. He's the one who helped me get out of Chicago."
"He seems like a good man."
"The best. I wouldn't have made it through this without him."
"Maybe you'll want to transfer to Chicago."
"I'm sure your team would love that."
Tracy smiled. "I must admit I didn't want you here."
"Really. I'm surprised to hear you say that," she said dryly.
"I admit that I can get a little territorial. And we have a past. When you showed up, I knew what would happen. You would become the center of everything, and that's exactly the way it went down."
"That wasn't what I was expecting. I really thought I would just be consulting on a case."
"I never thought that. You're too independent, too damned smart, and too good at your job to just sit on the sidelines."
"Wait—you're complimenting me?"
Tracy shrugged. "I'm just stating the facts. I don't like the drama that follows you around. And I still think you act on emotion far too often, but you're also very intuitive and good at reading situations."
"Thank you. You're a good agent, too. We might approach things differently, but we usually end up at the same place. I wish you didn't see us as competitors."
"I'm starting to realize that's a weakness of mine."
She was surprised at Tracy's words. "We can both be good agents."
"Yes. I suppose we can."
"That is if I keep my job after all this."
"I suspect you'll find a way," she said with a knowing gleam in her eyes. "So, tell me what went down at the school. Who was behind all of this?"
"Stan Tix."
"The deceased individual we found in the river?"
"Yes. We called him Stix because he was so tall. He was a red-hot basketball player in college and was going to go pro, but instead he went to prison for a violent assault that he claims my ex-boyfriend Johnny committed. Stix also blamed me for his prison sentence, because I was Johnny's alibi."
"Did you lie for your boyfriend?"
"I didn't think I did. I was modeling in a fashion show that night. I saw Johnny before I went backstage and then after the show, about two hours later. I told the police I was sure he'd been at the show the whole night. But according to Stix, Johnny and Calvin Baker were at Howard School beating up a rival drug dealer while I was walking the runway. Stix said he tried to stop it, and that's why his DNA and fingerprints were found at the scene. He went to prison for ten years. During that time, he plotted ways to get back at us."
"But why was he working with Baker, if Baker was part of it?"
"He said he was using him. And when he was done, he shot him."
"That's cold."
"He was clearly out of his mind with plans of revenge." She paused. "I still don't know how Stix found out about the baby I gave up for adoption, or how he knew so much about my past. He said something about someone telling him, but he didn't give me a name." She thought about that for a second. "Maybe it was Charles Benedict."
"You said last night you had concerns about the detective, but that's still a big leap."
"Maybe not. Benedict worked for Johnny's father when I got pregnant. Maybe he figured out that I left Johnny because of that. I need to talk to him."
"I'm sure you'll get that chance. Did Hayley say anything to you on your way over here?"
"She told me that there was a woman taking care of her at a house. They didn't take her to Howard School until earlier today. Thankfully, she wasn't hurt."
"She's lucky. She seems quite attached to you. Did you tell her who you really are?"
"No, and I'm not going to. The Jansens are her parents, and I'm going to let them decide if and when they want to share that information."
"That decision must be killing you."
"It's rough, but I always wanted her to be safe and happy, and now she truly can be. There's no threat left to her. The Jansens are great parents. They love Hayley, and she loves them." She gave a helpless shrug. "That's why I gave her up—so she could have that kind of family. I'm not going to take it away now." She cleared her throat. "Anyway, we can go over all this."
"Oh, we definitely will," Tracy promised.
"I did want to ask you if you've heard what's going on in New York. Dan told me earlier that the real White Rose Kidnapper struck again."
"Yes. But we actually got good news from your team an hour ago. They caught the kidnapper and saved the child."
"Oh, my God, that's amazing. How did they do it so fast?"
"The kidnapper was in a rush this time, angry that someone was impersonating him here in Chicago. He made mistakes he hadn't made before, and your team was able to track him down."
She could hardly believe the man they'd been tracking for three months had been found so quickly. "Who is he?"
"He's a forty-two-year-old delivery driver for a flower shop in Williamsburg, New York. His mother left him with his abusive father when he was thirteen. But she took his eleven-year-old sister with her. Apparently, he hated his mother for leaving him behind and hated his sister for having the life he wanted. Those emotions formed the foundation of his desire to target girls of that age. He wanted to be famous. He wanted people to know him, to be afraid of him. He quite liked the name the media had given him, and he didn't like news of a copycat."
"So, this case actually helped solve the other one. I'm glad some good came out of it."
"We should get down to the office."
She had a feeling she was headed for a very long night. But it didn't matter. She'd tell them whatever they wanted to know. There were no more secrets to keep.
*
Nathan opened his apartment door for Bree a little after nine p.m. After four hours of questioning, both individually and together, they'd finally been allowed to leave.