Covering trials wasn’t Max’s favorite part of her job with NET. She found courtroom procedures tedious and uninteresting. But with the trial often came interviews with victims, witnesses, and defendants, and those were far more exciting for Max, who craved to understand the people and world around her.
But now, after this change of focus with John, there was nothing she wanted to do more than cover Blair Caldwell’s trial. If she was going to write about these cases, she needed to be there—to hear the testimony, see the evidence, and know in both her heart and her head whether Blair Caldwell had killed her son.
Because right now, she thought the police had the right person. Though for the life of her, she couldn’t figure out why.
This time last year, Max would have flat out told Blair she thought she was guilty just to see how she would react. But if Max had learned anything over her last few investigations, it was that sometimes being blunt didn’t help. If she revealed her thoughts, John would completely cut her out and she wanted access to him. Access to him without Blair in the room.
“I can’t stop you.” John’s eyes were damp, and Max didn’t think he was faking the emotion. “I just—please—consider how your actions may have a detrimental effect on Blair’s case.”
She reached out and touched John’s hand, partly because she knew it would irritate his wife. “I promise you, John, I will be discreet. There is nothing I care more about than finding justice for victims, whether the case is a year old or twenty years old.”
“I know, Max. I know.” He squeezed her hand.
If Blair was guilty, Max would skewer her.
Chapter Six
“Andrew? I’m going to put you on speaker. Sean’s here, too.”
Rookie FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid Rogan put her cell phone down on the island in the kitchen where she and Sean had been eating a late dinner.
“Stanton?” Sean mouthed. Lucy nodded. Her former brother-in-law had never directly called her before, and she’d known him her entire life. She was both suspicious and curious. Why would the DA of San Diego reach out to her? Family or work? She’d last seen him more than a year ago during the Christmas holidays, and that hadn’t been under the best of circumstances.
“Hello, Sean,” Andrew said.
“Andrew.”
“I’m sorry to call so late.”
“Nine isn’t late for us,” Lucy said. “Just tell me that everything’s okay.”
“Yes—in a manner of speaking. Your family’s fine, as far as I know. They don’t really talk to me anymore.”
Lucy knew why—her sister Nelia was Andrew’s ex, and Andrew had cheated on Nelia. There was more—a lot more—but Lucy had been so young when they split up that she didn’t truly understand the situation. Andrew had always been kind to her, and when she needed his help last Christmas to get information, he’d come through. She respected that.
Andrew continued, “I don’t know exactly how to broach this subject, so I’ll get to the point. An investigative reporter is looking into Justin’s murder. She claims that she has compelling evidence that Justin’s death is connected to two or more homicides in the Southwest. She’ll be in San Diego tomorrow.”
That was the last thing Lucy expected Andrew to say. She didn’t know how to respond—her nephew Justin’s murder had haunted her for nearly twenty years, but she’d put it behind her. She’d been seven, the same age as Justin. They’d been best friends and had grown up together until Justin was kidnapped and murdered. It had torn the family apart.
“A reporter?” Sean said, his voice edged with anger. “Why are you calling Lucy?”
“I think there might be something to this woman’s theory. Lucy, I don’t have a right to ask for your help, but the last time I wanted to revisit Justin’s murder, I ran up against a brick wall known as the Kincaid family.”
That didn’t surprise Lucy. Her family never wanted to discuss Justin or his death. It had been a dark time in the Kincaid family history. Twenty years was a long time, and most crimes this old would never be solved.
“I didn’t know you had wanted to reopen Justin’s case.”
“As an unsolved homicide, it’s never been closed. Eight years ago—you’d just left for Georgetown.” He paused. “I never told you this, and I don’t want to bring up bad memories.”
“I’m a big girl, Andrew.”
Sean took her hand, lightly kissed it, and held it. She could feel the tension within him—this was nearly as difficult for him as it was for her. The past. Her past.
“After your kidnapping—when you came home—I wanted to be there for you, for your family. Even after everything that has happened, and all the mistakes I’ve made, I care about you and all the Kincaids. Your parents have always been cordial, but your brothers and sister never forgave me. Especially Connor and Carina, maybe because they still live here and I work with them. They didn’t want me around, and I walked away. But I thought maybe—if I could put Justin to rest—they could find peace. Not knowing why someone killed my son…” His voice faded away, then he cleared his throat and said, “I approached your father. He was adamant that I stand down. Carina found out I had pulled the case files, and confronted me—it wasn’t pretty. At the time, Patrick was still in a coma, I knew your family was suffering, you’d moved cross-country, Dillon—who has always been the diplomat of the family, and the only one who I know forgave me—was living in D.C. I didn’t have a buffer, so I shelved it.”
“I didn’t know any of that.” It stunned her. She caught Sean’s eye. He was listening closely to Andrew.
Sean said, “Why? If you had something new, why would you shelve it?”
“I didn’t have anything new—I just wanted to look at the case with fresh eyes, time, new technology. But I couldn’t put your family through a new investigation when they had nearly lost you, Lucy, and Patrick’s future was so uncertain.”
“I understand,” Lucy said, and she did. “But the reporter changed your mind?”
“Yes, she has. But your family isn’t going to want to go through this, and I don’t want to hurt them.”
“Then why do it at all?” Sean asked.
“Because Maxine Revere is going to investigate whether I want her to or not. And honestly, Sean? I want answers. God, I want to know what happened. For years I deferred my pain to your family—Nelia’s family. When every lead dried up, they put it behind them. Not completely—I know Justin haunts them as much as he haunts me. But Nelia moved to Idaho, and that was it. They wanted no part of me, no part of my ideas or talking about what happened. But I’m a prosecutor—having any crime unsolved bothers me, but my own son? It’s fingernails on the chalkboard, every waking minute. I’ve looked into this Revere woman. She has a solid track record solving cold cases.”
“But what is she going to do after?” Sean asked. He caught Lucy’s eye. She knew exactly what he was thinking. “Lucy and I steer clear of reporters.”
“She wants my help, and I plan on laying down ground rules. Protecting you is my number one priority, Lucy.”