Lucy kept trying to find a way to bring up the reporter and investigation into Justin’s death, but there didn’t seem to be any good moment. Lucy had been so confident walking in here, then Andrew’s words of warning started to worry her. Before she knew it, dinner was over and she and Sean were clearing the table.
“Dinner was great, Mom, but we’d better get J. P. home. He’s practically falling asleep in his high chair.” Carina balanced J. P. on her hip. “You and Dad wear him out—not that I’m complaining. He’s finally sleeping through the night.”
Lucy knew she had to do this now. “Um, I need to talk to you before you leave, if you have a few minutes?”
Nick said, “I’ll take him home and give him his bath, you stay as long as you want.”
“You sure?” Carina asked.
He raised an eyebrow. “Of course I’m sure.” He took J. P. from Carina.
“I won’t be long,” Carina said. “Try to keep him up for me, okay?”
Nick kissed her, said his good-byes, and left.
They all migrated to the kitchen, where Rosa and Connor began to put away the leftovers. Connor handed Sean another beer, which he took but didn’t open. He offered one to Lucy, but she shook her head.
“Andrew called me last night,” Lucy said. “That’s why I’m here in San Diego.”
“Stanton?” Connor opened the refrigerator and put in the plastic container of leftover carnitas. “Why?”
“An investigative reporter has uncovered evidence that connects Justin’s murder with three, possibly more, crimes. Andrew asked me to assess the evidence and advise him if we should cooperate with her investigation.”
“So the whole thing about Sean’s meeting in Sacramento is a lie?” Carina said.
“No.” Sean tensed next to her; Lucy had to preempt any conflict. “We just left San Antonio early, to meet with the reporter.”
“Why did Stanton call you?” Carina asked bluntly. “He should have talked to us first.”
“Because he didn’t think either of you,” Lucy said, looking from Carina to Connor, “would come into the meeting with an open mind.”
“Open mind? Because some asshole wants to drag our family through an ordeal? Exploit Justin? Exploit our family?” Connor was livid. Over-the-top angry.
“Connor,” Pat Kincaid said quietly.
“No, Dad, don’t silence me. Stanton damn well knows that no Kincaid will stand by while he opens these old wounds. So he goes to Lucy, thinking because she’s a young rookie that she’s going to cave into his pressure.”
Sean opened his mouth, but Lucy squeezed his bicep to keep him quiet. “Connor,” Lucy said quietly but firmly, “Andrew left the decision to me. I listened to the reporter—Maxine Revere—and her evidence is solid. I don’t want to detail it here.” She glanced at her mother, who looked pale and older than her years. Damn, damn, damn! The person she least wanted to hurt was her mother. “I think she’s onto something, and I’m going to work with her.”
“No,” Carina said. “You have no right, Lucy. You have no idea what we went through—you want to drag Mom and Dad through this again? Me? Nelia?”
“I know what you went through,” Lucy said calmly. It seemed the more worked up Carina and Connor got, the calmer she became. “Just because I was seven, doesn’t mean I don’t know exactly what happened to Justin. I know you want the truth, just as much as I do. You want to know who killed him and why.”
Rosa gasped.
“Why isn’t going to bring him back,” Connor said. He glanced at Julia. “Did you know about this?”
Julia shook her head, then said quietly, “Andrew has been preoccupied for the last couple of days. I asked him why, but he wasn’t chatty. He let it slip that he’d seen Lucy this afternoon, but it wasn’t my place to ask for details.”
This was spiraling out of control. Lucy had to get a handle on it. She spoke clearly, professionally. “I know this is hard for us to talk about, but there’s more at stake than solving Justin’s murder. Everyone believed it was isolated, but it’s not. Other boys have been taken from their bedrooms and killed. Other families have been shattered with grief. Their killer is still out there and will do it again if we don’t do something. Your help, your recollections, are irreplaceable. You were there, and Andrew is—”
“A bastard,” Connor said. “He cheated on our sister when he should have been home!”
“Connor Joseph!” their father said.
“Dad, you can’t condone this.”
“I don’t,” he said. Lucy’s heart fell. “But you’re going to respect your sister and hear her out.”
Connor glared at Lucy.
Lucy was growing increasingly nervous. “I’ve looked over the evidence that Maxine compiled and she connected two, possibly three, other murders to Justin’s. I won’t go into the details now, but if you want to see the facts, I can arrange—”
“You are not doing this,” Connor snapped.
Lucy hated confrontation, especially with her family, but Connor had no right to order her to do or not do anything. “I am doing this,” she said. “I’d like your help. Both you and Carina.” She turned to her sister, hoping to see agreement, and was stunned to see tears.
“I can’t go through this again,” Carina whispered. Her voice cracked, she cleared her throat. “I’m a cop, I’ve seen the worst that people can do to each other, but when it’s your family … when it’s someone you love … I can’t do it. It’s been nearly twenty years. When I first became a cop I read Justin’s case file, and there’s nothing. No evidence. No suspects. No damn reason. I had nightmares for years. When J. P. was born, I started having nightmares again. What if something happened to him…”
Connor put his arm around Carina. They stood there, united against her.
“Whatever this reporter is doing, it’s not for good.” Carina wiped her tears away and took a deep breath. “She can’t possibly have evidence that the police didn’t have. She’s going to exploit Justin, exploit our family, dig up dirt that will hurt Nelia, Mom, Dad, me … and you want to be part of that?”
“I’m not going to let her exploit anyone,” Lucy said. “Someone killed Justin. And I believe the same person has killed another child every five years since. If I do nothing, and another child dies, that’s on me.”
“Bullshit,” Connor said.
“Connor!” Pat said. He turned to Lucy. “Lucy, may I have a word? Alone?”
Everyone turned to her father. He had always been the rock of their family. Honorable and noble, a hero in every sense of the word. There was no one Lucy respected more than her father. Lucy had no idea what he was thinking, though he looked terribly sad.
Sean started to follow her and her father, and Pat turned and said, “Just Lucy.”
Lucy nodded to Sean—this might be a difficult conversation, but maybe alone she could convince her dad that this was the right thing to do.
Sean was reluctant, but stayed in the kitchen. As Lucy closed the door of her father’s office, she heard Carina and Connor talking to Sean—accusing him, in a not-so-subtle way, of encouraging this “insane” idea.