The room was silent for a long minute. Max wondered if they’d lost the feed, and she said, “I can file a Freedom of Information Act request and Andrew can expedite it—I’ve done it before when I had someone working with me. It’s a way to cover all bases in case there’s a legal challenge later.”
Arthur said, “Max, Lucy, I’m happy to consult further if you need advice, but I think you’re on the right path here. I’ll review the evidence and timeline again, if I see anything we haven’t discussed or have additional insight, I’ll send you an e-mail.”
“I appreciate your time, Arthur,” Max said. “Dr. Kincaid? Anything else from you?”
It was clear he wanted to talk to Lucy alone, but before that happened, Max needed a conversation with her. They had to be on the same page before Lucy started making promises to her family.
“No,” Dillon said. “Just—um, Lucy, tread carefully.”
Lucy thanked Arthur and her brother, then shut down the conferencing program.
“That was enlightening,” Max said. “You earned Arthur’s respect. He’s a good man, one of the brightest in his field. It’s hard to impress him.”
“He reminds me of someone,” Lucy said.
She was off in her own thoughts, Max realized. Now would be the best time to get more information from her. Out of curiosity.
“Your friend Hans Vigo?”
Lucy nodded, but didn’t elaborate. Max wondered if there was more to the story—Lucy was a difficult woman to read, but Max was learning. There was definitely something here.
“I need to call Dillon,” Lucy said. “It’s personal,” she added quickly. “We have to work through how we’re going to contact Nelia. I’ll let you know what we decide. I’m not cutting you out, Max, I just need to handle this delicately.”
“Your family is overprotective of everyone.”
“They’re my family. I’ve already damaged my relationship, but I’m not going to let the family take sides on this. I’m not going to destroy their relationships with one another because they don’t like the path I’m on.”
“That would be their choice, not yours.”
“Max, you’re astute, and a good study of human behavior. It’s why you’ve been so successful in your career. But some things you can’t learn from observation. Some things you can only understand through living them. I love my family. They have been to hell and back, and not just what happened to Justin. Standing against them on something so fundamental to who we have all become is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do. I understand their pain because I lived it. I don’t want to lose them, but I made my decision. I’ve made tough decisions before and lived with the consequences. But I will be damned before I allow any of my brothers or sisters to take sides and divide us or further damage their own relationships. So I’m going to talk to Dillon and tell him I appreciate his assistance but he needs to stand down, you work on the FOIA, then we’ll talk to Andrew and I’ll delineate exactly what we need and he’ll figure out if he can get it. I will tell you what we decide, and honestly, you’re just going to have to live with it.”
Lucy stood up and Max had a snide comeback, but something in Lucy’s expression stopped her from commenting.
“Fine,” Max said. “I’ll meet you at the restaurant downstairs at eight—you can tell me then what we’re going to do next.”
Lucy started to walk out. She then turned and said, “Is there any way you can find out if Peter Caldwell was buried with a stuffed animal?”
Max wasn’t certain John would even take her call. “I will most certainly try.”
Chapter Twenty-one
“I was expecting your call,” Dillon said as soon as he picked up the phone.
Lucy wasn’t surprised. “I don’t like it when we argue.”
“Argue? That’s kind of strong, don’t you think?”
“I need to talk to Nelia.”
“No.”
“I’m not going to let you damage your relationship with Nelia or with everyone else.”
“Why do you think this is you against the family?”
“You weren’t there!” Lucy rarely lost her temper, but it had been a really awful two days. She pinched the bridge of her nose and willed herself to be calm.
“Luce,” Dillon said softly, “I know this is difficult for you and for our family. You’ve never chosen the easy path. It’s one reason I love you so much. Let me be a buffer. It’s something I’m very good at.”
“It’s too late.”
“It’s never too late.”
Lucy didn’t want to tell Dillon exactly what their father had said. She didn’t want to dump her frustration on her brother. Instead she said, “I guess I was expecting a different response. In hindsight, I screwed up. Why did I think having a nice family dinner would soften the blow?”
“You’re probably right, though I can see why you did it—you were expediting.”
“Exactly. But I was too blunt. I should have considered all the ramifications first, especially on Carina.”
“Did you read her interview?”
“I haven’t had the chance. I will after dinner tonight. Then I’ll talk to her. One-on-one.”
“I think that’s smart.”
Lucy was relieved.
“Just like it’s not smart for you to contact Nelia. I will do it, and I will accept any fallout. She needs to know—even if this reporter you’re working with doesn’t reach out to her, someone will. She’ll hear about it and it’ll be far worse if she hears about it from anyone other than family.”
Lucy hadn’t thought that far ahead. She hadn’t thought about what happened after they found the killer and when the news became public. “Thank you, Dillon.”
“I recognized your focus on the video conference—you’re not going back, are you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re not going back to San Antonio until you solve this.”
“I don’t know that I’ll be able to take that much time off.”
“But.”
Dillon was right. “I can’t walk away. I don’t want to lose my job, but this might be my stand. I’ll accept the consequences.”
“You always do.”
“My new boss already doesn’t like me.” She rolled her eyes. “That sounds so junior high.”
“Yet.”
“She started while I was on my honeymoon. I met her the Monday I returned and it was extremely uncomfortable—I can’t pinpoint it exactly. But I’m not comfortable with her knowing so much about me, and I know she has read my files, and talked to Juan as well. I’m sure she talked to Noah, but she knows that Noah and I are friends. She made a comment about it, and maybe I’m reading into the subtext, but it seemed that because Noah and I had been friends, she doesn’t believe anything he says about me. Not to mention that everything that happened in Mexico last October is sealed. No one in my office knows, except for Nate, and I think that bugs her. Because she doesn’t know what happened.”
“It’s difficult for a supervisor to have a staff member who has, for lack of a better word, protection from on high.”
“I don’t want that kind of protection.”
“But it’s there. It’s not something you can turn on and off. Just recognize that her perception is tainted. But also recognize your own motives.”