“Meet us there,” the paramedic said and they rushed toward the ambulance.
Lucy stared after the baby. She couldn’t move. Suddenly her knees buckled, and she would have collapsed if Noah hadn’t caught her.
“You saved her baby,” he whispered in her ear. “It’s okay to feel, Lucy. It’s okay to cry.”
Lucy stared at the dead mother, then turned her head and buried her face into Noah’s chest. She clutched at him as if she were drowning.
She couldn’t think, she couldn’t put together a sentence. Waves of grief washed through her. Grief and anger. That so many human beings could hurt others with no remorse, no punishment. A baby who had no mother, no father. Alive, but what would happen to her?
Grief. Anger. And then a sudden relief that it was over. The last three days had been the second worst three days of her life. She wasn’t the victim this time, but she saw herself in the eyes of the woman who’d begged her to save her baby. She saw herself in the eyes of all these women. She could have been one of them.
There but for the grace of God go I …
She let Noah hold her. He sat on the ground and pulled her to him, his hand gripping her tight. She felt his chest, the sobs he was trying to hold inside. Suddenly, the tears came. Tears she’d never shed because she feared they would never stop.
They came.
CHAPTER THIRTY
It was nearly midnight when Lucy sat on the edge of the exam table. She’d washed off the blood, and Noah had insisted a doctor check her out. She was fine, she’d said. But she was drained.
“We should go to the hotel,” Noah said.
“Where’s Nate?”
“He’s still with Villines at the house.”
“I should have stayed. Done my job.”
“You did your job, Lucy.”
“I fell apart.”
“I would have worried more if you didn’t. Lucy—no apologies. You did what had to be done and saved that little girl. The SWAT medic told the story to everyone, including the nurses. They’re calling her Lucia.”
The tears threatened again and she shook her head to clear her thoughts. She couldn’t do this, not now.
Noah sat down on the doctor’s stool and took her hands. “Hey, Luce, it’s over.”
“It’s not. I overheard you talking to Villines. Marisol wasn’t in the house.”
“We found the Honeycutts’ phone in a closet, and it’s clear someone had been restrained inside. I’m going to make a run at Zapelli and see what he can tell us. His lawyer is raising Cain about unlawful detention and false arrest and whatnot, so we’re probably going to have to cut him loose.”
“You can’t!”
“You think I want to? I’m fighting hard to make sure we can keep him here, but I may not have a choice. We pushed the boundaries on this case. I told you to push, you did everything right, but we have to remember that we have rules for a reason. We don’t have cause. But I’m going to run at him, see what he can give us. The AUSA is staying up all night to see if she can make a case against him. But it’ll be up to a judge in the morning as to whether we cut him loose.”
Sometimes, she hated the system.
“They killed her,” Lucy said. “They must have killed her.”
“There was no evidence that she died at that house.” His phone rang. “It’s Dean Hooper, I have to take it. Then I’ll take you to the hotel.” He kissed her forehead.
“Armstrong,” he answered. He listened for a full minute, then said, “Where is he? I’ll pick him up tonight.”
He listened again, then swore under his breath. “Are you sure? Did he flee because he knew we were going to uncover this?… Really? Last week?… I’ll talk to his wife … This isn’t a joke, is it? Yeah, I know, you don’t joke about serious shit. Okay, I’ll be there first thing in the morning. I need a couple hours’ sleep before I can make the drive back, it’s been a fucking long day.” He hung up.
“What happened?” Lucy asked. “Hooper found something?”
“Hooper found Jasmine’s legal name—Jasmine Flores-King. King was her married name and she still uses it. “Then he found the lawyer who set up all the shell corporations for her. Once we uncovered her legal name, he said it got a bit easier, but I still think the guy’s next to God when it comes to this stuff. Hooper knows what to look for and he found it.”
“That’s great. I need good news right now.”
“But get this, the lawyer left the country last week. Went down to Acapulco according to flight records. But his wife is in San Antonio, flew here on Monday from—get this—Acapulco. So we’ll talk to her, see if she knows what her husband is doing. If he fled the country to avoid prosecution or what. After the week we’ve had, I’m going to push her hard. No one is walking away from this bloodbath.”
As Noah spoke, Lucy’s stomach fell. She stared at him.
“Hey, do you need a doctor? You look pale. I’m sorry—I shouldn’t have dumped that on you tonight.”
“Spade,” she said.