Resolved to talk her way out of this—after all, unless they arrested her, she didn’t have to go with the feds—she went with the guard to the lobby.
The feds were quite obviously FBI agents—the male was probably close to forty with conservative-cut sandy-blond hair. He wore a light-gray suit and stood like he’d served in the military. Maybe it was just that he had that military look that Siobhan knew all too well. The woman was younger, maybe thirty or so, with her black hair pulled back. Siobhan assessed her features. She’d traveled extensively in the Western Hemisphere, she could generally discern where someone was from. She was Cuban, maybe—at least a quarter, but probably half Cuban.
“Agent Armstrong,” the guard said.
The man approached and thanked the guard. He extended his hand to Siobhan. “I’m Supervisory Special Agent Noah Armstrong. This is Special Agent Lucy Kincaid. You’re free to go, Ms. Walsh, but we’d like to talk to you first.”
“Sean’s Lucy?” Siobhan asked. She smiled broadly and hugged the woman. Lucy didn’t hug her back—a little aloof—and she seemed surprised. Siobhan couldn’t help herself—she’d always been a touchy person. “Wow! I’m so glad to finally meet you. Sean told me he was getting married, but that was after that whole thing with Kane down in Santiago—I didn’t have an opportunity to come up for a visit.”
“Nice to meet you,” Lucy said, a bit on the formal side. She was pretty, a bit standoffish. Reserved, Andie would say. In fact, she was a lot like Andie. No wonder Kane had so much respect for her. “I’ve seen your work—it’s amazing.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that.” They walked out of the police station and to a sedan. Noah opened the rear passenger door for Siobhan. She said, “I’m so sorry about all this. I really didn’t think I would run into a problem. I didn’t mean for Rick to send two agents to get me out.”
“That’s not the only reason,” Noah said and closed the door.
What did that mean?
As they drove away, Siobhan said, “I’m not going to Virginia.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“We need to talk about what you discovered, and how it connects to the abandoned infant.”
“Oh. Well. I don’t know yet, I’m still working that out, but when we get my camera—do you think I could trouble you to take me to my rental car? I parked a few blocks from where I was arrested. I hope they didn’t tow it. I mean, I didn’t rent the best car on the lot, I wanted something to blend in, but I still have to pay for damages.”
“Tell me where,” Noah said.
Siobhan rattled off the intersection, and the fed typed it into his GPS.
“We spoke with Father Sebastian. He told us your theory.”
“Well, such as it is. I’m close. I know it. The locket.” She reached up and touched the locket that had been Tilda’s. “Neither of the girls would have just gotten rid of it. If Elizabeth isn’t the daughter of one of them, her mother knew the sisters.” She looked at her watch, then just spilled everything she knew. This was Sean’s Lucy Kincaid, and Siobhan trusted the Rogans. Siobhan needed help—help, not replacement—and hopefully Lucy would let her stay involved.
“Mari and Ana have been missing for two years,” Siobhan said. “They each had an identical locket—one of which Father Sebastian found on Baby Elizabeth—that I had given them.” She pulled her locket from under her shirt. “This one belonged to their mother, Tilda, who was my friend. She died…” She shook her head to clear it. She still regretted so much … she should have been there, helping before the mudslide. She should have said good-bye to Tilda. And then she was gone.