Acts of Mercy (26 page)

“Sure. Here’s one. Margaret Alice Davies. We haven’t been able to pin down where she was back then, but we’re still working on it.” A few keystrokes and Robert pulled up a page of entries. “She’s on the list because we weren’t able to eliminate her in any other way—former nun, no trail after December of 2006. Could be something will turn up as we proceed. But right now, could she be our girl? Sure.

“She stayed at the house the previous summer, then left the convent, so she knows the area. Might have had a key copied and kept it.” Robert looked up at Trula and explained, “The thing about that cabin is that no one went there on a regular basis. The owner didn’t bother with it—she said most of the time she pretty much forgot about it until someone asked about renting it, which she said no one ever did in the
winter. So any one of these people could be the right one.”

“Like this one.” Susanna waved a sheet of paper. “The former Sister Teresa Joan LeMaster. Goes by Terry, now that she’s left the convent. Apparently she’s been in and out of St. Anthony’s for the past eight years, which tells me she’s a woman with a lot of conflict. Lives in West Virginia—not too far from the convent and the cabin. Doesn’t work, so she could have been at the cabin on that Sunday in February.”

“I’m assuming the sisters hadn’t arranged for anyone to use the cabin that weekend. I suppose that would be too easy,” Trula noted.

“Way too easy. Like I said, it was winter, remember, and the owner doesn’t rent it out during the cold months. No heat. So far, we haven’t been able to determine where Terry LeMaster was that day.”

“Well, suppose you find out all of them were close enough that day to have taken him. How are you going to narrow that down?”

“Well, for example, we can figure out which one of them has a baby that they didn’t have before,” Robert explained.

“How could you do that?”

“We can ask around their neighborhoods,” Susanna replied.

“Or we can check to see if any of them started purchasing baby supplies back in the winter of 2007,” Robert said thoughtfully.

Trula looked from Robert to Susanna and back again, then made a disapproving face. “Whatever you’re doing is illegal. I knew it.”

“Trula, kidnapping is illegal,” he said quietly. “The
more we can narrow the search and hasten the time when the FBI finds the person who has Ian, the sooner we’ll have him back.”

“True. So at the very least, you should have Colin doing this sort of thing,” she admonished, tossing out the name of Robert’s former business partner, the one who even Robert acknowledged had mad scary computer skills. “At least nothing could be traced back to you.”

“Colin.” Susanna nodded. “We didn’t think of Colin.”

“Colin,” Robert repeated. “I can have him check for purchases in February 2007 as well as this current month. Just to make certain, you know …” He thought aloud.

“And he can get in and out of places, look around, and never leave a trace.” Susanna grinned. “No one will ever know that he was looking.”

“Even assuming he finds someone who’s been buying diapers for the past two years, what can you do? You’re not going to ring that woman’s doorbell and say, hey, we’ve checked your”—Trula gave him a dark look—“whatever it is you’re going to check, and by the way, I think that baby belongs to me.”

“No, of course not. Once Colin tells us who looks good, we go there, we make up an excuse, and we ring the doorbell. We see if the child is a male the right age, then we leave and we call Agent Parrish.”

“And you tell him what, Robert? You tell him you had someone perform illegal acts and you checked things out yourself, found your child, and now—please, kind sir—come and get my son for me?” Trula stood with her hands on her hips.

“No. I’ll tell him the truth.” Robert glanced at Susanna, who raised an eyebrow. “Well, part of the truth. I’ll tell him that we got the names of the former nuns from the sisters at St. Anthony’s—”

“Which you haven’t done,” Trula reminded him. “How do you propose to do that?”

“We’ll send Kevin to the convent to ask for the names. Everyone likes Kevin. They won’t turn him down. No one ever turns him down when he asks for favors.”

“What if by, oh, some miracle, the mother superior has respect for the privacy of the ladies in her order, and against all odds, defies expectations and withholds the information?” Trula would not let up.

“Then I suppose Kevin will have to resort to bribery.”

“Bribery! You’d ask a priest to bribe a nun?” Trula shook her head. “Really, Robert … that’s shameful, even for you. Besides, have you thought about what Kevin might say to the mother superior that would get her to give up the names?”

“Easy one. If it comes to that, he’s going to say that several names have come to his attention from an anonymous source—”

Trula snorted.

“… and he merely wanted to confirm with her that these ladies were in fact at one time members of the order. He’ll say that Ian is his nephew—almost true, since Kevin is as close to a brother as I’ve ever had, as you well know—and that he’s hoping to find whoever has the child before the FBI does, because, well, you know how the FBI can be. He can say anything he wants, that he wants to help this poor soul—”

“This is another one of your plans with half an ass, Robert.” Trula-speak for a half-assed plan.

“One of these women could have my son. I want him back. I’ve waited long enough. We’re this close to finding him.” He turned the monitor back to face him. “If Kevin has to promise them a new convent, even a new school—do you really think I care what it will cost? I’ll do whatever I have to do, but I will get my son back.”

Susanna leaned over and turned the desk phone around. She dialed a number, then waited while it rang. When the call was answered, she smiled.

“Colin, hi. Susanna. Very well, thank you. Listen, I’m going to put Robert on the line. He needs your help.”

T
ime to check in with the people who are paying me this time around, Sam told himself as he dialed Mallory’s number.

“What’s going on?” Mallory sounded concerned when she picked up.

Sam brought her up to speed.

“What a hot mess this case turned out to be,” she said. “Have you been in touch with our client recently?”

“I was going to call her,” Sam told her. “I’m just not sure how to tell her I’m at the heart of all this.”

“Do you think you should do that at this time?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been going back and forth on this. On the one hand, I feel I owe her the truth. On the other, I don’t know how much it could muddy the water. I wouldn’t blame her if she got pissed off when she found out that the investigator she has asked to look into her husband’s death was actually the cause of his murder. But what if she takes it one step further and decides to call a local paper or TV station to complain or to vent? Maybe the only advantage we
have right now is that there’s a chance the killer still might not know that we’ve figured out that he’s targeting me. If this goes public now, we’re going to lose that, and it’s a slim enough edge as it is.”

“Good point. My advice would be to hold up on contacting Mrs. Walker. If she calls in for a status report, I’ll take the call and let her know you’re still working on it.”

“Okay, thanks. Let’s see how this plays out over the next couple of days.”

“I read your email about the fifth murder. I’m assuming you still haven’t been able to come up with any possible suspects.”

“Fiona is sure it’s someone from my past. Since I’ve been out here, I’ve run into a lot of my old friends. I hate to admit that I need to look at each of them as a potential killer. I just don’t see that in any of them.”

“Maybe you’re not looking at them with a clear eye. Maybe you need to be a little more objective. Why not talk to Fiona about your relationships with each of these people—the good times and the bad—and see if anything looks out of place? Maybe something that seems innocuous to you might jump out screaming at her.”

“If I knew where she was, I’d do that.”

“I thought she went to Nebraska with you.”

“She did. She left early this morning. She told my sister-in-law that something came up and she had to go.”

“Well, maybe if you call your contact at the Bureau …”

“Already did that. He won’t tell me. So I guess I
just have to wait until the rest of the posse shows up.”

“What posse?”

“John—my old boss—is sending out a few agents as backup here today. There are only two more acts of mercy left, and I’m thinking this guy is going to go after my brother. The last act, I believe, will be saved for me.”

“Why do you think he’ll go after your brother?”

“At this point, he wants to hurt me, so he’s going to take someone I care about. No more anonymous victims. In the past, he’s only killed men, so I’m thinking he’s going to target my brother, the guy who means the most to me. Then he’ll come after me.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because that’s what I would do.”

“What do you mean, he’s gone?” Robert stared at Susanna from across the room. “Gone where?”

“I don’t know, Robert. I just got a call from Luke saying that he was being temporarily reassigned to some emergency and that he’d be back on the case as soon as he could.”

“Wonder what the emergency could be,” Trula thought aloud. “Do you think there’s going to be a terrorist attack? Maybe I should turn on the TV and see what’s on the news.”

“I don’t know what to think,” Susanna told her, “but I’m sure it must be something very important.”

“It had better be damned important.” Robert was
beginning to steam. “He’s supposed to be looking for my son.”

“I’m sure the FBI wouldn’t pull an agent from a kidnapping case unless they had a damned good reason, Rob. I’m sure he’ll be back as soon as he can.”

“That’s not really good enough.” He shook his head.

“It’s going to have to be, for now,” Susanna countered.

“Why? We have the same list of names that he has. We’ve already started to narrow down the field a little. Why do we have to wait for Parrish?” Robert’s stance was defiant.

“Because we have no authority to go knocking on people’s doors, that’s why,” Suse reminded him. “He’s got a federal agency behind him. We have—”

“Kevin.” Robert nodded slowly. “We have Kevin. And he’s backed by a higher authority than the FBI.”

Robert grabbed the phone and hit speed-dial.

“Rob, what are you going to do?” she asked quietly.

He appeared not to have heard her.

“Hello, Mary?” he greeted the church’s secretary when the call was picked up. “Good morning. It’s Rob Magellan. Good, good, yes, we’re all fine, thanks. I’m trying to track down Father Kevin. Have you seen him? Great … yes, I’ll hold.” Robert glanced over to Susanna and said, “When you only have one card, you have to play it.”

“What card …?”

“Kevin, hey, I need you. Now. Come to the house … get someone else to cover that for you. No, it can’t wait, bro. Today’s the day.” Robert appeared to be listening for a moment. “Great. See you then. Oh, and Kevin? Wear your collar.”

“Rob, I’m almost afraid to ask what you’re doing,” Susanna told him when he hung up the phone.

“Who knows how long Parrish is going to be tied up? Days? A week? More?” Rob’s jaw tightened. “Supposing the person who has Ian is moving. Maybe she’s nervous about staying in one place for too long, maybe she’s renting and her lease is running out, maybe she’s psychic and knows we’re coming after her—I don’t know.” He reached for her arm. “Don’t you see? We’re this close. I can’t sit around and wait for Parrish to finish up whatever it is they’ve got him doing.”

“Rob …”

“Please,” he pleaded, “don’t ask me to wait. Give Colin a call and see if he’s come up with anything else.” He picked up the list from the counter. “And let’s see if we can maybe map out an itinerary.”

“An itinerary? Meaning you’re planning on tracking down these people by yourself.”

“Not by myself. With you. You’re going to help me, aren’t you? Suse? I don’t think I can do this without you.”

“Of course I’ll help you.” She sighed, resigned.

“And Kevin. I need Kevin.” He paused, then grabbed the phone again and began to dial. “Delilah, get the plane fueled up and ready to go. I’m not sure exactly when. Just be on standby. Be ready.”

He hung up and turned back to Susanna.

“One way or another, we’re going to find him, Suse. I can feel it. We’re going to find Ian.” His eyes filled. “After all this time, we’re going to find my son …”

S
am, who are all those people?” Tom asked as Sam came in the front door shortly after several strange cars had pulled up the driveway.

“FBI, most of them former colleagues of mine,” Sam told him. “Someone at the Bureau thought the best way of keeping everyone here safe would be to call out the troops.”

“How many of them are there?” Kitty looked anxious as she peered out the window.

“Enough to keep the wolves at bay, Kitty,” Sam assured her. “But the thinking is that everyone needs to stay close to home over the next few days. I’m sure the kids won’t mind missing a few days of school.”

“Tommy’s not going to like missing football practice.”

“I realize that, Tom, but it can’t be helped. I’m sorry,” Sam said.

“You really think something’s going to happen?” Tom folded his arms across his chest. “You honestly think this guy is going to be coming here?”

“I think there’s a damned good chance he’s going to strike real soon, yes.”

“I don’t need the FBI to protect my family, Sam.”

“Actually, this time, you do,” Sam told him bluntly. “Besides, it isn’t your call to make.”

“Even though this is my property?”

“Your life—and mine—could depend on them being here.”

“For how long?”

“I don’t think it’s going to be long at all now.” Sam shook his head. “He’s escalated over the past few weeks. He’s in high gear now. He’s not going to wait much longer to make his next move. He won’t be able to.”

“Doesn’t it work on you sometimes, Sam?” Kitty turned from the window where she’d watched another car pull up. “Getting inside the head of these people? Trying to think like they do, trying to understand why they do what they do?”