HARD FAL (18 page)

She’d have something fun planned for them, like she always did when Megan came to visit. Most of her friends griped about being forced to visit their grandparents, but Megan loved it when she got to come up here and stay. Grams and her would work in the garden, take hikes down the mountain, go fishing at Grandpap’s secret place on the river—the place where he’d taken Mom when she was a little girl—and Grams would let Megan use Grandpap’s fishing rod.

Megan sniffed, clutching the box of shotgun shells. Why couldn’t everything just go back to the way it was?

She missed her Grams. So much.

But right now, at this moment, with danger fluttering through her gut, she missed her mom even more. If Lucy was here, she’d keep them safe.

<><><>

“SETH SENT THE
threat to the judge?” Lucy asked, not caring that she allowed her dismay bleed into her voice. “Why?” Threatening a judge was a federal offense. Seth would never risk being arrested, forced away from June’s side. But, wait. “When did that happen?”

“Four months ago.”

Ahh…after Seth was poisoned and learned he was dying. His attempt to get June and his baby under the protection of the US Marshals. Too bad the judge ended the trial so quickly or it might have worked.

“Did he also post the ultrasound?” she asked. No. That wouldn’t make sense—those bullets today were real. Seth would never endanger June or the baby merely to get them protection. Besides, he’d already arranged for the best protection money could buy…just not good enough to keep Daddy at bay.

Taylor shook his head. “No. That was Daddy. I’m sure of it.”

“How do you know Seth sent that threat to the judge?”

“More than that, he’s been surfing the DarkNet, hanging out with pedophiles. I thought maybe Daddy had blackmailed him into betraying June.” Taylor looked stricken. “How could he?”

“He didn’t.” She was glad he didn’t ask her to explain how she could be so certain. But after seeing Seth with June, knowing that he would literally die for her…there was no way she’d believe Seth would betray June. “How did you find all this?”

He shuffled his feet, suddenly looking twenty years younger. “When I got back here, I realized Seth’s rental was parked downstairs. Along with their stuff. I figured I should check to see if anything was bugged—maybe that was how Daddy traced them up here.” He jerked his chin up. “Did you bring me their phones? I really want to analyze them.”

“No. They’re still in the dead box in the trunk of your car.”

“You didn’t bring my car back?”

“Driving down a mountain, pouring rain, in a hurry, and Nick’s Explorer was more convenient. Don’t worry, nothing is going to happen to your car.” Then she realized what he was doing. Deflecting her. “Taylor, you searched their car without permission or a court order? And whose computers are these?”

“I kind of had implicit permission to look for signs of a tracker—and you can put tracking software on a laptop as easily as you can a phone.”

“Taylor,” she caught herself using the same tone she used with the puppy at home. Blew out her breath and sank back into the chair. “Show me what you found.”

“None of it is admissible.”

“Just show me.”

He changed the monitor so it mirrored the laptop’s screen. “Seth had two laptops with him. One obviously for work and everyday stuff. That one I left alone once I was sure it wasn’t bugged—attorney/client privilege and all that.”

“And the other?”

“The other is a totally different story. Almost nothing on it except his own Tor access and a VPN—virtual private network. It makes just about anything you do on a computer untraceable. Unless you know what you’re looking for. Like me.”

“So you found the threat to the judge.”

“Yeah. He thought he’d deleted it, but nothing’s ever truly deleted from a hard drive unless you overwrite it with scrubber software. And even then, you might find traces.”

“And he was visiting porn sites?”

“Yeah. No downloads, no images on the computer. And he couldn’t get into a lot of the hardcore sites—they make you go through a validation process before they’ll give you access. But he definitely found a couple of guys. He’s been building a database of their details, like profile names they use, locations they mention, stuff like that.”

“Were these guys maybe working with Daddy? Or threatening June? Seth said they’ve been getting death threats ever since they began the civil suits.”

“It’ll take me some time to correlate things. Not like these guys use their real names—although I think Seth might have been able to trace a few of them back to the real world. Hints they left about jobs and where they lived. Give me more time with it.”

“Not until we get his permission and a warrant.”

“But if these guys are working with Daddy, they might be here, in Pittsburgh. Waiting for the chance to get at June. Just like motorcycle guy.”

“Who’s now dead. What’s up with the idea that he’s a serial killer?”

“Well, maybe not serial killer. Probably more like hit man. Burroughs said they found some IDs that belonged to other men and when they ran their names, they’re all homicide victims.”

“Here? In Pittsburgh?”

“I don’t know.”

“Maybe we should head over there and find out.” She pushed back onto her feet, ignoring the wave of complaints generated by her ankle. “Grab your gear.”

He gathered his laptop and shoved it into a messenger bag. The monitor screen switched back to the geographic search program, combing through thousands of potential suspects.

Even if they found Daddy’s home base, it wouldn’t be anywhere near Pittsburgh. They needed to find the man. Here. Now. It was the only chance to save June. And that little girl, Missy Barstow, his latest victim.

If she was still alive.

Chapter 23

“WALDEN AND OSHIRO
—that deputy marshal who baked the brownies you liked—they’re on their way,” Dad said, awkwardly double-checking that the shotgun was loaded. Then he took the shotgun and shells and left.

Okay, so maybe Mom hadn’t abandoned them. Megan still wished she was here. She followed her dad back out to the living room. He set the shotgun between the front door and the bay window.

“Figured you wouldn’t want this in your bedroom,” he said to June when he caught her watching him. Never mind that they hadn’t even bothered to change the sheets on the bed. Did he really think June was that dumb?

She wasn’t. “Someone tried to kill my husband and kidnap me a few hours ago, Mr. Callahan. Not sure why you think the presence of a weapon would disturb me.”

Megan smiled. It wasn’t often that anyone called her dad’s bluffs. He looked sheepish.

June crossed over to the coatrack beside the front door and grabbed her purse. “I have a pistol, if you think it will help.”

“You brought a gun into our home?” Dad asked. He always was so sensitive about guns. If he just relaxed and learned to be comfortable around them…never going to happen. Because her father didn’t see a gun, he saw a person. Make that people. On either side of the trigger. Guess when you worked with veterans, helping them through their PTSD, talking about all that death and destruction, it made you see things differently.

June didn’t seem taken aback at all. That’s why Megan liked her so much; she wasn’t that old, yet she seemed so clear on what she needed to do that she didn’t care what anyone else thought. “With Seth being on the road so much these past few months, I asked Oshiro to get one for me. He taught me—and of course, got a carry permit pushed through as well.”

Pistol-packing mommy to be. The image of June shooting filled Megan’s vision. Now that was kick-ass.

Dad must have seen something else when he looked at June. “I’m sure Seth will be back soon.”

June returned her purse on the coat rack and swiped at her eyes with a knuckled fist. “I wish I believed that. But I know my husband. He’d do anything to protect us. After what happened earlier—I think he decided to take matters into his own hands.”

Dad thought about that. From the look on his face, Megan realized it was exactly what he would’ve done if he’d been in Seth’s position. Part of her felt proud that she had a father who would risk everything to keep her safe. Part of her was terrified by the thought.

And her Dad was standing right here, safe and sound. Poor June. Megan rushed to her side. “He’ll be all right, June.” She looked to her dad. “You need to call Mom. Tell her to find Seth and send him back home.”

From Dad’s expression, he’d be telling Mom more than that—hopefully telling her to come home herself. He patted his pockets, glanced at the sideboard. “Left my phone in the car. Where’s yours?”

Megan ran down the hall to Grams’ room where she’d left her phone charging. The charger was there but the phone was gone. She returned to the living room. June paced a circle in front of the fire, her hands pressed against her back. She looked so uncomfortable. “It’s not there. Seth must have taken it.”

“What’s wrong with the phone in the kitchen?” June asked, glancing at the old corded phone on the kitchen wall.

“Power and phone lines go down all the time up here,” Dad explained. “Coletta switched from the land line to using a cell once the new tower went up.” Still, he crossed over to the kitchen and lifted the receiver to his ear. Then he tried to dial 911 and 0. “Nothing.”

June stopped, arched her back, and grabbed Megan’s shoulder. Tight. Her face twisted in surprise and she looked down at the floor.

“June, what’s wrong?”

“My water just broke.”

Chapter 24

TAYLOR SIGNED THEM
out a pool vehicle, one of the Bureau’s Tahoes. Big, black, tinted windows, it practically screamed government, but that wasn’t what concerned Lucy. It was how the hell was she going to climb into the passenger seat without putting all of her weight on her bad leg?

As usual, Taylor’s mind had already processed the problem and come up with a solution. He opened her door for her and pushed the seat back as far as it would go. Then he held her elbow as she stepped with her good leg onto the running board and swung her bad one into the passenger compartment. Once she was settled in, he handed her her cane and bag.

God, she felt old. He was only four years younger than she was, but here she sat, a decrepit wreck, not even able to climb into a damn car by herself.

It didn’t help when he practically leapt into the driver’s seat, obviously eager to get to their crime scene. She wondered if she’d ever been as young as he was.

“I hardly ever get to drive one of these,” he said, adjusting the mirrors. He jerked the wheel and sped them out of the garage, barely waiting for the gate to lift. Lucy grabbed onto her door handle, bracing herself as he took the corner onto Carson too fast and the SUV lurched.

“Take it easy,” she told him. “The guy’s not getting any deader.”

“Sorry, boss.” He slowed marginally but his herky-jerky steering if anything got worse. “I just want to nail this guy, Daddy. I mean, I’ve never felt so…” He slammed the brakes at a light that had been red since the last block. “Angry isn’t the right word. I don’t know what is. But this guy, the things he does, the way he just doesn’t give a shit about anyone else, I mean, I know we’ve chased some bad guys, but he, he just makes me—”

“It’s okay, Taylor. It’s normal to react strongly when faced with someone so aberrant. This guy, he simply doesn’t fit into any concept of what the world should be.” Lucy almost rolled her eyes—she was channeling Nick, repeating almost word for word what he was always telling her when she got upset about a case.

“Aberrant? Yeah, he’s all that and more.” His voice dropped. “Lucy, do you believe in evil?”

No need to hesitate, the answer was easy. “Yes. Yes, I do. Absolutely.”

“And this guy, he’s evil.”

“Yes.”

“Then—” He dropped the sentence as if it was a hot coal. “I mean, when we catch him, do you ever wish, fantasize, about…just ending it? Not worrying about a trial or him getting off on a technicality. Just taking care of it, then and there? If he’s evil, isn’t it our job to protect the rest of the world from men like him?”

The rain and wind seemed distant from the darker elements swirling inside the SUV.

“Do I ever wish things were that simple?” Lucy answered, struggling to put the paradoxes that tugged at her psyche every working day into some coherent form. “Yes. But, our job isn’t to destroy evil or take the law into our own hands. It’s to uphold the law while protecting the innocent.”

“But,” he persisted, “the law doesn’t always work. Is it worth the risk that it might fail? For guys like this. I mean, I’m honestly not even sure he’s human. Maybe his DNA is, but his brain sure as hell isn’t.”

“That’s fear talking. Because it would be so much easier to draw a line, decide that he’s something other, on the outside of humanity that deserves to be treated equally under the law.”

“So there’re no exceptions?”

Yes, yes, there were. Lucy was absolutely certain of it. But she was Taylor’s supervisor, his mentor, and she couldn’t lead him down that path. Every man or woman who carried a badge and gun had to decide for themselves.