Her finger paused on the station where Bono sang about “one love.” Dylan had been a huge U2 fan and had loved that song. Hearing it never failed to bring back the memory of a drive they’d once made to the Outer Banks, when he’d played the CD over and over so many times she finally threatened to toss it out the window as they crossed the Wright Memorial Bridge.
Thoughts of Dylan led inevitably to thoughts of Evan.
Initially, Annie had been surprised at Evan’s reaction to Dylan’s seeming presence at the wedding. After all, it was Dylan’s brother who was getting married, and the first gathering of the clan after Dylan’s death-except for his funeral. It was bound to be emotional. But after looking back on the night, on the way events had unfolded, she had to admit that things might have gone a bit far. Not might, she told herself. Did. Thomas Shields simply could not move past his pain. When she’d realized that Evan had left, she had secretly suspected that the Shieldses’ focus on their fallen brother could possibly have had something to do with it.
But she’d been genuinely surprised at Evan’s suggestion that they take one last look at Dylan’s death. While she refused to delude herself into thinking that they’d solve the case, the fact that Evan understood, that he made the gesture, endeared him to her even more. She hadn’t been exaggerating when she’d told him that finding him, realizing that she could find love again, had stunned her. She’d not even considered looking, assuming that she’d spend the rest of her life alone. She had pretty much made her peace with that. No one, she’d figured, had the right to expect that kind of total love, total devotion, more than once in a lifetime. It had shocked her to learn it could happen-and that it had happened to her.
She was so deep in thought that she missed the call on her cell phone. She picked it up and looked at the screen. Connor. Speak of the devil. She hit the automatic-dial number and he answered on the first ring.
“Hey, sorry. I missed your call by about one ring,” she told him. “Where are you?”
“Now, you know that if I told you, we’d have to kill you.”
She smiled at the overused quip, which, in his case, could be true.
“Did you talk to Grady? I saw Brendan this morning. He said Grady was trying to reach you.”
“We spoke. He just wanted to know if I’d be around this week.”
“Are you?”
“No. I won’t be around for a while.”
“Okay, I won’t even ask.”
“Thank you.”
“So what’s up?”
“I just wanted to congratulate you and Mara on the wedding. You did a great job putting it together. Everything was just terrific, Annie.”
“Thanks, Connor. I never realized how much work a simple wedding could be. But we did manage to pull it off. Everyone seemed to have a good time.”
“Well, that’s another thing that I wanted to talk to you about. I think I need to apologize on behalf of all the Shieldses for having maybe misdirected some of the focus.”
“Meaning?”
“You’re sweet, Annie, but I know you know what I’m talking about. Too much Dylan, too little Aidan. We owe him an apology, too.”
“I doubt he felt slighted.”
“Knowing Aidan, no, I’m sure he didn’t. But looking back over the night, one thing seemed to lead to another…”
“It’s okay, Connor.”
“I just feel a little embarrassed about it.”
“Connor Shields, international man of mystery, sheepish? Puh-leeze.”
He laughed.
“Anyway, it’s done. Don’t give it another thought.”
“Must have made things uncomfortable for the new guy.”
Ah, she thought. That’s what this is really about.
“Evan was fine with it.”
“That why he left early?”
“He’s a homicide detective, Connor. He got a call…”
“Oh. Okay. Just wanted to make sure we didn’t somehow mess that up for you.”
“Not at all. As a matter of fact, he’s made an incredibly generous offer.”
“What’s that?”
“He thinks we should take another look at the circumstances surrounding Dylan’s death.”
A long silence followed. Finally, Connor said, “Why would he do that?”
“He understands that something inside me will be unsettled as long as Dylan’s killer has gotten away with his murder.”
“And he thinks he’s going to be the one to solve it? Is he aware that it’s been investigated more than once? That we’ve all looked into it?”
“He knows all that, Connor. And he’s not going into this thinking he’s going to show anyone up, or that he’s going to take one look at the file and say, ‘Aha! I know who the killer is!’ I think it’s his way of showing me that he respects Dylan’s memory and wants to give it his best shot.”
Another silence.
“He must be quite a guy, this homicide detective of yours.”
“He is, Connor.”
“Then tell him if he needs anything, if he has any questions, to talk to me.”
“I’ll do that. Thanks.”
“Listen, I have to run. You take care, Annie, and remember, if you need anything…”
“I will. It was great talking to you, great seeing you on Friday.” Her emotions unexpectedly got the better of her and she felt her throat tighten. “You take care, Connor, wherever you are, whatever it is you’re doing. You take care of yourself.”
“Will do. See you, Annie…”
She dropped the phone into her purse and bit her bottom lip. She couldn’t help but worry about him. She always did. For men like Connor Shields, there was no telling where or when-or from whom-the danger might come.
A finger of cold crawled up her neck, and she shivered, then shook it off. Connor had faced a thousand dangers during the ten years he’d been with the Bureau. Surely he’d emerge from whatever obscure corner of the world he was now in, unscathed as always. She wondered what it was that made him thrive on the danger, that kept him accepting the most perilous assignments.
That well’s too deep for me, she told herself as she passed a tractor trailer when the road expanded from two lanes to four. Leaving Connor’s psyche for another day, she slipped a cassette into the dash to play back a taped session of a lecture she’d given to the last group of agents-in-training to refresh her memory. She had less than an hour before she was to speak, and needed to focus now on her speech.
Annie tucked away all thoughts of Connor and Dylan and even of Evan. She had work to do.
5
Luther Blue checked his Rolex and decided that it was none too early to make a call. If he was up, everyone should be up.