How she managed to start her car she didn’t know. All she knew is she didn’t draw a breath until she’d cleared the front gate. A mile away the nausea passed and fury swept in to take its place. She’d lost the upper hand. She’d just have to get it back.
Jacob didn’t look up from his work when Drake reentered the room. „Kill her.“
Thursday, February 26,
5:00 P.M.
Kristen laughed when a singularly atrocious hat landed on the desk in front of her. She looked up to find Mia wearing a grin. „What is this?“
„It’s a gift for you.“
Abe came up behind Mia, smirking. „She made friends with a hatmaker.“
Mia sat behind her own desk and sighed. „I felt bad for her, all alone in that hat shop.“
„She’s alone because she’s mean.“ Abe pulled up a chair and straddled it. He was almost close enough to touch and the sight of him straddling a chair brought back the memories in a flood. Kristen’s fingers reached, then clenched and resolutely she focused on the ugly hat, but from the corner of her eye she saw him grin, enjoying knowing how much he affected her. „Except to you, Mia. You just charm everyone.“
Mia made a face. „Shut up. You want to tell her or should I?“
Abe gestured broadly. „Be my guest.“
Kristen listened as Mia recounted the conversation with Keene. „So Robert started early,“ she said, „assuming he really did come back to off the guy who’d killed his brother.“
„The junior vigilante squad. Kind of like Boy Scouts, but not,“ Mia said.
Kristen shook her head with a rueful smile. „Mia So what do you two think? Could Robert Barnett be our guy? That name’s not on any of my lists but…“
Abe nodded. „I say he could be, but we hit a brick wall. Couldn’t track Robert Barnett any farther than Keene. How did you do today?“
„I called everyone who was involved in a case Simpson defended and Hillman presided over. No obvious traumas, two invitations to celebration dinners, one nomination of the vigilante for the Nobel peace prize, and three I couldn’t reach. I’ll try them again tomorrow. Oh, and I found Paul Worth. I guess he’d be Robert Barnett’s uncle through Hank.“
Abe raised a brow. „And?“
„He’s alive, but we can’t talk to him. He’s in a nursing home up by Lincoln Park. Not lucid. I did talk to his accountant, who’s the executor of the estate. Paul Worth has no children and on his death that piece of land you found yesterday goes back to the state.“
„I wonder how our guy found out about the property,“ Abe mused.
„I don’t know. Maybe he knew the Worths.“ She handed him the sheet of paper on which she’d taken notes. „I asked the nursing home if you could see him. They said you were welcome to try. I wasn’t going up there by myself and Spinnelli’s gone.“
Abe looked over at Spinnelli’s empty office. „Where is he?“
Kristen sighed. „Mayor’s office.“
Mia winced. „Ooh.“
„Yeah. He’s got a press conference scheduled for seven. It’s not going to be pretty.“
They were quiet for a moment, then Abe’s cell phone trilled. Kristen’s heart skipped a beat. She’d been on edge all day, worrying about the Reagans, about Owen, about her mother, but everyone was accounted for. She’d warned Lois and Greg and knew she’d done her best to protect the people she cared about.
„Reagan.“ His face hardened and Kristen grabbed his arm.
„Rachel?“
He shook his head, covered her hand with his and gave a brief squeeze. „No, they’re all fine. This is something else.“ He stood up and walked a few feet away. „This isn’t a good time,“ he muttered, then, „No, I’m not free for dinner… Or drinks. Dammit, Jim, just say what’s on your mind and be done with it.“
Jim. Debra’s father. Poor Abe.
„I’ll try.“ Abe snapped his phone shut and stood there for a moment, all alone, and her heart cracked. Not caring who saw, she got up and smoothed her hand over his broad back. His muscles tensed under her palm and he turned to look at her, saw she understood. „They’re in town for the christening. They want to meet me for dinner.“
„Why?“
He moved his powerful shoulders restlessly. „I don’t know. To talk, they said.“
„Do you want me to go with you?“
One corner of his mouth turned up. „Thanks, but I don’t think so. Don’t be mad.“
„I’m not.“ She leaned her forehead against his upper arm. „Just worried about you.“
From behind them Mia cleared her throat meaningfully. „Hi, Marc.“
As one, Kristen and Abe turned to meet Spinnelli’s beleaguered stare. For a long awkward moment nobody said anything, then Spinnelli sighed. „At least there’ll be one happy ending out of all this.“
Kristen dropped her hand from Abe’s back. „Mayor’s not happy, huh?“
Spinnelli sank into a chair. „Well, let’s see. We’re incompetent, laughingstocks, the butt of jokes, an embarrassment. There was more, but those were the high points. Mia, call Murphy. Find out if he’s gotten any closer to finding that girl.“ He snapped his fingers, his brow puckered. „Whatever her name was.“
„June Erickson,“ Mia supplied. „Sure.“
His gaze landed on the hat. „And what the hell is that?“
„Community outreach,“ Abe said. „I’ll fill you in.“
Thursday, February 26,
8:45 p.m.
„This is making me sick,“ Kristen said, feeling the room spin.
„This rocks,“ Rachel corrected. She was sitting in front of the Reagans’s TV, careening down a mountain on a video snowboarding game that was entirely too real.
„Welcome to my world,“ Kyle said wryly. Becca chuckled.
Kristen covered her eyes. „I can’t watch anymore. I’m going to throw up.“
„Oh, man! Sixth place.“ Rachel shut off the video game. „My game is off tonight.“
„It’s a wonder you can still move your hands and your eyes aren’t burned-out sockets,“ Kyle retorted. „You’ve been playing that fool game all day.“
Because she’d stayed home from school. Just a precaution, Kyle said, and not her fault, Becca said, but Kristen felt responsible all the same. Rachel, on the other hand, was thrilled to have missed a test and to have the whispered admiration of her friends.
„Don’t apologize,“ Kyle warned.
„Or you’ll kick my ass,“ Kristen said with a weary smile. „I know. Has Abe called?“
„Not in the last five minutes since you asked before.“ Becca patted her hand. „He’s fine, Kristen. He can take care of himself.“ It was said mechanically, in the voice of the wife and mother of cops. Kristen wondered if Becca had ever once believed it.
„Besides, it’s just dinner,“ Kyle said. „The worst that can happen is he accidentally uses the wrong fork and Sharon cuts him up with that sharp tongue of hers.“
Kristen looked up at him, curious. „Why do you say that?“
Kyle looked uneasy, but Becca huffed. „Debra was the sweetest, most generous woman in the world, but her parents were fond of money and the power that came with it.“ A look of pain crossed her face. „Abe wasn’t good enough for Debra and her father never let an opportunity go by without telling him so.“
„Becca,“ Kyle chided gently. „That’s all past now. They can’t hurt him anymore.“
Kristen looked from one to the other, but neither appeared to be prepared to impart additional detail. „Abe told me about the lawsuit. How they tried to get custody of Debra.“
Kyle’s eyes widened speculatively. „Did he now?“ Becca’s jaw clenched. „Did he tell you that they never stopped blaming him for Debra getting shot? For five years Debra lay there and they never stopped blaming him.“