Lucy took her hand. “I didn’t know you doubted yourself. I’ve always thought you were the most confident person in the world.” She paused, then smiled. “Almost as arrogant as Sean.”
Kate laughed, but tears came to her eyes. “I don’t think that’s possible.” She sighed deeply. “I leaned heavily on Dillon after you killed Adam Scott, and I began to rely on him to keep me propped up. Quantico is safe. Dillon is safe. I’m doing okay.”
“Then Rich Laughlin came in and shook you up.”
“That he did.”
“Trust me, Kate. We’re friends; we’re family. Trust me not only to do what’s right, but trust me with your feelings. We’re all scared. But we do it anyway because it’s the right thing to do.”
“I love you, Sis.”
Lucy hugged her. “I love you, too.”
“Stop; I don’t want to cry,” Kate said. “I’ve been here all day, but I heard the second autopsy on Tony was complete.”
“Yes, and the tox screening came back. Tony was poisoned with a sodium chloride mixture. It didn’t show up in the Scotch initially because it wasn’t a standard compound. I don’t quite know the details, but they found it in his stomach. Once they knew what specifically to test for, they confirmed that he was poisoned through his Scotch. It happened very quick.”
“So it was Alexis Sanchez.”
“Yes. They’re going to exhume Bob Stokes’s body and run the same test on his remains. Speaking of Stokes, Patrick found the e-mail Agent Theissen sent to him. It related to the Cinderella Strangler case, and that Theissen was helping Weber with some of the background. Later, he said that he thought he was being followed and it might relate to one of his old cases, but he couldn’t be sure. Then when Theissen had his accident, Stokes went to New York.”
“You think Kip Todd panicked and killed him?”
“He didn’t know what Theissen had told Stokes. Maybe Stokes recognized Todd, or maybe Todd feared he would if he investigated Theissen’s accident.”
“Or maybe,” Kate said, “he was on the target list all along and Todd took advantage of his proximity.”
“We may never knew for certain. Alexis isn’t talking at all. She says she’ll only talk to Peter, but I advised him not to.”
“Why? He might be able to get answers we need.”
Lucy had thought about that. “Maybe, but Peter is vulnerable right now. She’s a master manipulator. She might not have wanted Peter dead, but she still was party to all this. I told him to give it some time. He seemed to be okay with that.”
Noah approached and cleared his throat. “Hans is awake. You can have one minute with him.”
Lucy and Kate walked into ICU after putting on gloves and gowns. Hans was pale and gaunt, physically weak. But his eyes were open.
“You’re back,” Kate said, and took his hand.
“Um,” he responded. He tried to focus on Lucy.
“It’s Lucy, Hans. Everything is fine. We’ll fill you in later, but we’re all safe.”
“Good,” he whispered.
The nurse cleared her throat. “Time,” she said.
Kate and Lucy walked out, both with tears in their eyes. Kate hugged her sister-in-law. “I didn’t think he would make it,” Kate admitted. “Hans is the closest thing I have to a father.”
“He’s strong and stubborn and healthy,” Lucy said. “Are you going home?”
“I’m going to stay a while longer.”
Noah asked Lucy, “Do you need a ride?”
“Sean’s here,” Lucy said. “I’m reporting back to Quantico tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll see you then.” He sat next to Kate and Kate began telling the story about how she’d first met Hans.
Good, Lucy thought. They’d all been through an emotional wringer after losing Tony. With Hans on the mend, they could focus on the positive.
She left the hospital and spotted Sean’s Mustang parked near the main entrance. She slid into the passenger seat and kissed him. “I love you,” she said.
“Where did that come from?” He smiled and kissed her back. “Keep it coming.”
“Hans is in recovery. He’s going to be okay.”
“You’re crying.”
“No, I’m not.”
He wiped away her tears. “Okay. You’re not.”
“I have to be back at Quantico tomorrow morning.”
“But you’re mine for tonight.”
“I’m yours forever.”
He glanced at her as he sped out of the parking lot. “I knew that the day I found you standing at my door in the pouring rain.”
“You did?”
“Yes, I did.” He took her hand and kissed it. Lucy closed her eyes and smiled, happy and content.
“Where are we going?”
“It’s a surprise,” he said, glancing at her with a devilish grin. “But I promise, you’ll be pampered all day and all night.”
“You spoil me.”
“I have an ulterior motive. I’m the one doing the pampering.”
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Epilogue
I drove to the cemetery outside Newark to visit my sister one last time.
For fifteen years I had been in a state of perpetual grief, an emotional zombie. I hadn’t realized it until the FBI agent Lucy Kincaid said that Kip had turned his grief into rage and I had turned my grief into a lifestyle.
You have done so much in a short time, Lucy said. Emancipation, graduating from college early, teaching at an impoverished school. Think of what you could do for these kids you love if you were happy yourself.
Rachel’s ghost was with me every day. She never aged, and because she was always eleven I still felt like I was nine, trapped in a grown-up body. I still ate Trix for breakfast and grilled cheese for dinner. I still felt guilty staying up late watching movies and eating in front of the television. And I don’t think I’ve ever seen a movie rated PG-13, let alone a movie rated R. Maybe I never will. But it won’t be because I think I’m nine.
I love teaching, and I know I can be a better teacher if I go to school without the weight of grief and guilt on my heart.
And the first step was letting Rachel go.
I turned and saw a man I’d never met walking toward me with a little girl I feel like I’ve known forever. Carl Sanchez and I had spoken on the phone several times over the last two weeks. He’d prepared Missy for this meeting.
He’d known all along that Missy wasn’t his daughter, but he loved her.
He loved her so much, he was willing to share her. With her biological father.
I turned my back on the headstone and walked across the green lawn. Missy looked like me. More, she looked like Rachel. With dark curls and big blue eyes.
Carl and I shook hands. “Thank you,” I said and he smiled at me.
I squatted in front of Missy. “Hello, Missy. Do you remember me? We talked on the computer.”
She nodded and smiled, her big eyes so round and inquisitive. “I remember you, Daddy.”
Then she hugged me and all the pain I’d ever felt washed away in a river of pure, unconditional love.