“There she is,” Lynn said, hurrying to the car. She opened the door for Roxy to climb in and followed, while camera lenses pressed up against the glass.
“Drive, Stella!” Roxy yelled.
But the car was already lurching forward, horn blaring to part the crowd.
“Mom, look,” Stella said, handing a laptop back to Lynn.
“Stella, focus on the road. Don’t hit anybody,” Lynn warned. “I know a lot of these people.”
“I’m afraid the site might crash! It’s already had so many hits!” Stella said. “But for now, it’s still on. Mom, you did it. After all this time, you did it. Dad would be so proud. So will Anne. Once she sees this, she’ll understand why we couldn’t text or call her back.”
“Anne would want us to find William, that’s all Anne would want,” Lynn said. “Did you see him, Stella? Did it work?”
Stella held up her binoculars. “Like clockwork. Just like you planned, Mom. When the protest reached the front of the building, he had Congressman Smith drive him up. I watched them go in.”
“I still just can’t believe it. That nut job Quincy Martin really does know William,” Roxy said.
“I was really afraid that I misunderstood William. But he kept repeating his name. That he might be able to help. Thank God you were able to track him down, Stella.”
“It wasn’t easy. Just like it isn’t easy driving through this crowd. Wow, Mom, you can really bring them in.”
Lynn looked out the window. “I knew they would come.”
“Well, I guess we all know now what you’ve been doing all this time,” Roxy said, not disguising her aggravation.
“Obviously, I couldn’t let you or anyone know what Tom discovered about the SSA. If they knew what we found, they would have come for anyone who knew. But I promised myself that all those families that I found… all those people that I communicated with who had missing loved ones… that I’d tell them. I’d tell them everything.”
“Quite the bomb you’ve dropped, sis.” Roxy patted her leg. “Now that we put the match to this bale of hay, what do we do to actually get him out?”
Lynn looked back to the warehouse. “I don’t know. William hasn’t reached out to me again, and I can’t figure out how he did it.”
“Don’t know why I’m having trouble believing that William could speak to you with his mind, given the events in my so-called golden years,” Roxy said.
“Tell me again what Quincy said, Stella,” Lynn asked.
“That he has a powerful congressman in his pocket that could get him in, and they would get William out. And now that I’ve seen Flip Smith here, he wasn’t exaggerating. There’s no one more connected. Mom, you remember that Dad and Flip were buddies, even if they were on other ends of the political spectrum. Quincy hopes that when Flip sees that the grandson of a US senator is being held against his will, he’ll use every resource to get him out. And that Quincy intends to broadcast it all on social media from his phone if he has to.”
Stella laid on the horn. “Move, people! OK, once we clear this, we’ve got to haul butt. Hang on ladies.”
When the crowd thinned, Stella hustled down the alley. “Mom, get out my phone. I think we take a left here and that will get us to one of the avenues.”
“Yes, take that left.”
“The freeway shouldn’t be too far—”
Stella slammed on the brakes at the sight of the black cars blocking the street and the men in suits waiting outside. She changed gears to back up, only to see a large black SUV pull up directly behind them.
Kate was horrified at the condition of the man. She’d only ever seen him in photographs and video of him being released from jail when the kidnapping and murder charges had been dropped. He was old fifteen years ago, but appeared in good health.
She guessed Dr. Steven Richards was in his late eighties, and looked every bit of it. His breathing appeared labored, his clothes were disheveled, and he was in bad need of a shower.
“My God.” She turned to Agent Hallow.
“I told you, he won’t talk or cooperate. Hasn’t since they seized him in New Orleans. Won’t eat or do anything.”
“Dr. Richards,” Kate said, walking across the room to where he sat slumped in a chair. “Dr. Richards, look at me. My name is Kate Roseworth. I’m Lynn’s middle daughter.”
He raised his head, his eyes bloodshot. “Well, of course you are. You look just like her. You even have her hair.”
Kate had never discussed the affair her mother had with the man in front of her. Or that he likely was the father of her sister Anne, making him the biological grandfather to her nephews, including William. There was no denying the resemblance.
“Sir, I have a lot of questions for you about my nephew. But I’m very worried about your condition.”
“That’s because I’m dying, ma’am.”
“Agent, get a doctor in here—”
“That’s all I’m saying as long as he’s in this room. As long as I’m in this building and anywhere near these bastards,” Steven said, his breath raspy.
“We’ve tried to help him,” Flynn said.
“Please just talk to me, and I’ll get you out of here. You clearly need medical attention. And we are running swiftly out of time.”
“Excuse me, Senator. I need to step out,” Flynn said, looking angrily at his phone.
She turned back to Steven. “Sir, please—”
“I won’t. I won’t talk here. They’re listening to everything I say. I won’t betray what I know.” He raised his hand to pat at his chest.
“Trust me, I am understanding more every minute that no one in this building can be trusted. But my nephew is here. They won’t let me see him, and I have to understand what you know about him, the girl, and the other woman you were with.”
“Aren’t you the one who didn’t believe? Wouldn’t support your mother?” He squinted one eye.
Kate swallowed. “I’ve made some real mistakes. But all I want now is to get William and the others somewhere safe. Where we can figure out what to do. I saw Will for just a moment, he told me I needed to find out about Blue. Do you know what that means?”
“I’m sorry, I won’t talk here. I won’t.”
“Agent!” Kate said, standing up. “Agent Hallow! I’m taking this man out of here now—”
The door opened and Flynn stepped in, his face furious. “No one is going anywhere.”
“This man is gravely ill—”
“There’s a protest outside. Led by your mother.”
“What?” Steven asked weakly.
“I’m sorry?” Kate demanded. “What did you say?”
“It doesn’t matter now, anyway,” Flynn scowled. “They found her. They’re bringing her in now.”
SIXTEEN
“Why is this elevator going so far down?”
The congressman turned to Quincy, who was intently watching the display descend to an alarming number: 15, 16, 17…
“You think the director of this agency keeps an office nineteen, no, twenty floors below a damn warehouse? We were supposed to wait for an escort to take us, that’s why the secretary buzzed us in. How could you possibly know what floor that the director’s office is on?”
“We aren’t going to the director’s office, Congressman.”
“Then why did I have to swipe my security badge just to get this thing to go down? In my experience, that type of access is only necessary for military offices and weapons storage.”
“Congressman, do me a favor from this point on,” Quincy said, fighting the urge to cover the politician’s mouth with both his hands. “Just accept the two million my PAC will spend on attack ads on your much-younger opponent and please just be quiet for a moment. You will see why we’re going this far down in a moment.”