“It’s a personal matter. I apologize that it has affected my performance.”
Durant shook her head. “Noah, if all my agents were like you, we wouldn’t have had the problems we’ve had this year. I asked AD Stockton if there was a chance you would take a permanent post here.”
“He told me, and I appreciate your confidence, but I don’t think that would be the wisest decision. White Collar is still angry with me, and some of the other staff aren’t pleased about how I handled the Elizabeth Cook situation.”
“You called a spade a spade, Noah, and I needed to hear it. Still, you have my respect, as well as that of your squad and SAC Naygrew.”
“Thank you. But this isn’t my home. I’m going back to DC when Agent Kincaid returns from her honeymoon, as I already planned.”
She flipped through a notebook. “Kincaid and Quiroz got a warrant today?”
“Yes. I worked with the AUSA this morning, a medical records warrant for a four-week-old male infant who fits the description and profile of one of the babies sold on the black market.”
“And?”
“They served the warrant, received the files, and were following up with the parents. I haven’t received a report from their interviews, though Ryan said he had a gut feeling they were on the run. He and Lucy planned to follow up with friends, neighbors, and employers.”
“Let me know—your squad has done exemplary work in tracking as many of those missing children as you have.” She paused. “May I speak freely?”
He was surprised. “Of course.”
“I just don’t want you to read anything into this comment. But Agent Kincaid—I know she’s a friend of yours—she’s been putting in far more hours than she should. What you and she went through in Laredo—the loss of life, the missing babies—not to mention the situation with the Spade family. I’m worried about Agent Kincaid’s emotional state.”
Noah had to choose his words carefully. “Yes, Lucy and I are friends, and I’ve worked with her many times. I’m not going to lie to you—this case has affected her. But not the quality of her work. And I haven’t asked her to back off because she has a strong sense of duty. She’s about to take two weeks off for her wedding and honeymoon, she wants to do as much as she can before she leaves. And to be perfectly honest, Lucy has one of those minds that see things that others don’t. You know those agents.”
“Like yourself.”
“Thank you, but I was thinking Quiroz and Dunning in particular. And that agent on cyberterrorism … Devlin, I think.” Durant nodded that she knew who Noah was talking about.
“I do know what you mean. They make connections where no one else sees them, and then everyone looks and thinks, ‘How did I miss that?’”
Noah nodded. “Lucy needs to do this, needs to find as many of these children as she can, for her own peace of mind.”
“She hasn’t seen a counselor. She was ordered to, Noah. I need it to happen.”
“I’ll talk to her.”
Noah had already spoken to Lucy about the mandated psych eval after the shootings in Laredo. She was debriefed, but she hadn’t gone through the evaluation, and he was wondering if she was going to try to avoid it.
“She missed an appointment last week.”
Noah hadn’t known.
“She has to go before her honeymoon, get that through to her, or she’ll be on suspension when she returns. I don’t want to do it, but I will.”
“I’ll talk to her when she gets back from Austin.”
“What do you think of the candidates so far?”
Noah didn’t think much—no one who wanted to move into Violent Crimes was suited for the high-stress, high-demand slot. He was trying to think of a diplomatic way to say that when Abigail nodded. “Me too.”
“Excuse me?”
“None of them are going to work. I have a meeting with SAC Naygrew in the morning, I have some ideas. Go handle your personal business. You’ve been putting in twelve-hour days, you can leave early when needed.”
“Thank you, ma’am.”
Noah left the small conference room and looked at his phone. He had several text messages, and a missed call from Lucy. He immediately returned Lucy’s call but her phone went to voice mail. “Lucy, it’s Noah—I had a missed call from you. I’m in the office, call me if you need me.”
He headed for his office but stopped when he saw Ryan talking to Zach Charles, the Violent Crimes analyst. “What happened in Austin?” Noah asked. He glanced around, didn’t see Lucy.
“The doctor was cooperative. We have all the info on the kid, Joshua Morrison. It’s him.”
“You’re certain?”
“Ninety-nine percent. The parents are gone. Bolted, I’m sure, after they saw the article in the Times. They recognized their son in the paper, just like the doc did. The neighbors haven’t seen them since Saturday and, Morrison didn’t go to work on Monday. He’s a corporate lawyer. I got shit out of his employer, but we flagged their passports and the AUSA’s office said they haven’t traveled by plane out of the country—at least on their own passports.”
Zach said, “I’m running credit and other reports, they’re dead in the water, so I’m trying some other things.”
“If they ran, they may have new identities,” Noah said.
“That’s what Lucy thinks, but Zach has some other tools at his disposal. We were just talking about it—Joshua is on very specific medication for his lung development. They’re going to have to refill the prescription at some point—even if under another name. Zach can pull pharmacy records. If they’re in the States, we’ll find them.”
“Good. Where’s Lucy? I need to ask her about something.”
“We didn’t get back until after two thirty, missed lunch. She was going to take Siobhan to her house, grab a bite.” Zach glanced at his watch. “She said she’d be back by three thirty.”
Noah looked at his watch, too. Three thirty-five.
“You’re not going to get on her for being five minutes late, just because she was late this morning?” Ryan shook his head. “She’s exhausted, if you haven’t noticed.”
Noah had. He just tried not to care. Lucy was marrying Sean Rogan, and Noah had never been in the running. All the if onlys didn’t matter because Noah would never go after another man’s girl. And Lucy loved Rogan, warts and all.
But the differences between the woman he’d once loved, Eden Rogan, and the woman he could have loved, Lucy Kincaid, were as clear as day. And at that moment he realized that he deserved better than both—definitely better than a thief and better than another man’s woman.
Someday.
“Hold down the fort.” He started to walk away. He’d check on Lucy because he’d promised Kane he would sit on Eden. And he was concerned that Lucy wasn’t reachable. That was unlike her.
“What’s going on?” Ryan asked. “Dammit, Armstrong, something weird has been going on all day. You this morning, just bolting out of here, then Lucy getting a half-dozen messages from her soon-to-be sister-in-law.”
Noah stopped. “What? What messages?”
“Sean’s sister, Eden. She set off the alarm, Lucy had to walk her through the system, then she couldn’t arm it again, then she did something else—I don’t know what, but Lucy had to remotely reset the system. I mean, I know Sean and Lucy have every reason to be paranoid, but Lucy was preoccupied, and she’s not like that.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Sean tried Lucy a second time; again no answer. He looked at his email messages. She hadn’t responded to any of them. Where was she? He was waiting in Chicago for a flight to Baton Rouge, where he would take another plane to San Antonio. Damn marshals had insisted, in case someone was watching him. He was hours away and he was going crazy.
What the hell was Eden doing at his house? Today of all days? How could she have possibly known he would be out of town? Because there’s no way he would have let her stay in his house. Just on general principles. But Lucy didn’t know t
he history. Hell, even Sean didn’t know the entire story. He trusted Kane when Kane said that Liam and Eden had worked for the wrong people. And that fit with what Sean knew of the twins.
But would they actually hurt Lucy? Why? They didn’t even know her. And Sean had never done anything to them. The worst he’d done was refuse to help them with a project a few years ago. Duke had forbidden him, and Sean had almost grabbed the next flight to Paris because he really hated when Duke told him he couldn’t do something. But Kane called him and told him the reasons, and Sean agreed.
And that had always been the crux of his problem with Duke. Duke gave Sean orders and rules without explanation, like a military leader expecting his soldier to follow orders without questions. Kane told Sean why. That’s all Sean ever wanted from Duke. To be treated as an equal.
It had been better since Sean quit RCK last year. And now that he was coming back, he dealt directly with JT Caruso, which seemed to be working well. Sean wouldn’t be fully engaged with RCK operations until after his honeymoon.
Honeymoon. Lucy.
Where was she? Why hadn’t she called?
He walked over to the customer service counter for the airline. “I need to change my flight.” He hated flying commercial. It drove him nuts, all the people, delays, and discomfort. More, he wasn’t in control of the plane. “I leave for Baton Rouge in an hour; I’d like to fly direct to San Antonio. Do you have anything?”
“We don’t have a direct flight to San Antonio tonight.”
“Any other airlines?”
“Your ticket isn’t transferable unless there is a problem with your flight.”
“I’ll buy another ticket.”
She typed into the computer. Frowned. Typed. Frowned. “I can get you on standby with another airline for a plane that leaves in thirty minutes, but it’s in another terminal and—”
“I’ll take it.” He slipped her his credit card and waited impatiently for her to print the ticket and boarding pass. He didn’t blink at the nearly thousand-dollar charge.
“I’ll notify the gate, but you need to hurry.”
Sean was already running. While on the airport shuttle he sent Nate Dunning an urgent message.
I need you to find Lucy and stick to her like glue until I get back. I can’t reach her. Call Kane, tell him Eden is at my house and I need him to drop everything.
He told himself that just because Lucy hadn’t called him back didn’t mean anything. It just meant that she was in the middle of something. It wasn’t even four, she was probably still at the office.
He replied again to her message.
Do not trust Eden. Call Kane. If you can’t reach Kane, call JT. He’ll explain.
He waited to see if there was a read receipt. Nothing.
Dammit.
Right before he boarded the plane, he got a response from Nate.
On it.
He breathed marginally easier.
Marginally.
Because until he talked to Lucy, until he saw her, he feared she would be caught up in one of his sister’s schemes.
Why are you in San Antonio, Eden? What are you up to?
And where the hell is Liam?
* * *
Noah tried calling Lucy while driving to her house; she didn’t pick up. He parked in her driveway and peered in the garage window. Lucy’s Nissan Altima wasn’t there. Neither was Sean’s Mustang.
Had he missed her? He tried her cell phone again. No answer. He called Zach, asked if Lucy had come in.
“No, sir, would you like me to call her?”
“No. If she comes in, have her call me, okay?”
“Is everything okay?”
“I don’t know. Just—if you see her, I need to talk to her.”
He went to the front door. If Lucy wasn’t here, maybe Siobhan was. She might know if Lucy had changed her plans. He knocked.
No answer.
He rang the bell.
Silence.
“Shit,” he muttered.
He tried Siobhan’s cell phone.
It rang. And rang. And five rings later went to voice mail.
“Hello, this is Siobhan Walsh, please leave a message…”
Noah hung up. He was now officially worried and considered calling Kane Rogan again.
Dammit, why did Kane have to be right? Why hadn’t Noah dropped everything and sat on Eden earlier?
He called the security company that Sean contracted with, but they gave him nothing—even though he’d identified himself as a federal agent with his badge number.
“We can send out a patrol, sir, but we cannot override the codes.”
What good was a security company if they couldn’t get into the damn house? Noah was getting ready to break a window when a Jeep Wrangler pulled up in front of the house. Noah was suspicious until he saw Nate Dunning jump out of the Jeep.
“What’s going on?” Nate asked as he approached.
“I can’t reach Lucy.” Noah eyed him. “What are you doing here?”
“Sean asked me to hang with Lucy until he gets home. He’s on his way.”
“Her car isn’t here, but she’s not answering her cell phone. I called the security company and apparently they can’t let me in even though I’m a federal agent. They can’t even get in.”
Nate walked past him and typed in a code at the door. He already had his gun out.
Noah couldn’t contemplate why Nate Dunning had the code to Sean’s house. He pulled his own weapon and followed Nate. Nate motioned he was taking left, so Noah took right. Cleared the living room, dining room, kitchen, family room, garage. Looked out back; the pool house was dark. No one was in the pool. A small suitcase was sitting in the laundry room on top of the washing machine. Lucy’s purse was on the kitchen counter.
Noah knew Lucy didn’t put her gun in her purse—she wore it holstered—but he checked anyway; the gun wasn’t there.
Nate met him back at the foyer and said, “Downstairs clear. Someone has been in the guest room and Sean’s safe and computer have been tampered with. I don’t know if they got in. I found Lucy’s GLOCK on Sean’s desk. With her badge.”
Noah’s heart skipped a beat. He pointed upstairs. Nate nodded and followed.
The upstairs was clear.
They went back downstairs and Noah pointed to the security panel next to the front door. “Do you know how to work that thing?”
“I only know the access code. Sean will have to walk me through it when he lands.” He paused, then said, “Why are you here, Noah?”
“Eden Rogan,” he said. His stomach fell. He wanted to believe that Lucy and Eden went out to dinner, something, but Lucy would never leave her service weapon out in the open. Or her badge. “You seem to know Sean and Lucy well. Does she normally leave her weapon in Sean’s office?”
“No. She takes it whenever she leaves the house.” Nate hesitated. “What do you know?”
“I know enough.”
“I need to call Kane. Um, Sean asked me to. Unless this is a federal investigation…”
“Call him,” Noah said. He couldn’t consider right now where Nate Dunning’s loyalties lay, with the FBI or with RCK. Later. When they knew that Lucy was okay. When they knew what the hell Eden Rogan was up to. “Tell him that we can’t find Lucy or Eden. And Siobhan Walsh—she was here with Lucy.”
“What’s going on, Noah?” Nate asked.
“I have no idea. But I’ll bet it has something to do with whatever Sean has been up to lately.”
“Excuse me?”
“He’s been out of town more often than here. Lucy has been preoccupied. Something is going on, and it’s not just the wedding.”
“Sean rejoined RCK,” Nate said.
Noah hadn’t known.
“And he’s been using RCK resources to help locate the missing babies.”
Shit! Nothing changed. Nothing.
“He should have told me.”
“To be honest, I don’t know that he trusts you any
more,” Nate said bluntly.
That grated on Noah, not only that Sean didn’t trust him—after everything they had done together, working undercover, Noah covering him on a whole host of things—but also that Nate seemed to know more about his own squad than he did.
Except he realized that wasn’t it. Had Lucy said something about what happened between them on the human trafficking case? Except … Nothing happened between them. It had been a moment, on his part, and that was it. He knew Lucy loved Sean, and he would never do anything to hurt her.
Except … He’d had some choice words for Sean when he returned from Mexico. Sean wasn’t an idiot. Sean heard what Noah hadn’t said.
You’re not good enough for Lucy.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
“Call Kane,” Noah said, and stepped into another room. He looked at the special number Kane had given him and dialed. Rick answered immediately.
“Stockton.”
“It’s Noah Armstrong. Kane told me to call.”
“What happened?”
“Eden Rogan is in San Antonio and I have good reason to believe she’s taken Lucy.”
“Where are the bonds?”
“What bonds?”
“They were in Sean’s safe.”
“Sean isn’t here, he’s on a plane doing god knows what. I’m in the dark, Rick, and I fucking don’t like it.”
“It’s need to know. Now you need to know. Kane will fill you in, he’s already on his way up there. Keep me in the loop.”
“Why? I’m sure Kane Rogan can keep you in the fucking loop.” Noah rubbed his eyes. Why was he yelling at his boss? This whole situation was fucked.
“I deserved that.”
“I don’t know who stands where anymore, sir,” Noah said formally. “You. Me. I’m treading water and I don’t like it.”
“Noah, I trust you, and I told Kane as much. I understand your feelings on the matter, and all I can say is that I don’t cross the line, but there’s a lot of gray area. RCK plays in that gray area, and I trust Kane as much as I trust you. If Eden Rogan took Lucy, she has a reason. She’s most likely going to leverage her for the bonds. We need to secure them and then track Lucy. Call me when you have more information.” Rick hung up.
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