"I came in and the house looked deserted. I didn't know where you were. Kevin wasn't in his crib. I thought . . . I don't know what I thought."
She sat down heavily on the commode lid. On the verge of tears, her face was pale and her lips had lost their color.
Bending her head down, she massaged her temples. She was very upset, and John didn't think it was solely because he and Kevin had been momentarily out of her sight.
Something had happened in town.
What? She was even more shaken now than she'd been a few days ago when she had butchered her hair in an attempt to disguise herself. He needed to know the latest update. How had she captained the information? What had she learned to make her so upset?
She dropped her hand into her lap and raised her head
"Please don't scare me like that again, John."
The way she was looking at him, and her tremulous tone of voice, made him feel like a bastard. "I didn't mean to scare you."
Before he went entirely soft, he reminded himself that, pathetic as she looked with her stricken expression and ragged hair, this woman had committed two federal offenses kidnapping, and fleeing to avoid giving testimony.
It was his sworn duty to use whatever means necessary to bring her in unharmed. Granted, his methods weren't exactly orthodox, but the training manual hadn't covered these particular circumstances. He was doing the best he could.
He hadn't asked for this assignment. It had been thrust on him first by Jim, then by Kendall. So if he had to make up the game plan as he went along, that was just too damn bad.
Keeping his recovered memory a secret, bonding with the baby, and making love with Kendall were, in this instance, job requirements.
Good speech, McGrath. If he recited it often enough, he might even believe it himself.
Chapter 30
Ricki Sue impatiently picked at the loose cuticle on her thumb. When old] man Bristol himself had approached her desk and discreetly asked her to follow him, she had pretended that a summons from a senior partner was a daily occurrence.
Ignoring the curious stares of clerks and paralegals, she held her shoulders; straight and her head high as she followed Bristol's waddling; gait down the carpeted hallway to the conference room, where he held open the massive door for her.
"Wait in here,, please, Miss Robb. They'll be with you shortly."
Yeah, ricki Sue thought.
She had been in here for over half an hour and "they" hadn't yet appeared. The conference room was seldom used and had all the gaiety of a mausoleum. It was cold enough to store meat. From gilded frames, austere portraits of partners long deceased stared down at her, their forbidding expressions lofty and judgmental.
She had a fleeting impulse to flash the sour posses, then thought better of it. She wouldn't put it past the partners of Bristol and Mathers to keep hidden cameras on their employees. They had caught Kendall, hadn't they?
Ricki Sue wouldn't have admitted it even under torture, but she was nervous. FBI agents had already questioned her several times, more than anyone else in the firm, because obviously they knew that she was Mrs. Burnwood's special friend.
She had told them nothing, of course. And she would continue to play dumb even if they rammed bamboo shoots under neath her fingernails.
Suddenly the door whooshed open and a man strode in, trailed by two others. All were dressed in dark suits and white shirts, but there was no question as to which one was in charge.
His demeanor as well as his walk were straightforward and purposeful.
"Miss Robb? I'm Special Agent Pepperdyne."
He introduced the agents accompanying him, but Ricki Sue was so taken by Pepperdyne's air of authority that she paid scant attention to his cohorts. Besides, she had already met them. They were the ones who had questioned her before.
Apparently she rated the top gun this time. Pepperdyne.
He was kinda cute, and he certainly knew how to make an entrance. She wished old man Bristol had given her time to check her hair and put on fresh lipstick.
Without preamble, Pepperdyne said, "I'm running out of time, Miss Robb, so let's cut to the chase."
He sat on the corner of the conference table and tossed a heavy file folder onto its glossy surface. Several documents spilled out, but Ricki Sue didn't need to read them to know what they were.
"When we first began running a computer check into Ken dall Deaton's background, we turned up some confusing data.
It took us a while to straighten it out. Now we know every thing."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, that's so." He scanned several of the documents, although she guessed he knew their contents as well as she did. "Tampering with evidence is a pretty serious charge for a lawyer."
help me."
"Why should I?" She flicked her hand at the file. "Now that you think you know everything, why should I help you?"
"Because you've professed to be Mrs. Burnwood's friend and I have every reason to fear that she might not live much longer."
Addressing the other two agents, she said, "Feel free to start playing 'good cop' at any time." Then she said to Pepperdyne, "You're the bad cop, right? You're using scare tactics to get me to talk. Well, I'm not falling for that bullshit. Do you think I was born yesterday? Actually it was April 14, 1962.
Okay, 1960, but who's counting?"
Pepperdyne's eyes narrowed. "You still think this is a joke?
I assure you, it's not. Your friend kidnapped a U.S. marshal.
The allegation was never proved," Ricki Sue retorted. "And in America isn't someone presumed innocent until proven guilty?"
He slammed his hand down on the table, and she shivered with excitement. She would love to get this guy in bed and see him really riled.
"This file is chock-full of reports of lies and deceit and mismanagement of confidential information. But then I don't need to itemize the contents for you, because you know it all, "Then why'd you ask to see me privately?" Lowering her voice, she asked with a seductive undertone, "Or isn't this meeting business related?"
The two other agents snickered, but Pepperdyne remained impassive. He shot his subordinates a warning glance, then fixed an intimidating stare on Ricki Sue.
"You sure are taking this lightly, Miss Robb. Mrs. Burn wood's life is in peril, while you're cracking jokes and making sexual innuendos. A federal officer is missing, and it appears that she's the only person on the planet who might know where he is. I want them both found, and you're going to help. For all we know, she has killed John McGrath and disposed of his body."
She wouldn't do that!" Ricki Sue exclaimed.
She left Marshal Fordham's body in a sinking car, he shouted.
.., that woman was already dead," Ricki Sue shouted back.
The newspaper said so. I read the coroner's report the same as you did, so stop trying to bully me. My friend wouldn't harm a fly. Especially a guy with a broken leg and amnesia, for crissake. In fact, I'm sure she's counting on him for protection."
"Then she's in even greater danger than you can possibly imagine." Pepperdyne's voice turned surprisingly quiet, but it was filled with such foreboding that it raised gooseflesh1 on her freckled arms. "Because if there's one man Mrs. Burnwood shouldn't be messing with, it's John McGrath."
Ricki Sue divided a wary glance between the other agents, but they remained stoically silent and deferential to their boss.
"Two years ago," he began, "in some shithole town in New Mexico, the name of which I can't even recall, a man barged into a federal bank one morning, wielding two automatic weapons and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. He demanded to speak to his ex-wife, whom he hoped to persuade to come back to him and patch things up.
"Ordinarily his wife worked as a teller in the bank, but, unknown to him, she had called in sick that day. When the nutcase learned of his mistake, he went even nuttier and decided, What the hell? Since he was already there, armed to the teeth, he'd just as well start shooting until he'd kill
ed everybody in the building, or until his ex-wife promised to reconcile, whichever came first."
Ricki Sue assumed a bored air. She shifted in her seat and sighed. "This is going to be a long story?"
"Shut up and listen."
"Okay, I'm listening." She folded her arms over her massive breasts. "But this time away from my desk better not count as my break or I'm gonna be pissed."
Ignoring her, Pepperdyne continued. "As the day stretched out, the hostage situation inside that bank got real sticky.
Local police tried to reason with the gunman, but he grew more antsy and trigger-happy by the hour.
"Just to let them know he meant business, he shot a bank guard and threw his body out a second-story window. That's when I was called in. I flew down there and took with me the best negotiator the bureau had, Dr. John McGrath."
Ricki Sue's eyes opened wide.
"Yes, Dr. John McGrath. He holds Ph.D.s in psychology and criminology. Anyway, by the time we got there, a communication system had already been set up. John politely asked the nutcase to talk to him over the phone. He made all the promises we make in standoff situations like that, and he did it so well, he had me believing we'd deliver.
"John talked to him about his wife. Did he really expect her to be enamored by this behavior? Would she want him back if he continued to kill? Stuff like that. The gunman's resolve began to waver. John was getting through. We were hopeful that it would end without somebody else getting killed. "One of the hostages had her two kids with her, an infant and a toddler around two years old. To make a long story short, the baby started crying. Then the toddler tuned up.
The racket made the gunman nervous. He ordered their mother to keep them quiet.
"She did her best, but the kids were tired and hungry. They were too young to understand the danger they were in, and they continued to whine and cry. The gunman threatened to shoot them if they didn't shut up. I can't describe to you what it was like for us to listen to those little kids crying and to hear their mother pleading for their lives to be spared.
"I honestly don't know how John managed to sound so calm. The rest of us were cussing and pacing, but John kept his cool. He pulled out all the stops. He promised the nutcase the goddamn moon if he would release that mother and her kids unharmed. His voice sounded as composed and unruffled as a hypnotist's, but he was as anxious as the rest of us. Before or since, I've never seen a man sweat like that. He nearly tore his hair out during that negotiation. He wanted like hell to save those babies."
He stopped talking, and Ricki Sue knew that he was looking inward, remembering. She swallowed noisily. "What happened?"
Pepperdyne's eyes pinned her to the tufted leather chair.
"The guy shot them at point-blank range. In cold blood, Miss Robb. Mother. Baby. Little boy. He took them out in three clean shots. Luckily, a SWAT team rushed in and blew the guy apart, but he'd already executed that pretty young woman and her babies.
"We all took it hard, but no one took it harder than John.
I watched my colleague and friend come apart at the seams.
A few months after the incident, he quit the Bureau and went to work for the U.S. Marshal's office.
"To this day he blames himself. He believes he failed, and that his failure cost a young man his whole family. There was nothing more John could have done, nothing he could have said that he didn't say. His powers of persuasion had never been more effective, but none of his efforts paid off. He couldn't spare those three lives, and he's been sick with guilt over it ever since."
A heavy silence ensued. Ricki Sue wilted beneath Pepper dyne's smoldering stare. Finally she asked, "Why are you telling me this?"
"To let you know that your friend might think she's done something really smart by taking John, but she's walking a tightrope and doesn't even know it. He's emotionally unstable, Especially around babies."
He leaned down until his nose was almost touching hers.
"Are you getting my drift, Ricki Sue?" he asked softly, drop ping all formality. "Mrs. Burnwood and her baby are in danger."
Ricki Sue had become so entranced by the sexy intensity in Pepperdyne's eyes that at first she didn't respond. Finally she blinked and angled her head back, away from him. "You're bullshitting me again, and it won't work."
He consulted the other two agents: "Am I bullshitting her?"
Solemnly they shook their heads. Pepperdyne turned back to her. "Even though John lost his memory in that car wreck, trust me, that phobia about kids is still buried deep in his subconscious. He goes nuts every time he's around a kid. You should have seen him during that flight we all took together from Denver to Dallas. He hears a baby cry, he freaks."
"If he's as unstable as you say, why did you entrust them to him in the first place?" she asked.
"Because I didn't know they were going to have a wreck, or that Deputy Fordham was going to die. I'll have to take full responsibility if John cracks up and does something harmful. My intentions were good. I thought that protecting Mrs. Burnwood and her baby would be good therapy for him. Of course, I had no idea she would do something this foolhardy.
And criminal.
"As it is," he said, spreading his hands innocently, "I can't guarantee that John hasn't already snapped and done them in."
"He hasn't. They're okay." Then, realizing that she had slipped, Ricki Sue swore beneath her breath.
Pepperdyne pounced on it. "So you have heard from her?"
"No. No, I haven't."
"Where is she?"
"I don't know."
"Ricki Sue, you aren't doing her any favors by keeping her whereabouts a secret."
"I swear I don't know where she is." She realized she was blinking too rapidly, a telltale sign that she was lying. "Okay, I have talked to her. This morning. She called here at the office, knowing that I would answer the phone. She told me that she and Kevin were all right, then she hung up. She only talked for a few seconds because she was afraid y'all might be tracing incoming calls."
She waited for him to deny it. He merely gazed back at her. "You have tapped the phones here, haven't you? And probably mine at home, too!" She shot to her feet. "You goddamn son of a bitch! If you already knew that I'd talked to her, why'd you hound me about it?"
"Sit down."
"Go fuck yourself."
"Sit down." Pepperdyne pushed her back into the chair.
Ricki Sue was mad enough to chew nails, but she was also excited. He really was attractive when he got angry.
"You're her oldest friend, Ricki Sue. You must have some idea where she is."
"You've been eavesdropping. You heard me ask her where she is. She refused to tell me."
"But you must have an idea."
"I don't."
"If I find out you're lying to me, I'll have you charged with aiding and abetting."
"Oooh, I'm scared." She hugged her elbows and shuddered.
"Cute."
"Think so?" Grinning, she winked at the two other agents.
Pepperdyne looked ready to strangle her which she thought might be a lot of fun.
"Look, I didn't even know where she was the whole year she spent in Denver," she said. "I swear that's the truth. She didn't tell me or her grandmother where she was living. It was for our own protection, she said. She didn't want us to have to lie if someone came searching for her." Ricki Sue gave him a cheeky grin. "She's very clever that way."
"Much more clever than you." Pepperdyne placed his hands on the arms of her chair and leaned over her. "She's in the company of a man who comes unglued every time he hears a baby crying. Mrs. Burnwood has a baby."
Ricki Sue made a noise like the buzzer on a quiz show when a contestant gives the wrong answer. "Try again. McGrath couldn't be that unstable or he wouldn't be working at all.
That fed--shrink isn't going to hurt Kevin or her."
Pepperdyne's level stare lasted for what seemed an eternity.
Finally he said, "Maybe not. But John's ment
al stability is just one of her problems."
He extended his hand to one of the other agents, who slapped a manila envelope into his palm with the efficiency of an OR nurse with a scalpel. Pepperdyne's eyes never left Ricki Sue's as he opened the envelope and removed a photograph.
Without saying a word, he handed it to her.
Ricki Sue looked at it and gave a sharp cry. Bile rose in her throat. She clapped her hand over her mouth. Her freckles stood out in sharp contrast to her sudden paleness.
"That's what Gibb and Matt Burnwood did to Matt's lover, Lottie Lynam, the one who helped him escape jail. The cut was so deep, it almost severed her head."
"Please!" Ricki Sue gasped, holding up a trembling hand.
"Please? Please stop? Please don't say any more?" He raised his voice. "Hell yes I'll say more, if it'll jar some information out of you."
"I've told you," she whimpered, "I don't know where Ken dall is."
"You're missing the big picture, Ricki Sue. Jailbreak is a serious crime. Not to mention rape and murder. Yes, we believe that Mrs. Lynam was raped before her throat was cut These are madmen we're dealing with. It's obvious the Burn woods will stop at nothing. At this point there's no going back for them. The lives they previously led are over, and they know it. They've got nothing to lose.
"But even madmen don't go to these extremes unless they're on a mission." He leaned closer to her and whispered, "Now, what do you suppose that mission is?"
"To find . . . find her."
"Precisely," he said, nodding grimly.
"Was it them who broke into her grandma's house?"
"We presume so. Scary, isn't it?"
"They're that close?"
"They're that determined. At least Gibb is, and apparently Matt goes along with anything his father says or does."
Ricki Sue nodded. That had been her first impression, and every confidence Kendall had shared regarding her marriage confirmed it.
"It's all or nothing now," Pepperdyne said. "The Burnwoods don't even care if they're caught, so long as they silence the person who blew the whistle on them in the first place. They feel that she betrayed them. In their opinion, she's a heretic.
They're righteously indignant that she dared question their methods and turn against them.
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