“Linc?” she said.
“Yeah?”
“The back door that leads to the kitchen is cracked open.”
Linc tried the front door and the knob turned. “The front is unlocked.”
“Does that seem weird to you?”
“Very.”
“I’m going in.”
“Allie—” He sighed. “Fine, I’ll meet you in the kitchen. Be careful.”
He pushed the door in with his left hand and swung around the edge, holding his weapon ready with his right. The chill in the house hit him immediately. “Guy likes his home meat-locker friendly,” he muttered.
The large three-story foyer was magnificent and Linc noted it absently as he walked through it into the living room, his head swiveling, gun moving back and forth.
“I’m in the kitchen,” Allie said. “It’s clear in here. And you’re right. It’s freezing in here. Stepping into the dining room.” She fell silent, then, “Talk to me, Linc.”
“Heading to the other side of the house.”
“How big do you think this place is?”
“Nine thousand square feet or something like that. Should have looked up the floor plan.” And they still had three floors to clear. It took them another fifteen minutes to do all but the third.
They met at the bottom of the steps on the second floor and ascended back-to-back.
Linc had complete confidence in Allie’s ability to protect his back, and that enabled him to focus on what was in front of him. Specifically, the body sprawled on the king bed in the master bedroom.
Allie stifled a gasp. “That’s Gerard.”
“No wonder he didn’t answer his door,” Linc said. He pulled his phone from his pocket. “I’ve got to call this in, so you’re going to have to go if you want to continue being dead.”
“Don’t call it in yet. A couple of minutes won’t matter.”
Linc stepped over to the body and Allie almost joined him, but decided she’d better not. This was a crime scene and she was going to have to disappear. But from her position by the door, she had a perfect view of the man.
Gerard, dressed in silk pajama bottoms and no shirt, lay facedown on the bed, his hands clasped above his head, fingers linked. His position chilled her. “He has a bullet hole in the base of his skull, doesn’t he?”
Linc shot her a sharp look. “Yes. How’d you know? You suddenly develop X-ray vision?”
“No. I’ve seen this killer’s work before.”
“You know who did this?”
“Yes. Gerard hasn’t been dead long,” she said. “Or he’s been well-preserved by the frigid temps in the house.”
“The autopsy will tell us—or a timeline of his activity.” He paused. “The killer executed him.”
Her stomach knotted and nausea churned. “Just like my father and sister,” she said softly. “Gregori Radchenko did this.”
He frowned at her. “I recognized his work from the photos on your wall, now that you mention it.”
“He shot my father first, I think. Then he turned the weapon on my mother and shot her. Then went back to my father, turned him over, and finished him with a bullet at the base of the skull.”
“And your mother?”
Allie shoved a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’ve thought and thought about that. He left her bleeding on the bed, but I think it was only because my sister distracted him and he bolted into the hall to shoot her. When she fell, he did the same thing, turned her over and shot her in the base of the skull. I screamed at him and he shot at me. The first bullet missed. I tried to run and the second one hit me. I went facedown to the floor. He stood over me and placed the gun at the base of my head . . .” She broke off and closed her eyes as the horror of that moment washed over her.
“Allie, you don’t have to tell me.”
“No, I want you to know. I should have told you long ago, but I just . . .”
“Just what?”
She shuddered, the images she kept buried pushing their way to the front of her mind. “I don’t know. It’s my past—and yet it’s not completely. It’s my present too. And even my future.”
“Your future?”
“Well, it dictates my future. Because I won’t rest until I find him.”
“What if you don’t find him?”
“Then I’m going to be very, very tired by the time I’m dead. For the second time.” He frowned, studying her, and she forced a thin smile. “I’m only halfway kidding, but not finding him is not an option. I need to face him and ask him why. And I need justice for my parents and my sister. Otherwise, I don’t think I’ll ever have any peace.”
“Peace isn’t found in justice, Allie.”
She rubbed her eyes. “Don’t start preaching to me, Linc. I don’t want to hear about God right now.”
“I’m not preaching. I know you’re a believer, so why the sudden distance between you and God?”
“I’m just . . . mad at him. Frustrated with him.” She grimaced. “It would almost be easier if I wasn’t a believer. Then I wouldn’t have all of these emotions toward him.”
“We’ve talked about this. If our peace is dependent upon justice for those who we say deserve it, then we’re in big trouble. Trust me on that one.” He paused. “Or maybe don’t. You may have to discover that on your own.”
“I know you’re right, I just . . . it’s hard with the past coming back at me like a tsunami.”
How many times had they discussed God and their beliefs? How many times had she walked away, thinking about everything he’d said, her heart in turmoil because of his words, his absolute certainty in a God she was only just beginning to understand not only existed but loved her as well? In spite of herself. “And I do trust you. With my life. I just can’t . . .” She blew out a breath. “You’d think it’d get easier after fifteen years, but some days it’s like it happened yesterday.”
“Easier? Are you kidding? A trauma like that? I don’t know if ‘easier’ would be the word I’d use. Maybe come to grips with it or an acceptance of it, but not easier.”
He gripped her hand and she pulled away. “You can call it in now,” she said. “I’ll meet you down on the street when you’re finished.”
“How did you survive the shooting?” he asked, even while he punched in the number that would bring the crime scene unit and detectives who would be assigned the case.
She fell silent while she waited for him to provide the details to the dispatcher.
When he hung up, she gave him a tight smile. “I fought back and I won.”
“With a bullet in your back?”
“If I was going to die, I was going to take him with me. Fortunately, the bullet missed my spine. When he placed that gun on the back of my head, I went hysterical. I bucked and rolled fast. My hand came around and struck his arm. The gun flew out of his hand and slipped through the spindles of the balcony railing.” She swallowed. “I blacked out after that. When I came to, my face was broken and my neighbor was beside me yelling at dispatch.” She shook her head. “I think the only thing that saved me was the element of surprise. And I think it saved my mother a bullet in the back of her head. He had to run and couldn’t return to finish the job.”
“How do you know this guy?”
“It doesn’t matter. What matters is stopping him.” Sirens sounded in the distance and Allie darted for the stairs. “Text me. I’ll be up the street.” She tapped her ear. “Listening.”
13
Linc watched her go with a pounding heart, then shook his head as though that would help to dislodge the images she’d planted with her horrifying words. It didn’t work. He finally checked the room to make sure she hadn’t left any evidence behind, but couldn’t think of anything she’d done that might have contaminated the crime scene.
Since she hadn’t even entered the bedroom, he thought it would be all right. Her shoes might have tracked in some dirt downstairs, but he’d been everywhere she’d been in the last few days, so
he wasn’t too worried someone would find anything amiss should they decide they needed samples for testing against whatever they found. Assuming they found anything.
His phone rang. Henry. “Hello?”
“Where are you? Where’s Allie?”
“She’s safe for now. I, however, am in the middle of a crime scene.” Linc filled him in as local officers joined him in the bedroom, weapons drawn. Linc held up his badge and the weapons lowered. “Hold on, Henry.” He introduced himself to the officers. Then Izzy and Brady stepped into the room.
“You guys caught this one?” Linc asked.
“Dispatcher told us it was you who called it in,” Izzy said. “So we sort of felt obligated. You sure are making this shift extra long.”
“Sorry.” But not much. Izzy’s comment about being obligated was just her being grumpy. There’s no way she would have let this case go to someone else and they both knew it.
“What are you doing here?” Brady asked.
“Looking for that missing teenager. I thought this guy would have some information since he’d been seen with her a few times. When I came to question him, the door was open. I cleared the house and found him just like you see him.”
Brady walked over to the bed. “Cold-blooded killer, huh?”
“An assassin,” Izzy murmured. “Shot him in the base of the head.” She leaned closer. “You know, a psychiatrist would have a field day with this one. Like the fact that he made the guy lie on his stomach so he didn’t have to face him or some such thing.”
“Yeah,” Linc said, “I don’t think he had any problem facing the guy. This just seems to be his signature.”
Izzy shot him a sharp glance. “He’s done this before?”
Linc mentally kicked himself for making such a stupid mistake. “Possibly. Excuse me a sec, I’ve got to finish this call.”
“Mom wants an update from you,” Izzy said to his back. “She’s worried.”
“I’ll call her when I finish this one.” He stepped out of the room into the hall. “All right, Henry, I’m back.”
“Have you told them she’s alive?”
“No, Henry, I haven’t.” His superior’s question bothered him. “You know me better than that.”
“You’re right. I’m sorry. I just want this guy so bad and I feel like Allie’s our best hope of getting him.”
“I know.”
“Where are you staying tonight?”
“My truck, with the way things are going right now. I’ll let you know where we land.”
“I don’t like this. Why don’t you both come over to my place if you don’t want to leave her alone? It’s secure and it will give us a chance to hash out the next move.”
Linc frowned. “There’s nothing really to hash out. We’re looking for Daria. Speaking of Daria, do you have the security footage from the day of the raid when she disappeared?”
“I do, but it doesn’t show much. I’ll send it to you if you don’t want to come over here.”
Linc paused. Maybe staying at Henry’s wasn’t such a bad idea.
“Do you have a lead on her?” Henry asked before Linc could respond.
“Yes. At least we think so.”
“Tell me.”
He explained about Gerard and the cabin. “But we can’t find it. Annie’s working on it from her end.”
“I’ll see if I have any resources we can utilize to find it faster. Call me when you get settled. I need to know where you are. My job is kind of on the line here too.”
A surge of anger swamped him. “That was your choice.” He hung up. Then immediately regretted it. A sigh slipped from him. He had a feeling Henry wouldn’t fire him, though. Not yet anyway. Linc would apologize later. Now for his next call.
His mother answered on the second ring. “What do you think you’re doing, Linc?”
“Hi to you too.”
“Linc.”
He sighed. Whenever she said his name like that, he knew better than to be anything less than straight up with her. Still . . . “What do you mean?”
“You were almost killed. You’re supposed to be taking it easy, and I find out you’re chasing after Nevsky.”
“Yes.”
“And Henry okayed this?”
“In a sense, but I’m still not on the clock. This is my time.”
“I know. Time for healing! What is Henry thinking?”
Linc took a silent inventory of his physical well-being. “Mom, my head hurts a bit. I’ve got some aches and bruises and I need a good night’s sleep, but other than that, I’m fine.” He paused. “And I’d be back at work already if the days off weren’t mandatory until the doc gives me the all clear.” He’d missed that appointment, he just realized. “But I can’t sit around at home while I can be helping find a missing teenager.”
“What’s this about you breaking into Nevsky’s home?”
“I didn’t break in. I simply crashed a party.” He heard her take a deep breath and knew she was doing so in an attempt to control her next words. Words he didn’t want to hear. “Mom?”
“What?” She sighed.
“It’s okay. I promise. I need you to trust me that I’m doing the right thing.”
Another sigh. This one of resignation. “You always do the right thing, Linc. You always have, even as a child,” she said softly.
“You and Dad are taking security measures, right? Turning on the alarm? Having extra patrols, et cetera?”
“We are. We’ve seen no sign of Nevsky or any of his hired killers, but we’re not letting our guard down and neither is anyone else. We have 24/7 security on the house, and we have an escort to and from work. Extra marshals are on the courthouse when your dad’s in court. Izzy and Ryan are staying here while their house is put back together. Chloe and Blake have Hank to warn them of any danger lurking around. Ruthie and Isaac are getting ready to leave for their Israel trip, and Derek is undercover.”
“Again?” Linc asked. “He’s going to burn out.”
“He and Elaine are on the outs again. This is his way of coping.”
“Does he have a death wish?”
“I don’t know, Linc,” she said, her voice heavy. “I just don’t know. Call him and talk to him when you can, please.”
“I will.”
His phone dinged and he looked at the screen before holding the device back to his ear. “I’ve got to go, Mom. Annie just texted me some information I need to follow up on.”
“Bye. Love you, son.”
“You too, Mom.”
He realized he still had his earpiece in. “Allie?”
“Yeah?”
“You just heard that entire conversation, didn’t you?”
“Your side of it.”
“Sorry.”
“No worries.”
“Where are you?” he asked.
“Hunkered down in the front seat of your truck.”
“What? How did you get in there?”
“By being sneaky. Don’t worry. No one saw me.”
He closed his eyes a moment. “Okay, let me tell Izzy and Brady I’m leaving and I’ll be there in a minute.”
Once he was finished with his statement and said his goodbyes to his siblings, he walked out the front door and down to the curb. He climbed into the driver’s seat and cranked the engine. Cool air blew from the vents and Allie looked up from her spot on the floorboard.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m so tired I’m feeling weak. As much as we need to find Daria, I need to sleep or I’m going to be worthless. Or worse, wind up making a stupid mistake that gets someone killed.”
He nodded. “I’m punchy myself. I let it slip that the killer had a signature.”
She shot him a swift look. “What did they say?”
“Nothing. I managed to dodge giving an explanation. For now. But let’s go back to that safe house and crash.”
“Perfect.”
He pulled away from the curb and headed for the safe hou
se while he called Annie back using his car’s Bluetooth. When she answered in her usual chipper voice, he smiled. “I’m driving so didn’t want to text. What have you got?”
“A cabin location. Got a hit on one of his credit cards.”
“You’re kidding. It’s rented?”
“Yep. It’s all his for a year. Well, three more months, technically.”
Allie smirked at him, some of her fatigue fading from her eyes.
“Give me the address,” he said.
Allie was so tired her eyes refused to cooperate.
And her stitches throbbed and itched.
And her muscles ached.
And, and, and.
But she pulled herself into the passenger seat and buckled up. “Let’s go.”
“We should let Henry know.” He palmed his phone.
“We can let him know after she’s safe.”
“Because he might insist on sending help, which might scare Daria off?”
“Something like that.”
He paused and closed his eyes for a few seconds. “You realize we’re probably killing our careers, right?”
“You want out?” Her stomach knotted. He was absolutely right. They were so far off the path of “doing things by the book” that she didn’t know if she’d ever find her way back to it.
“No.”
“I was hoping you’d say that.”
“It’s a two-hour ride to the cabin,” he said. “Sleep for a while, okay?”
“Okay. I’ll sleep an hour, then we’ll switch.” She eyed him. “Deal?”
“Deal, but I’m swinging through a drive-thru for coffee.”
“If I wasn’t dead, we could use a chopper.” She yawned. And leaned her seat back.
The next thing she knew, a hand was shaking her shoulder. “Mm . . . what?” Reality crashed and she bolted upright. “My turn to drive?”
“No, we’re here.”
“What? Here where?” She frowned, scrubbed her face with a palm, and looked out the window. Trees surrounded her. Three cabins nestled into the area in front of her on about an acre of land apiece. Linc had parked off the road under a copse of oaks. Far enough off the lane that no one coming up the mountain would accidentally slam into the SUV in the dark. “You were supposed to stop and let me take over.”
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