Mercy (Atlee Pine #4)(96)

“Bravado is not going to help. But moving on to another subject: Tim Pine?”

“I already told you, I have no idea where he is.”

“Have you heard from him or your mother?”

“No.”

“Not in any way?” he said, watching her closely.

Pine, sensing a trap, said, “Meaning what, exactly? In a dream? Telepathy? On a Ouija board?”

McAllister cleared his throat, finished his coffee, and said, “Agents have talked to Jack Lineberry. He mentioned a letter that your mother had written to him. And that he had given to you?”

Pine sucked in a breath. “Right. Sorry, I didn’t think of that.”

“Can I see the letter?”

“There are no clues in it. And . . . and it’s pretty personal.”

“The whole thing is personal, Pine. And it’s the only communication that we know of from your mother after she left you. We believe that she and Tim Pine hooked up after fabricating his death.”

“Vincenzo went there to kill Tim. He defended himself and Vincenzo died. They covered it up because they saw this as a chance to finally get away from the mob. I already told you all that.”

“That may well be the case. But right now all I know for a fact is that the man in the grave was Ito Vincenzo, when your mother and Jack Lineberry lied and said it was Tim Pine. Their motivations notwithstanding, that is a crime. And as I’m sure you know, I can’t take your word for it that Tim Pine killed Vincenzo in self-defense.”

“He kidnapped my sister and almost killed me,” barked Pine. “You don’t think he would have tried to murder the man he thought was our father?”

“If the killing was justified, he has nothing to worry about. But we’re not there yet, as you also well know. If somebody could get off killing another person based on what-ifs and maybes we’d have a lot more murders and far emptier prisons.” He reached over and tapped her hand. “If you were working this case on the Bureau’s end would you do anything differently than what I’m doing? If so, I’m listening.”

Pine shut her eyes, but just for a moment, her mind whirling at warp speed, processing all of this. When she opened them she said, “I’ll get the letter for you.”

“Thank you,” said McAllister, an edge of relief in his voice.

Pine rose and looked down at him. “If you hear anything on Carol’s whereabouts, let me know. And I’ll do likewise.”

“Thank you for finally answering my question.”

After Pine stalked off McAllister turned to his colleague.

“You stick to her like superglue, Neil.”

The younger agent nodded, rose, and headed off.





CHAPTER





65


ANOTHER TWENTY-FOUR HOURS WENT BY with no word about Blum and no demand from her captors.

Mercy and Pine were sharing the latter’s room at the hotel.

Over lunch in their room Pine said, “Something is off. It doesn’t take this long to communicate.”

“Maybe they’re trying to put the squeeze on you. Get you uptight, hoping you make a mistake.”

Pine put down her coffee cup. Her sister was wearing a pair of her jeans that were two inches too short, and a shirt that was a little tight across her broad shoulders but rode well over the rest of her torso.

“I guess that could be. But they’re also allowing us time to come up with a plan of our own.”

“And are we coming up with a plan of our own?” asked Mercy as she put the last forkful of salad into her mouth. Pine watched with a twinge of heartbreak as her sister sopped up every last bit of salad dressing with her piece of roll before depositing it in her mouth as well. The plate looked clean enough to be used again.

Mercy caught her looking and said, “I don’t waste food.”

“Yeah, I get that. In answer to your question, it’s hard to come up with a plan when you don’t know what the other side is going to do. But McAllister has notified the FBI about the situation and they are standing ready, as are the local cops. And the APB is still out there.”

“So you think this is going to go down in Asheville?”

Pine looked at her thoughtfully. “Not necessarily.”

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that your using your credit card brought the people who took Carol to Asheville.”

“Meaning they put a trace on my card?”

“Yes. But they knew other things and I’m wondering where they learned—shit!”

“What?”

Pine held up a hand and made a call. She put the phone on speaker and laid it on the table between them.

Wanda Atkins sounded upset. “Agent Pine, you never called me back.”

“I know, I’m sorry, things got a little crazy. But I remember you saying you had something else to tell me? That some ‘other’ people had visited you?”

“That’s right. But first things first, did you find Mercy?”

“Yes, yes I did. And your call was very helpful. Thank you.”

“Well, that’s good. I’m glad. But that gal scared the bejesus out of me. Are you sure she’s right in the head?”

Pine glanced at Mercy with a nervous smile. “Tell me about these other people.”