Deadly Cross (Alex Cross #28)(16)

After that there’d been no contact for almost two months. Then she called me and asked me to meet her for lunch at a restaurant in DC; she said she had a personal request. She wasn’t the kind of woman you turned down, so I agreed.

At that lunch, Kay asked me to look into the conviction of a killer on death row in Alabama who had written her asking for help.

“Most people like you would push a request like that to the corner of the desk or drop it in the trash,” I said after she set a bulging legal-size envelope in front of me.

“I’m not most people, Alex. I actually care about wrongfully convicted prisoners. And it’s not because of the privileged life I’ve led. If I see an injustice, I try to right it.”

I studied her. She was so much more than beauty, poise, and wealth. “Okay, I’ll take a look at this, see if there’s anything I can do.”

“Thank you, Alex,” she said. “I can’t tell you what this means to me.”

Her smile was dazzling and pure. Her eyes sparkled with empathy.

I swallowed hard, looked away, and gestured at the envelope. “What makes you so interested in this case? These usually go to the governor.”

Her smile faded. “Before we married, Walter was the prosecutor on this case. It was the one that helped launch his political career.”

“And you’re questioning the conviction?”

“No, I just want there to be zero doubt going forward. Between you and me, Walter is thinking of running for national office, and despite our current difficulties, I want no skeletons in his closet, no stone unturned before he launches his next campaign.”

Standing there in the church, I opened my eyes, remembering how I’d looked at the case only briefly because, with Nana Mama’s help, I was caring for three young children. I couldn’t run off to Alabama to learn more, so three days after she offered me the job, I turned it down. She’d accepted my decision gracefully when I explained about the kids.

My attention drifted from Kay’s candle burning in the church to Christopher’s.

Maybe he was the one, I mused. Maybe he was the love she’d been looking for.

I’d no sooner had that thought than a ball of emotion swelled in my throat. I tried to stay in control, tried to swallow it back down deep in my gut.

But the enormous, irrational grief I felt for Kay and the weird jealousy I felt about Randall Christopher was too much. I felt a tear roll down my cheek for everything that had been lost when someone put multiple bullets through both of their hearts.





CHAPTER 18





I RAN UP OUR PORCH steps ten minutes later, drenched in sweat but feeling lighter for having visited the church and expressed those conflicting emotions. Inside the house, the air-conditioning made me shiver. I went into the kitchen to find Bree and Jannie cooking breakfast, Ali sitting at the counter typing on his laptop.

“Where’s Nana?” I said.

“Feeling under the weather,” Bree said, scooping scrambled eggs into a dish. “She wanted to sleep in.”

“Fever?”

“Just tired and listening to her body,” Jannie said. “Isn’t that what you told me to do when I had mono?”

“I did.”

Bree scooted past me, bringing the eggs to the table.

“What, no kiss?” I said.

“The way you smell?”

“I’m not that bad.”

“Yes, you are,” Ali said, waving his hand in front of his nose.

I threw my arms up in defeat. “Save me some.”

Upstairs, as I showered and shaved, I felt slightly rudderless, not quite knowing what move to make next. While I dressed, I decided to call Mahoney, and I was about to do that when Bree walked into the room.

I went to hug her, and she pulled back slightly to study my face. “Why were you out running so early?”

“Couldn’t sleep and I figured a run would help me understand why. Turns out I needed to purge something.”

She smiled quizzically. “You want to explain — ” Her work cell rang. “Duty calls,” she said; she turned away from me and snatched her phone off the bed. She looked at caller ID and groaned. “It’s Commissioner Dennison.” She pecked me on the cheek as I left the bedroom, then answered the phone while shutting the door. “Yes, Commissioner. How can I help?”

In the hall, I almost knocked on Nana Mama’s door, but if she needed rest, she needed rest. Downstairs, Jannie was on her way out of the house with her workout bag over her shoulder.

“Training?” I asked.

“Core and agility.”

“Have fun.”

“Always.”

I gave her a hug and watched her go. My daughter was tall, strong but not bulky, and very, very fast. According to the many NCAA track coaches who had tried to recruit her, Jannie possessed athletic skills that had made her a top prospect as a four-hundred-meter runner and a potential heptathlete.

I went into the kitchen and found the plate Bree had set aside for me wrapped in foil. My phone rang before I could take a bite. Mahoney. I snatched a piece of bacon to munch on before I answered. “Ned?”

“You still have your security clearance?”

“Yes.”

“We’ve been granted an audience with Vice President Willingham on Thursday.”