Deadly Cross (Alex Cross #28)(58)

Two deaths? I thought. Who’s the close friend?

Mahoney said, “We can keep this copy of the file?”

“Federal judge says you can,” Tolliver said. “I hope we’ve been of some help.”

I was going to ask them about the two deaths and then decided not to. In the same way I’d felt something off about Bobby Carson and Nina Larch, there was something a little shifty about the doctors. Or at least Tolliver. He struck me as a man who was hiding something.

Outside, I tore off my jacket and told Mahoney my feelings about Tolliver.

“Could be,” Mahoney said, opening the front door of the car to let the heat out. “There was nothing in that file we haven’t seen before.”

“Not true. There was something I didn’t notice in Willingham’s copy,” I said and I told him about the notation on Kay’s intake form. “I think AL is Althea Lincoln. She brought Kay to West Briar the last time.” Ned started the car and fired up the AC. “The same one who shot at us?”

I nodded. “She told the admitting nurse that Kay had been deteriorating after going off her meds as the result of two deaths, her mother and a close friend.”

“You have an address for Ms. Lincoln?”

“I do not, and she’s not listed anywhere online.”

“Then how do you propose to find her?”

“Go for a swim later?”





CHAPTER 64





AT ROUGHLY THE SAME TIME in Washington, Bree Stone was close to losing her mind with boredom after just a handful of days away from the chief of detectives job.

She had gotten a deeper appreciation for just how creative a cook Nana Mama was by working with her in the kitchen every day. And she enjoyed being home when Ali and Jannie returned from school, which had just started up again.

But most of the time she felt caged. She’d talked to Alex about it after he’d told her about being shot at and run off a road in rural Alabama. He said the caged sense was her feeling anxious about what came next.

That was true. Bree had been trying to envision a different life for herself during her daily runs but had not come up with one that excited her deep in her gut. And at this stage of the game, she’d decided that was the minimum she was willing to settle for.

“You’re thinking about going back, aren’t you?” Nana Mama said as the midday news played on the screen on the counter.

“Not if it’s more of the same,” Bree said. “I do love certain aspects of my job, but I despise others. If I could stay with the roles I love and delegate the others, I’d consider it. But only if I got that in writing.”

“Smart lady. I don’t count on much if I don’t see it spelled out and signed.”

Both of them heard a crash in the basement.

The kids were at school. Alex was still in Alabama. Bree went to the hall closet to retrieve her backup weapon.

Nana Mama had an iron skillet in one hand when Bree returned.

“Hear anything?” Bree whispered.

“No, you want me to call 911?” Nana Mama said.

Bree toed off her sandals. “I want you to turn down the television as I open the door. When I start to close it, raise the volume back to normal.”

The old woman’s eyes widened at the sight of the pistol, but she lowered the skillet and picked up the remote with her other hand. Bree nodded and eased open the door as the volume dropped on the news.

She took a step down the carpeted stairs, nodded again, and as the volume increased, she slipped the door shut and released the knob. Both hands on the gun, she padded down the stairs.

The door that led outside was dead-bolted shut. What had made that crash?

Bree heard a keyboard clacking in Alex’s office. After a deep breath, she took three soft strides and then stepped to the side of the doorway, gun up.

“John?” Sampson jumped and spun away from Alex’s desktop, saw the gun, and cried, “Whoa! Jesus, Bree, you scared the hell out of me!”

“And you terrified Nana Mama,” she said, lowering her weapon. “What are you doing here? Alex said you went to the Delaware shore to be with Willow and Billie’s kids.”

“The older kids decided it was time to go back to work and Willow got stung by a jellyfish and didn’t want to stay any longer,” he said. “We came back this morning.”

“Where is she?”

“With her friend Lana and Lana’s mom. And Jannie, her favorite babysitter, is picking her up before dinner. I’m sorry, I should have knocked and told you I was coming down here to work, but I had this crazy idea about the rapes and murders and wanted to look at the files in Alex’s computer and I just used my key.”

“Hold that thought. I have to go take a skillet out of Nana Mama’s hand.”





CHAPTER 65





SAMPSON LAUGHED, SAID, “THAT’S A scary thought.”

“Isn’t it?” Bree said. She went up, calmed Nana Mama, and came back with a plate of cookies and a cup of coffee for John, who was typing again on the computer. “So what’s the crazy idea?” Bree asked.

Sampson rubbed his temples and said, “Okay, so Alex and I were looking at the last known locations of each of the eight victims, including Maya Parker and Elizabeth Hernandez, and marking where their bodies were found. We got this.”