Deadly Cross (Alex Cross #28)(65)

“See?” Carson said.

Larch ignored him and focused on Mahoney and me. “But it wasn’t until after Kay died and you came here asking questions that it dawned on me to go through the files of Robert Sr.’s late partner, Claude Knight.”

Mahoney put his phone down.

“Claude?” Carson said. “He’s been dead thirty years. Where were they?”

“In a storage unit over on the east side that the firm has rented since the fifties. Boxes of Knight’s old files and old files from the Napoleon Howard trial. Vice President Willingham’s old files, as a matter of fact. I’ve spent the past three days there.”

Carson stared at her. “Did Claude — ”

I cut him off. “Did you find proof of Napoleon Howard’s innocence in the files?”

“I am not a criminal lawyer, Dr. Cross,” she said. “But I saw evidence that should have come out at Howard’s trial and didn’t. I think it might have gotten Kay killed. And I am requesting witness protection.”





CHAPTER 73





FOUR DAYS LATER, ON THE second to last Saturday in August, I got out of an Uber car with my luggage and trudged up my porch stairs, feeling as exhausted and disillusioned as I have ever felt. Knowing what I now knew, having seen the hard evidence, I could not help feeling sick for the late Napoleon Howard and sicker still for the late Kay Willingham.

The door was flung open. Bree was standing there, grinning, her arms wide.

“My conquering hero returns,” she said and kissed me and hugged me.

“I don’t feel like much of a hero today,” I said. “I actually feel kind of dirty.”

My son Ali said, “What happened? You don’t look dirty, Dad.”

I looked around Bree and saw him standing there barefoot.

“You walk quietly,” I said.

He grinned and wiggled the toes of one foot. “I’m getting my feet strong. Going barefoot a lot is supposed to help with rock climbing. Mr. Mury said that.”

“I remember,” I said.

“Come inside out of the heat and humidity and close that door,” Bree said. “We’re burning electricity.”

“This isn’t heat and humidity, by the way,” I said as we went inside.

“What happened in Alabama, Dad?” Ali asked.

“A lot of heat and things I can’t talk about right now, bud.”

His face fell. Bree reached out and rubbed his shoulders. “Ongoing investigation, Ali. Your dad can’t even talk about it with me.”

“She’s right,” I said.

Nana Mama called out, “Come give me a kiss, Alex, and have some lunch.”

I couldn’t help but remember Jannie’s theory that my grandmother had microphones and cameras all over the house that she tracked from the kitchen. I smiled. “We have been summoned.”

We went to the kitchen. I gave Nana Mama a kiss and a hug. “How is it you look so young and beautiful?” I said. “Do you have a painting in the attic that shows your real age?”

She laughed. “The Picture of Nana Mama?”

“Exactly,” I said and yawned.

“You look like you haven’t been sleeping much.”

“I slept a bit on the plane this morning,” I said, yawning again and going to get a coffee cup. “I shouldn’t be this beat. Maybe I’ll take a nap later.”

Bree chewed on the inside of her cheek as I poured my coffee, and Nana Mama put out cold cuts, homemade bread, and potato chips in a bowl.

“Alex, you have an appointment at two p.m. you can’t break,” Bree said. “One of your patients. Mrs. Hernandez.”

I shut my eyes a moment, then said, “I don’t remember scheduling her for today. I can’t get out of it? I feel like a zombie.”

Ali thought that was funny. But Bree said, “I asked her to come. And so did Sampson. We have questions for her about Elizabeth, and there are things I need to show you after lunch.”

“Elizabeth Hernandez?” Ali said. “The girl taken before Maya Parker?”

Bree hesitated and then nodded. “But we can’t talk about her, Ali.”

“Of course.” Ali sighed, took a handful of chips, and munched on them.

I made a sandwich, said to Bree, “You sound like you’re going back to work.”

Nana Mama frowned. “You didn’t tell him over the phone?”

Bree smiled, said, “I wanted to tell him in person. But yes, I am going back to work, but not until next month, and not for Metro PD. While you were gone, a headhunter called and asked if I would be interested in a job working in an elite private-sector investigation company. I’d be based in DC but I’d travel the world if needed. I was flattered and said I was interested. An hour later Elena Martin, the president of Bluestone Group, called from her jet en route to Abu Dhabi.”

“Bluestone Group. I’ve heard of them. They do big-time corporate security work all over the world.”

“They do, but that won’t be me. I made that very clear, and she was very clear that she wanted me to stick to my strengths, which are investigative. She’s great, a real visionary, and she basically made me an offer I couldn’t refuse. I can work from home or out of their DC office, and the salary and benefits package is significantly better than what I was getting as COD!”