‘So he never touched you because he never had the opportunity,’ Kimble said.
‘Possibly. But you have to remember that this was the early nineties and I grew up in a very strict Catholic family,’ she said, feeling the need to defend her uncle. With the hindsight of adulthood, she’d never been certain that her father had been right about Jeremy. ‘Being gay was often considered interchangeable with being a pedophile. I can tell you that he’s never been accused of anything.’ Not outside of her own family, anyway.
‘And you know this how?’ Kimble asked sarcastically.
Her chin lifted. ‘Because I checked.’
Novak’s white brows shot up in surprise. ‘Why? When?’
‘Several times. Most recently about a year ago. As for why, the memory worried at me. I couldn’t allow someone to be hurt because I didn’t want to air the family laundry. I gave a discreet heads-up to a social worker I knew from school. Her police contact kept an eye out, but there was never even a wisp of smoke. And you can’t arrest someone on suspicion alone.’
‘No, you can’t,’ Novak murmured. ‘Do you have contact information for your uncles?’
‘I have Jordan’s home and cell numbers, but nothing for Jeremy. You might find him at work. He’s a professor at the med school. He teaches surgery, last I heard.’ Faith shifted her feet, which had started to throb. ‘If you’re finished with your questions, I’d like to sit down.’
‘We’re finished for now,’ Novak said. ‘I’ll find someone to take you to the ER.’
For now
. He hadn’t said it threateningly, just factually, but it sounded threatening just the same. She turned away from the cemetery fence to head back to the house, but it was pitch black and she missed a dip in the ground. Her stiff knees buckled and with a cry she went down.
But not all the way down. Strong hands caught her around the waist, Novak hauling her back up as if she weighed no more than a child. For a moment they stood there, the fingers of both his hands spread wide against her ribcage.
God, he smells good
. Like cedar and clean leather.
‘Are you all right?’ Novak asked quietly, his mouth so close to her ear that she shivered.
‘Yes.’ She swallowed. ‘I just tripped.’
‘We shouldn’t have had you standing out there so long.’ He released her, pulling his hands away a little more slowly than he should have, so that it was almost a caress.
Faith shivered again, then stepped forward, putting some distance between them.
‘Let me help you, Miss Corcoran,’ Novak said, startling her when he took her elbow in a firm but gentle grip. ‘The ground is rough and I know you’re hurting.’
She really was, so this time she let him assist her, absorbing the pleasant warmth of his hand on her elbow through the fabric of the jacket she wore. ‘Thank you.’
Through all of this Kimble had said not a word, but he fell into step with them on her other side. Faith almost laughed.
Does he think I’m gonna run for it?
The three of them walked slowly back to the front of the house, which was now far busier than it had been before. Several more police cars had arrived, along with the CSU van. New spotlights had been set up in the front and around the far side, bathing the property in bright, white light. Whatever they’d found, it was big. And very, very bad.
‘What did you find in the house, Agent Novak?’ Faith asked quietly.
But before Novak could answer, Kimble took her other elbow in a grip that made her wince. ‘What do you
think
we found, Dr Frye?’ he asked smoothly. Mockingly.
Something inside her snapped.
Sonofabitch still thinks I’m involved
.
‘Detective,’ Novak said sharply as Faith yanked her arms free, first from Novak’s gentle grip, then from Kimble’s punishing one.
She stepped back a pace so that she could see Kimble’s face. His lips quirked in a smirk that she knew was intended to make her angrier, to make her say things she’d regret. He’d be disappointed. She’d had too much experience with his kind of bad cop.
‘What I
think
, Detective Kimble,’ she said calmly but coldly, ‘is that you’ll find yourself in need of your PBO rep if you touch me like that again.’
Anger flashed in his dark eyes. ‘Are you threatening me, Dr Frye?’
‘No more than you just did to me. The difference is, I didn’t leave bruises.’ She thought she saw a flicker of uncertainty in his expression, quickly masked. ‘And if you think I won’t file charges against you because I’m trying to stay under a stalker’s radar, you’re wrong.’
‘I think it’s a fair question, Dr Frye,’ Kimble said, not backing down a whit. ‘It is, after all, your house, and your family member who you so skillfully threw under the bus.’
‘Adam,’ Novak hissed. ‘That is enough.’
Faith ground her teeth, tired of them both. ‘Detective, you’re laying the bad cop on a little too thick. Kudos to you, Agent Novak. You’ve played the good cop to perfection. I’ve told you both what I know. I don’t expect you to believe me.’ She shook her head, willing back the angry tears that were trying to climb up her throat. ‘I didn’t want to find that girl. I didn’t want any of this. All I wanted was to be left alone.’
‘Dr Corcoran,’ Novak began in the soothing tone she no longer found comforting.
She sliced her bandaged hand through the air to cut him off. ‘Save it, Novak. The voice won’t work with me. I suggest you put your energy into figuring out where the bad guys went and how they snuck several vehicles, two grown men and a young woman past a legion of cops.’
Novak frowned. ‘What do you mean, several vehicles?’
‘You found the Earl Power and Light truck, but what about the vehicle the locksmith was driving? Have you found that? No? I didn’t think so,’ she said as the two men stared at her. ‘Unless the locksmith stood me up, he would have arrived minutes before I found the girl. He didn’t leave, nor did anyone else. Whoever took Arianna also had transportation. Therefore, unless they were all beamed up by Scotty, the abductor hid one vehicle, then took two men and a woman away from here by a different road, which to my knowledge doesn’t exist.’
‘You’re assuming we believe you when you say that they didn’t pass your way,’ Kimble said. ‘Even if that’s true, they might have left here before you arrived.’
Ignoring him, Faith met Novak’s gaze. ‘You said the girl’s blood was still wet in the Earl Power truck. Do you truly believe her abductor would have passed by that wrecked truck and not stopped to find her? That he’d let her live? You found her trail of blood easily enough. Don’t you think her abductor could have as well?’
Novak opened his mouth, but his reply was cut off by someone calling his name. A woman had broken away from the pack of CSU techs and was headed their way. She was about the same height as Faith but sturdier. Curvier. That she was a cop would have been obvious even without the telltale bulge under her arm, just from the way she carried herself.
‘I thought you were at the hospital,’ Novak said when she stopped in front of them.
The woman’s jet-black hair shone blue under the lights and her black eyes were sharp enough to cut straight through to the bone. ‘I was, but they sedated her. She won’t wake up for hours. I left a uniform standing guard outside her room.’ She cocked her head toward Faith. ‘This your Good Sam?’
‘Yes,’ Kimble answered. ‘This is Dr Faith Frye. She found the girl. She owns the house.’
Faith clenched her teeth. ‘It’s Dr Corcoran.’
‘It’s good to meet you, Doctor. I’m Detective Bishop. You might have saved Arianna’s life tonight. I’m sure she’ll thank you when she wakes up.’
Faith wasn’t sure if the woman was mocking her, baiting her, or sincerely thanking her, but something was off. ‘I hope she does.’
‘Gentlemen,’ Bishop said, ‘may I talk to you for a moment? Alone?’
Faith waved Novak away. ‘You don’t need to escort me. I’ll escort myself.’
‘I’ll get you that ride to the ER in a moment,’ Novak promised as she turned to walk away.
The three cops waited until Faith was in the SUV before Bishop held up her cell phone and the three of them leaned in, listening. Bishop hit a button on her phone and they listened again.
Perplexed and grim, the three cops walked to the SUV and formed a tight semicircle around Faith’s open door. Caging her in. It was a cop thing and Faith hated it.
Novak was the first to speak. ‘Dr Corcoran, when you called 911, you said that Arianna Escobar was unconscious.’
Faith rose to her feet, forcing the Three Musketeers to step back. She did it so that she could breathe, but pretended that her goal was to defend her space. ‘That’s right. At least I thought she was. I’m not that kind of a doctor, obviously. But she didn’t respond to anything I said. Why?’
‘What did you say to her?’ Kimble asked harshly. ‘Exactly?’
‘I don’t remember
exactly
. I was hurt too. Something like “Are you okay?” Why?’
‘Faith, had you ever met her before?’ Novak asked. ‘Was there any way the two of you had crossed paths in the past?’
New panic settled over her. ‘No,’ she said, resisting the urge to press her hand against her chest. Her heart was beating so hard it hurt. ‘Before tonight I’d never seen her before.
Why?
’
‘Because she knows you,’ Novak said, and her gaze snapped back up to meet his.
For a moment she thought she’d misheard, but the three cops stood there waiting for an answer. She cleared her throat, but her voice was weak and faint. ‘Excuse me?’
Novak nodded. ‘She regained consciousness briefly as she was being prepped for surgery. She told Detective Bishop to find Faith.’
‘I thought she meant faith in God,’ Bishop said. ‘I asked her if I could call her a priest or a minister. She grabbed my hand and said, “No. Faith Frye.” Now I realize that she meant you.’
‘But how . . .?’ Faith sagged into the seat, light-headed. ‘I told the 911 operator who I was. Arianna had to have heard me then.’
Novak shook his head. ‘No you didn’t. We just listened to the 911 call. You gave your name as Faith Corcoran, not Frye.’
Faith glanced up at him. Novak looked even more troubled. ‘How could she know me?’
‘Yeah,’ Kimble said, his lip curling. ‘How
could
she know you?’
‘I don’t know. The only answer that makes sense is that she heard my name during her captivity.’ A violent shiver jerked her body. ‘Which means that whoever took her knows who I am.’
‘That makes perfect sense, Dr Corcoran,’ Kimble said, and she could feel the heat from his body as he leaned in closer. ‘I guess the million-dollar question is, how do you know
him
?’
Chapter Seven
Mt Carmel, Ohio, Monday 3 November, 9.15
P.M.
‘
T
hat’s enough,’ Deacon ordered. Faith was perched on the edge of his passenger seat, hunched over, shaking like a leaf. ‘Back off and let her breathe.’
Bishop’s eyes had narrowed at Adam in concern. Scarlett Bishop was a sharp cop. She and Deacon had achieved a comfortable rhythm in the short month they’d worked together, able to wordlessly communicate as if they’d been partners for years. Adam was the wild card tonight.
Adam straightened more slowly, a direct challenge in his eyes. ‘She knows who’s behind this. This’ – he gestured to Faith’s trembling form with contempt – ‘is all an act.’
Deacon didn’t think so. He didn’t want to think so, anyway. But he didn’t think there was anything he could say that would convince Adam to reconsider, and more to the point, he owed it to Arianna and Corinne to be sure.
‘It may very well be. But until we know that for sure, Dr Corcoran will remain a witness. And I think she’s right about at least one thing. Arianna’s abductor wouldn’t have let her live if he’d escaped via the road. Which means there must be another way out of here. There’s a trail or something. We need to find it. And we need to find out if that locksmith did make it out here, because he sure as hell is not here now. Nor is his vehicle. So we have too much to do, Detective Kimble, to waste time berating a witness.’
‘Whose name the victim knew,’ Adam said through clenched teeth.
Deacon had seen the shock flatten Faith’s face when she heard the news. He believed it was genuine. ‘Yes. Which makes her too valuable a resource to frighten to death.’
Faith’s dark red head lifted until she met his eyes, and it was like a punch to the gut. She was pale, drawn, and every bit as furious as Adam, but coldly so. ‘Very nicely done, Agent Novak,’ she said quietly. ‘I couldn’t have handled me better myself.’
Deacon kept his sigh inside. She might have actually trusted him before Adam ruined it. She sure as hell didn’t trust him now. ‘If you’ll excuse us for a moment, Dr Corcoran. We’ll be right back.’ He walked away, hands shoved in his pockets – whether to keep himself from touching her or from beating the shit out of his cousin, he wasn’t certain.
He led Adam and Bishop through the gate and to the front porch. Adam appeared to have managed to calm himself somewhat. Bishop was watching Adam cautiously.
‘I heard you got booted out of Personal Crimes because you lost it,’ she said, ‘which I didn’t want to believe, but that little display convinced me.’
Adam looked away, a dark flush staining his cheeks. ‘I’m sorry. I may have overreacted.’
‘Y’think?’ Deacon kept his voice down, but didn’t try to contain his frustration. ‘You’re goddamn right you overreacted. Now we’ll be lucky if she tells us anything.’
‘It’s an act, Deacon. I know it.’
‘If it is, she’s damn good,’ Deacon snapped. ‘Too good to tell you anything she doesn’t want you to know. I don’t think she was bluffing when she threatened to file charges.
You hurt her
, Adam. This isn’t like you. What the hell is wrong with you?’
Adam’s jaw tightened. ‘Do you agree that she knows something she’s not telling?’
Deacon looked across the front yard to where Faith sat watching them. If looks could kill, the three of them would be pushing up daisies. ‘I think she knows lots of stuff she’s not telling. But I don’t believe she is behind this.’
Adam huffed his derision. ‘I knew you’d say that. She’s leading you on, man. Pretty face, a twitch of the ass, they’re all the same. I hate to see you falling for her act like a fish on a damn hook. Although I gotta admit, she’s prettier than most.’ He met Deacon’s eyes. ‘Way prettier than Brandi ever was, but I would’ve thought that experience would have cured you for life.’
For a moment, Deacon could only stare at him, stunned that Adam had even gone there. Then a blast of fury and hurt burned away his shock and he realized his hands had become fists. He was grateful they were still in his pockets where no one could see.
Bishop intervened with a low whistle and brisk words. ‘Gentlemen, I’m about to choke on all this testosterone, so tone it down so we can discuss on our next steps.’
‘The priority is finding the person who tortured Arianna,’ Deacon said, ‘who may have killed two men, and may still have Corinne, and who somehow got them out of here without anyone noticing. Adam,
your
next step is to find out how he did that.’
Adam jerked a nod. ‘Yes,
sir
.’
‘Oh for God’s sake.’ With a shake of his head, Deacon turned to Bishop. ‘Go back to King’s College and find out everything you can about the two women. Search their dorm rooms, talk to their friends. Isenberg said she’d get the security footage from the college. Find out where they disappeared from and secure the scene. Call me if you need backup.’
‘And Corcoran?’ Bishop asked. ‘What about her?’
‘She’s a key to this, I just don’t know how. She went to a lot of trouble to hide from an ex-con sex offender who was stalking her in Miami. I can’t believe it’s a coincidence that Arianna was held in her house just as Corcoran was relocating.’
Bishop’s brows went up. ‘You think our perp is her stalker?’
‘It’s a possibility we can’t ignore. She’s either lying about knowing Arianna, or she’s a victim too. I’ll take her to the ER, try to get her to talk to me again while we wait for a doctor to see her. While she’s being tended to, I’ll contact Miami PD and check out her stalker story. I’ll also contact the two uncles and invite them in for a chat.’ He turned back to Adam. ‘While you’re searching for the other way out, talk to the local cops. Find out if there are any gangs or weird kids in the high school who hung out here. Give Tanaka any help he needs in the basement. I will be back as soon as I can. Are we square?’
The muscles in Adam’s cheek tightened as he clenched his teeth. ‘Yeah.’
‘I’ll call you from King’s College campus,’ Bishop said. She’d been assessing Faith as Deacon gave Adam his orders. ‘I’m not sure about her, Novak. Be careful.’
‘I will, thanks.’
Deacon waited until Bishop was gone before turning back to Adam. ‘Don’t,’ he snapped when Adam opened his mouth to speak. ‘I’m not interested in anything you have to say right now. All I want is for you to do your goddamn job. Can you manage that, Detective?’
Adam swallowed hard. ‘Yeah.’
‘Good. One more thing. If you ever throw my past back in my face again, you’ll find yourself regretting teaching me to fight. Got it?’
Anger roiled in Adam’s eyes, but he nodded again. ‘I shouldn’t have said what I did. Not in front of Bishop, at least.’
‘
Not in front of Bishop?
Hell, you shouldn’t have said it at all! What the fuck is wrong with you?’ Deacon held up his hand when Adam started to answer. ‘No. I don’t really want to know. Just keep your shit together or—’ He stopped himself before he went too far.
‘Or?’ Adam asked, far too calmly.
‘Or I’ll request that you be reassigned. Again. I don’t have time for drama queens.’
Adam’s lips curved, but it was not a friendly smile. ‘This from the king of drama queens himself. You with your hair and your coat. You’re a walking freak show, Deacon.’
Deacon flinched. That was the thing about family, he thought. They knew exactly where to stab for maximum damage. He just never would have expected Adam to be doing the stabbing.
‘Low blow, Adam,’ he said quietly. ‘Effective, though.’
Adam closed his eyes. ‘I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. You know I don’t think it.’
Deacon swallowed hard. It had been a long time since anyone had really gotten under his skin, but it had happened twice tonight. Too bad that Faith’s ‘beautiful’ didn’t even begin to cancel out Adam’s ‘freak show’. He had to clear his throat before he could speak.
‘I may be a walking freak show, but I do my job. That’s all I want from you. Just do your damn job.’ He walked away, unable to look at his cousin’s face for another second.
But the face waiting for him in the SUV was no more welcoming than Adam’s had been. Faith Corcoran might know lots of things, but at the top of the list – at least for the moment – was that she despised him. Deacon couldn’t really blame her.
He got into the SUV and cranked the engine. ‘Buckle up, Dr Corcoran.’
She didn’t move. ‘I thought you were going to find someone to take me to the ER.’
‘I did. Me. Buckle up.’
She pivoted in her seat, holding her bandaged hands out to him, her dark red brows arched in sarcastic challenge. ‘Aren’t you going to cuff me?’
Deacon exhaled wearily, closing his eyes as he sagged back into his seat. ‘Hell.’ He pinched the bridge of his nose to quell his rising headache. ‘No, I am not going to cuff you. I just want to do my job, Faith. Now please buckle up.’
He heard the sound of her seat belt fastening. When he opened his eyes, her hands were folded in her lap and she was watching him uncertainly, her anger appearing to have subsided.
‘What?’ he asked, not caring that she heard the exhaustion in his voice.
‘Look, I know you have a job to do. I appreciate the urgency in finding the missing girl. You’re busy. So busy that you don’t have to waste your time babysitting me. Any uniform can take me to the ER. I . . .’ She glanced down at her hands, then looked up, her jaw set resolutely. ‘I promise not to run. So you don’t have to drive me.’
While her side of the SUV was illuminated by CSU’s spotlights, his was not, allowing him to study her from the shadows. He wondered if Adam wasn’t right in accusing him of allowing himself to be influenced by a pretty face and a twitching ass. Because, although she hadn’t twitched her ass once, Deacon would have had to be a dead man not to notice that it was round and . . . very nice. Especially since it was all he’d been able to see in the moment when she’d stumbled while walking away from the cemetery.
Although he’d studied her face enough too. It was a face that, even bandaged and streaked with grime, was lovely. But now, in this moment, it was her eyes that captured his full attention. Deep green, like a forest in the summer, they held none of the forest’s tranquility. Her gaze was unflinching but turbulent. The hands folded in her lap trembled.
‘Are you afraid of me, Dr Corcoran?’
He didn’t want her to be, and that bothered him. If Adam was right and she was complicit in any of this, then she was a terrible person and any fear that Deacon could engender would only push her to talk to him sooner. If she was completely innocent, her emotional well-being was not his problem.
But he wanted it to be, and that bothered him even more. He’d known agents who’d gotten involved with women during an investigation. With a few notable exceptions, it rarely ended well. He needed to stay focused. Objective. He needed to stop worrying about Faith Corcoran’s feelings. But he found himself holding his breath for her answer.
A slight frown wrinkled her forehead. ‘I don’t know. I don’t trust you, but I don’t think I’m afraid of you. Should I be?’
It wasn’t what he’d wanted to hear, but it was a step in the right direction. He cocked his eyebrows as if he didn’t care what she’d answered. ‘If you don’t trust me, then it’s pointless for me to answer that question.’
‘Fair enough.’ She swallowed hard. ‘
Am
I a suspect, Agent Novak?’
The little quiver in her voice was like a punch in his gut. If Adam was right and she was faking this, then she was scary good. ‘I don’t want to think so,’ he said honestly.
‘Then . . . what am I?’
He considered his answer carefully. ‘I think you’re connected, which could be different than involved. I think you’re telling the truth, but I don’t think you’ve told me all of the truth.’
‘Fair enough.’ She sounded as exhausted as he had. ‘What exactly do you want to know?’
He hid his surprise behind a slow blink. ‘I’m not sure. I wasn’t expecting you to offer.’
‘I wasn’t expecting Arianna Escobar to know my name. I think I am connected, if by nothing more than my ownership of this damn house.’ She practically spat the last two words. ‘I’ll help you as much as I can, but I’d like your promise on one thing.’
‘Depends on what that one thing is.’
‘If I do become a suspect, you’ll tell me, so that I can get an attorney and protect myself.’
He shook his head, surprised at the intensity of his regret. ‘I can’t make that promise. If you become a suspect, my responsibility is to the victims. Not to you.’
She dropped her gaze to her hands, letting out a quiet breath. ‘Fair enough,’ she said again, very quietly. ‘Can you at least recommend a decent defense attorney?’
He gritted his teeth in disappointment. She was lawyering up. Finding out what she knew was going to take hours longer, hours Corinne Longstreet might not have. But Deacon found he couldn’t blame her. She’d been viciously attacked by a client who’d later vilified her during his trial, accusing her of sleeping with him. And if she was telling the truth, that same client had stalked her and thirty complaints to the local PD hadn’t kept her safe.
In her place
, Deacon thought,
I’d lawyer up too
. He’d certainly urge his own sister to do so.
‘I’m new to the task force here so I don’t know many defense attorneys in this area yet. But I know a good one back in Baltimore. I can ask him if he can recommend anyone here.’
‘Thank you. Well then, let’s go. The quicker I get stitched up, the quicker I can answer your questions and then get back to my hotel for a shower and some clean clothes and a decent night’s sleep. I only hope that whatever I know is something you can use.’
He frowned, unsure that he’d heard her correctly, his mind having tripped over the unexpected image of her in the shower. Unexpected, but not entirely unwelcome. He scrambled to regain his focus. ‘I don’t think you’ll find a local attorney all that quickly.’