Allison Brennan - Silenced

It could be her killer already had it. But then why go after Ivy and the others?

“And Ivy helped her?” Kate asked.

“The money was good, and Ivy was desperate. Then-” She hesitated.

“Then?”

“Ivy stopped talking to me. Something was going down, it was like she was looking for a big score. Taking huge risks. It started when Sara called her. You gotta understand, Sara isn’t allowed to use the phone. Ivy had hidden a disposable cell phone in the barn for Sara to call only when it was safe. Sara was crying, begging her to come back and get her. Ivy had already spent a small fortune to get her the first time, and she was hysterical about not having the money to go back. She started meeting with this guy I’d never seen before-not a client, at least she said he wasn’t. And then two weeks ago, he came to the house with Sara in tow. I haven’t seen him since.”

“What did he look like?” Kate said.

“Older-forties. Nice-looking Italian guy, not short or tall. Buffed-he definitely worked out. I really don’t think he was one of her clients-I can tell when men are pervs, and I didn’t get that vibe from him. He treated Ivy like a sister or daughter or something.”

“Did she hire him to kidnap her sister?” Kate asked.

“She did not kidnap Sara!” Kerry said. “She saved her from being repeatedly raped by her father. You can’t possibly understand what they went through. Nobody understands what it’s like to have the person you trust more than anyone turn into a monster. My stepfather was so fucking drunk the first time he raped me that he didn’t know I wasn’t my mother. And then my mother, so desperate to keep a man, told me I was the whore.”

Lucy understood far more than Kerry thought, but she wasn’t going to say a word, especially when this conversation was being recorded. Her heart broke for what they had suffered.

Kerry said, “You got to let them go. Let them escape. If Reverend Edmonds gets his hands on Sara, you’ll never get her back.”

“The FBI isn’t going to send Sara back to a bad situation,” Kate said. “All she has to do is tell us she was raped and we’ll keep her in custody, give her a full medical exam.”

“And what if he gets to her first?” Kerry said. “What if he takes her home? Are you going to break down his door and take her away? I’m telling you, if he takes Sara back to the mountain, no one will see her again.”

Lucy said, “Kerry, I give you my word, when we find Sara, we will protect her.” She ignored Kate’s look of concern. There were promises agents couldn’t always keep. But Lucy would do everything possible to keep this promise. “You have to understand there is a killer searching for Sara and Ivy and Mina. And you, for that matter. We have to find the girls first. Do you have any idea where they might be?”

Kerry sounded distraught, and Lucy could hear Mrs. Carson consoling her in the background. “Ivy called Jocelyn, because Jocelyn always promised to help. And now Jocelyn is dead. Would you go to someone you care about if you thought they might get killed for it?”

“No, I wouldn’t,” Lucy said. “Not for me. But if I was protecting someone, if someone else counted on me to keep them safe, I would do anything to guarantee their safety.”

Hans said, “Kerry? We know that Ivy stole five thousand dollars. What would she do with it?”

“Buy two passports so they could go to Canada,” Kerry said without hesitation. “That was her plan all along, and she had the passports, but they were destroyed in the fire.”

“Where did she get the first two?”

Kerry didn’t speak. Then she hedged, “I thought of someone she might go to. She was really close to the black lady who had a little church and school on Thirty-first Street.”

“Marti North,” Kate said.

“She’s not dead too, is she?”

“No. We spoke to her and she claimed not to have seen Ivy.”

Lucy frowned. There had to be another place.

“How did you and Ivy communicate?”

“We all had disposable phones,” Kerry said. “But I’ve been trying to reach Ivy and her phone isn’t working.”

Lucy pictured the two phones underwater in the sink of the Hotel Potomac.

Lucy pulled out the rental agreement that the owner of the Hawthorne Street house had faxed over. She asked, “Do you know Paul Harris? Ivy listed him as her father, but we know that’s not true. Was it a false name?”

“Father Paul,” Kerry said. “She hasn’t talked about him in years. He helped her when she first came to DC, and once or twice she’d mention something in passing about Father Paul. I don’t know where he lives, I’ve never met him.”

“Father Paul?” Lucy asked. “Is he a priest?”

“I don’t know, I guess he could be.”

Lucy typed the address from the rental agreement into her mapping program on her laptop. She smiled and said, “St. Anne’s Catholic Church.” She stood, antsy.

Kate held up her finger. “Kerry, thank you for your help. We’ll find Ivy and Sara, and it’ll be because you helped.”

They disconnected and Kate said, “We need backup, Lucy, we’re not going in blind. I’ll set it up.”

The phone rang again and it was Hans. Kate answered. “I’m sorry I hung up on you. I need to put a team together for this op.”

“We just got a search warrant for Betty Dare and Noah and Stein are already on their way. I’ll have a SWAT team meet you two blocks east of St. Anne’s-you don’t want to tip your hand. I don’t think Ivy is violent, but I do think she’ll kill to protect her sister.”

Lucy concurred, but didn’t comment.

“And Lucy?” Hans said.

“I’m here.”

“Good job.”

While Kate put the team together, Lucy went upstairs to change. She was still sore, but the ibuprofen she’d taken earlier had finally kicked in. She opened her bedroom door and jumped back, an involuntary yelp escaping before she recognized the back she was staring at belonged to Sean.

He turned around. “I’m sorry-I heard you and Kate on the conference call and came up here to write a note.”

“You could have come into the family room.”

He crumpled up the paper he’d been writing on and tossed it in the garbage gan. “Now I can tell you in person that I love you.” He smiled and hugged her, not tightly. “You’re still sore,” he said.

“A bit. We have a lead on Ivy Harris. She’s friends with a priest at St. Anne’s, a small Catholic church. Kate and I are going to talk to him now.”

“I hope you find her.”

Sean wasn’t quite himself, but Lucy couldn’t figure out what it was in his demeanor that was off. If roles were reversed, Sean would know exactly what was bothering her. His insight into her personality and moods could be annoying, but she also found it comforting at times. And right now, she suspected Sean needed something from her.

“Sean, what’s wrong?”

He smiled and kissed her. “I’m sorry I didn’t come back last night. I wanted to, but got wrapped up in a project.”

“That’s okay. You’ll make it up to me, I’m sure,” she teased. But that wasn’t the only thing on his mind. Lucy pushed. “Is it a difficult case?”

“Nothing I can’t handle.” He played with her hair. “I don’t want to keep you, I know you have work.”

“I have a few minutes.” She sat down at the foot of her bed, and patted the space next to her. “Sit.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He did, then pushed her gently back onto the bed. “You, me, bed-want to play hooky?” He kissed her neck, then her jawline, all the way to her lips.

He was avoiding her question. She recognized his ruse to sidetrack her.

“We both have work to do,” she whispered.