Allison Brennan - Silenced

The paramedic handed Sean a bulletproof vest, then finished cleaning up his supplies. “Those things are amazing,” the paramedic said. “Need anything else, Ms. Kincaid?”

“I’m fine, thank you.”

Sean held the vest in his hands. The bullet was still embedded in the vest.

“Don’t touch it, it’s evidence,” Lucy said.

“This is the back. He shot you in the back?” He lifted Lucy’s shirt up from the back. A large round bruise had already formed. He kissed it, though containing his anger was becoming difficult. Between Paxton and no sleep and what happened to Lucy-he needed to decompress.

Lucy sensed his tension and hugged him. “I really am fine.”

Sean held on to Lucy as tightly as he could. He feared he would lose her. To her job, to violence, to his own mistakes. He’d told her before that he needed her more than she needed him, and she’d never truly believed it. He didn’t care, because he knew the truth. Lucy gave him hope. Lucy made him realize he needed love in his life-love, trust, commitment. That there were things greater than him worth fighting for.

His past was a danger zone. He had to protect Lucy from it. While he knew that she could handle anything life threw at her, deep down he feared she’d turn her back on him when he needed her the most.

“I love you, Luce.”

“Sean-” She kissed him warmly, with a deep passion he craved from her. Needed from her. She pulled back and smiled. “I love you, too.”

They sat like that for a long minute, then Sean asked, “How did he find her? Did he have someone in the FBI on payroll?”

Lucy shook her head. “He told Sara he put a GPS chip under her skin. At the base of her neck. Like she was a pet. After Ivy ran away, he didn’t want to lose her. But proximity mattered-it didn’t work beyond five miles. So when he learned she was in DC, he came here and just drove around.”

Sean smiled, then burst into laughter.

“It’s not funny. It’s rather scary.”

He hugged her. “I’m sorry. But I just came up with the name for your new cat. Chip.” He grinned. “I know exactly what Wendy James did with her data.”

Saturday

Lucy and Kate were dressed in scrubs and stood sentry in the operating room. Chain of custody was critical, especially in a complex case like this. Kate had even set up a video camera in the corner in case the court had any questions about the procedure.

It wasn’t every day that key evidence in a homicide investigation was hidden in a pet.

The veterinarian had put Chip under general anesthesia and the cat lay motionless on the table. Lucy frowned.

“What’s your problem?” Kate said. “You worked at a morgue.”

“Dead people don’t bother me,” Lucy said. “I really like this cat.”

“He should be fine,” the vet said. “Though whoever did this to him should have his license pulled. It’s dangerous. The chips they put in pets for tracking are the size of a grain of rice. This one is much bigger.”

He gestured to the X-ray that showed a square of metal on the back of Chip’s neck.

“He’s doing well,” the vet purred. “Good kitty.”

“I wish Mina’s surgery had been this easy,” Lucy said.

“She’s healthy and the doctor is optimistic,” Kate reminded her. “It’s just a long road to recover.”

“Are you doing okay with the shooting and everything?”

“It was justified. If I think too much about it, I remind myself that it was him or innocents.” Kate glanced at her. “Him, or you. Thank God you didn’t take off that vest.”

Lucy rolled her sore shoulder and winced. It still hurt, probably would for days. “Sean said I was lucky not to have cracked a rib.”

“Bingo,” the vet said. He held up the chip with his tweezers. “It’s coated in silicone.”

“Plop it right in here.” Kate held up an evidence bag. The vet dropped the chip in. Kate sealed the bag and signed the front. “Now to take this to the lab. This will be fun.”

“When can we take Chip home?” Lucy asked the vet.

“Give him a couple hours. I want to make sure there are no side effects from the surgery or anesthesia. Come by after three.”

Lucy and Kate left the vet hospital. “I’m going straight to the lab-do you want me to drop you home?”

“Can you take me to the hospital? I want to make sure Ivy’s okay. Check on Mina and Genie.”

Kate and Noah had worked a miracle to get Ivy on a tracking bracelet and into a halfway house in one day. She couldn’t leave DC until the FBI was satisfied she’d shared all information she had.

“What’s the word on Brian Abernathy?” Lucy asked. “I don’t think he’s just going to give up.”

“Everyone is looking for him. His testimony could seal the indictment on his mother. But either he or his brother killed six people. We have plenty of evidence, so as soon as we get him in custody, we’ll know for certain. He was smart on one level, but trace evidence is aplenty.”

“Noah told me Devon Sullivan is not cooperating.”

“She doesn’t need to say a word-that’s her right. But Josh Stein has her solid on major financial irregularities. And because of her wealth we were able to freeze her assets. She’s sitting in jail all weekend.”

“She doesn’t deserve to walk free.”

“We’re working double-time to get hard evidence that she ordered the murder of Wendy James.”

“What about the others?”

“If we can prove Wendy, it’ll be much easier to connect the others. Without Wendy’s case being solid, the others fall apart. At least to nail Sullivan with. Conspiracy is extremely difficult to prove. The search warrants were a huge bonus, but she has the entire Acuna and Bigelow law firm fighting every warrant, every piece of evidence. Now,” Kate said, gesturing toward the chip in the evidence bag, “if that has anything of substance, we won’t have to worry. The AUSA said the warrant on this extraction is air-tight.”

Kate dropped Lucy off at the emergency room entrance. She went directly to ICU, where Mina was recovering from surgery. Ivy was there at her bedside; a DC uniformed officer was at her door. Lucy showed her identification to enter.

Lucy whispered, “How is she?”

“She woke up. That’s good, the doctors say.” Ivy glanced at Lucy. “I let her down. The night of the fire, I picked Sara over her and I can’t forgive myself.”

“You have to. It’s hard, but you have to.” Lucy paused, then said, “Seven years ago I was kidnapped and raped by a guy I met online. Long story-I thought he was someone else. But it was still stupid on my part. My brothers went looking for me, and one of them was nearly killed in an explosion. After surgery, he slipped into a coma and stayed that way for nearly two years. I’ve tried to forgive myself-and some days, I don’t think about it. But other times, I feel hot and cold at the same time, and I picture Patrick lying in a hospital bed unresponsive. His brain working, but not working. And the guilt just washes over me. But, it’s not every day. It’s sometimes not every week.”

Lucy knew remnants of that time would continue to haunt her. But she would survive and grow stronger because of her job, her family, and Sean. “The decision you made Tuesday morning, you made out of love. Love for your sister, love for the girls at Hawthorne Street. Mina knows that, in her heart.”

The nurse came in. “Your ten minutes are up.”

Ivy nodded and she and Lucy left.

“How’s Sara?”

Ivy smiled. “I don’t know what happened in the church, but she’s doing amazing. Come see her.”

Lucy pulled a box from her pocket. “This really helped. I know you want it back.”