Allison Brennan - Cutting Edge

She was ready now. She could battle her evil sister and win.

Nora hung up with the agents in Paso Robles. David O’Dell had refused to let them in his house, said he didn’t know where Maggie was, and that even if he did know he wouldn’t tell them. No threats worked, and the federal agents left empty-handed. They were trying the high school next, to talk to Maggie’s former teachers and principal and get a fuller picture if possible.

Pete called and Nora was glad for more work so she didn’t have time to think about Quin. Who was late.

“Hi, Pete, what’s going on?”

“Good news, I think. I’m at Butcher-Payne with Jim Butcher, and I think I may have found a connection with Jonah Payne.”

“Dr. Payne and Maggie?”

“Payne and Cameron Lovitz.”

Nora froze. The man was coming back to haunt her. She’d never forget the look in his eyes when he was pounding her head into the cement. He’d wanted to kill her. She’d thought she would die.

“And?” she managed to get out.

“Payne did a semester at Cal Poly SLO during grad school. His professor in neurobiology was Timothy Guttenburg. Guttenburg’s research assistant was Cameron Lovitz.”

It was a connection, but it didn’t necessarily mean anything. “And?”

“That’s all I have.”

“Is Guttenburg still around?”

“I haven’t called yet, I wanted to tell you-”

“Call, dammit.” She squeezed her eyes closed. “Sorry. I’m testy today. Just call, talk to him if you can, or anyone who knew him and Lovitz. Find out why Lovitz’s daughter would want to kill Dr. Payne, if you can.”

“Will do.”

Nora realized she hadn’t told Pete about the connection with Lovitz. “Pete, how did you find out about Lovitz? I didn’t know about Maggie O’Dell’s connections until after you left.”

“Hooper called. I know it’s sensitive, I’m being discreet. I’m sorry, Nora. I know this is tough for you.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled, and hung up. She should have called Pete herself and filled him in. She hadn’t even thought of it.

The door opened and she hoped it was Duke. She needed-what did she need? She didn’t know. She just wanted to see him. To help her prepare for the rest of today.

“You summoned me?” Quin bounced into the room and closed the door. “Nice digs. Subtle and sexy, just like the hunk who works here.”

Nora couldn’t reconcile the Quin she knew and loved with the Quin who’d been deceiving her for years. She said, “I have something to tell you.”

“That’s why I’m here!”

Nora didn’t know how to tell Quin about Lorraine’s baby, but she was angry about her sister’s deception so she spilled everything.

“Our mother was pregnant when she was arrested. I never told you because from the beginning, the judge told her if convicted, she would need to put the baby up for adoption if there were no relatives who wanted it. And I didn’t. I didn’t even know how I was going to take care of you.” Nora took a deep breath. She almost wished Quin would say something, but she just stared blankly, watching. Quin hadn’t gone to the trial. She’d seen Lorraine once after the arrest, and once after the conviction ten months later. After the baby was born and adopted. Quin had never seen Lorraine pregnant.

“I know this is a shock, and I would never tell you about it except there’s a serious situation you do need to know about. The baby, a girl, was adopted by April Plummer, Lorraine’s closest friend. It was an open adoption with visitation rights. That girl is Maggie O’Dell.”

Quin stared at her and shrugged. “I know.”

Comprehension slowly hit Nora as she rose from the chair. “You know? You know what?”

Quin stood in the middle of Duke’s office, arms crossed over her chest. Defiant. Just like she’d been as a little girl. Stubborn. When Nora put her foot down, Quin would stand just like this and challenge her.

“I know about my sister.” Her chin jutted out.

“Did Lorraine tell you?” Nora’s voice shook. The anger and frustration and failure she’d felt for the last two hours boiled over. “When you went to visit her?”

Quin squinted, though she couldn’t hide her surprise. “Yes.”

“I can’t believe you went to see Lorraine without talking to me first!”

“You never let me visit her! My own mother. I begged you, and you kept saying no.”

“You were a child. Lorraine is a pathological liar who’s in prison for terrorism and murder. You didn’t need her warped influence.”

“Nice of you to be my protector. The last time I asked, I was sixteen. You still said no, and that was it. End of story. The Great Almighty has spoken. So, yeah, I waited until I was eighteen so I could see her without your damn permission.”

Nora remembered what Duke had said about Quin not having the same experiences with Lorraine as she had. She was trying to understand, but the years of living homeless, living off others, never having a home, never going to school, no friends … she wanted none of that for Quin. Didn’t Quin remember how hard it had been? Didn’t she remember the times they’d been left alone? When she was three and Nora was twelve and Lorraine disappeared for two weeks? They lived in a tent, and Nora hid them from the cops because she feared they’d take Quin away from her, put them in a government institution where they would never see the sun, where they would live like slaves.

That’s what Lorraine had always told Nora. And some of it was true. If they had been found, the government would have split them up. They might have lived in a virtual prison. Or foster care. Would that have been better?

There were too many times when Nora had learned the hard way. And damn if Quin was going to live through the same.

“I’m trying to understand,” Nora said, biting back her frustration. “Visiting Lorraine once, maybe I can understand. But you went back. Twenty-three times you went back, most recently in June . The week you told me you were going to L.A. with your boyfriend of the month.”

“I did. We just made a stop first.”

“Why? I spent my life protecting you from her!”

“Maybe you didn’t need to.”

Nora stared at her sister in disbelief. It was like she was seeing Quin for the first time. Had she messed up that badly? Had she missed all the signs? Had Quin been brainwashed by that woman?

Quin said, “Lorraine made mistakes, I know that. I’m not saying she shouldn’t be in prison, but she never hurt us.”

“She had us making bombs.”

“Just the components-”

“How can you talk like that? You were mixing and measuring black powder from the time you were seven! It was your damn math lesson! And when Cameron held you off that freeway overpass so you could hang his stupid fucking banner, I wanted to kill him.”

“Well, in a way you did.”

Nora’s mouth opened, then closed. Quin damn well knew what had happened. She knew the truth about that night. “They were going to plant bombs at a nuclear power plant.”

“Don’t be so naive. You know as well as I do that the security at those places is so tight no one was going to get in.”

“They did get in! They got through the gate. They’d never have succeeded in their plan, but they got in on their own. Someone could have been killed. A security guard, an engineer, an innocent person so Cameron and Lorraine could make a damn political statement!”

Quin shuffled her feet, glanced down. She knew Nora was right, why couldn’t she just admit it? Where was all this animosity coming from? These last few years they’d gotten along so well. They had the relationship Nora always wanted for them. Quin never talked about what happened then, and Nora sure as hell didn’t bring it up. But this defense of Lorraine? Nora was livid.