Дэвид Балдаччи - Mercy

Pine ran down the long, twisty drive, finally reached the main street, and found a mailbox with a number address on it and then a street sign farther down. She gave this information to the dispatcher.

The dispatcher said, “I’ll have officers there as fast as possible. Be careful, Agent Pine.”

Next, Pine was about to call Blum when—

“Shit.” She looked down at the screen as the iPhone’s juice ran out and it went dark.

The last thing she wanted to do was go back to the house and search for a phone charger. A moment later, an ancient, rattling Ford pickup truck with a license plate designating it as an antique appeared around a curve and headed her way. Pine stood in the middle of the street with her shield held up high. When the driver slowed and stopped, Pine rushed forward. Behind the wheel was a white-haired woman in her eighties, wearing faded bib overalls, a straw hat, and a wry smile.

“I’m an FBI agent,” Pine said, showing her the shield. The woman squinted at it and then pulled up her glasses, which dangled on a chain, to see it better.

“My, my, that’s very impressive, young lady.”

“I need you to drive me to a hotel in downtown Asheville.” She told the woman the address, then added, “It’s an emergency.”

“Sure, honey. I know where that is. Get in.”

Pine jumped into the passenger seat and the woman said, “Do I get to break the speed limit since it’s an emergency?”

Pine said, “Do whatever you need to do to get me there as fast as possible. Any cops stop us, I’ll deal with it. Do you have a cell phone I can use?”

The woman shook her head. “Had one of them flip phones once, but I never got the hang of it. Every time that thing rang in my pocket, nearly scared me to death.”

“Great,” said Pine under her breath.

“Now, let’s get going,” the old woman said as she sat up straighter, took off her glasses, and rammed down the gas pedal.

The truck leapt forward but then settled into a sedate forty miles per hour pace.

The woman looked over at her and smiled. “This truck belonged to my father. Got it wound all the way up, missy. All hundred and forty horsepower. Can you feel it? We’ll be there lickety-split. This is so exciting.”

“Yes, ma’am” was all Pine could manage.

“There he is,” said Blum.

Stephen Marbury had just walked out of the detention facility. He had a pleased expression on his face as he climbed into the back of the Escalade. As soon as the door closed, the vehicle drove off.

Blum put the Porsche in gear and followed at a discreet distance.

Mercy said, “You really think this is connected to Lee’s disappearance?”

“I would be shocked if it weren’t. But I’ve been to Desiree’s house. If she was working with a drug ring that has this kind of legal muscle, I would have thought she’d be more affluent.”

“She might be socking it away and living light to avoid suspicion,” opined Mercy.

Blum glanced at her. “You’d make a good detective.”

“I’ve lived life and learned my lessons,” replied Mercy tersely.

The Escalade turned onto the main road and sped up. Both vehicles traveled several blocks in moderate traffic before stopping at a red light.

“Do you remember anything of your life before you went to the Atkinses?” asked Blum. “Except what you’ve already told me?”

“I sort of remember my mother. She was tall, too. I remember Lee being up in a tree. And I went back to the Atkinses’ place in Crawfordville, to my little prison. Found my doll, Sally, and took it. She’s in my duffel.”

“It must have been painful reliving all that.”

“It was, at first. And then I remembered that I survived all that .”

The light changed and they started up again.

“I wonder where he’s going,” said Mercy.

“Hopefully to a place that will lead us to Agent Pine.”

“Do you like working with her?”

“It’s the best job I’ve ever had.”

“Lee sounds perfect,” Mercy said with a bit of snark.

Blum glanced at Mercy. “If that was your impression from what I said, then I said it wrong. She grew up largely alone. Even when her mother was there, she told me that she really wasn’t. After what happened, it was like your mother both smothered your sister as far as never letting her out of sight, but then cut her off emotionally.”

Mercy looked over at Blum, her expression now more nuanced. “That must’ve been tough. A double whammy, ’cause I kind of remember Lee liked to do stuff Mom didn’t want her to do, but then Mom was really proud of her for doing it. That seemed to mean a lot to Lee, like they were real tight.”

“I’m a mother. I know how important maternal nurturing is. Nothing comes close to what you endured, but Agent Pine has suffered the effects of that motherly absence, too.”

Mercy nodded and looked thoughtfully out the window. “And my dad is this Jack Lineberry character? How exactly did that shake out?”

“He worked at a government agency. I’m not sure which one. As I said, he was your mother’s handler. They developed feelings for each other and acted on those feelings. I’m sure it was a very difficult time for both of them. Jack was actually engaged to someone else, but then he fell in love with your mother. And... and then they... got together and your mother became pregnant with you and your sister.”

Mercy smiled. “You have a nice, polite way with words, Carol. You mean they had sex and out popped twins.”

“That’s one way to describe it,” said Blum primly.

She turned left to follow the Escalade.

“And where is this Lineberry guy now?”

“He’s at his estate in Georgia.”

“Estate, huh? Must be nice.”

“He’s leaving everything to you and Agent Pine, by the way. All his wealth. You will be a very rich woman when the time comes.”

Blum glanced at Mercy to see her reaction to this. It wasn’t what she expected. Or maybe it was.

Mercy was frowning. “I get by just fine. I don’t need big bucks from a guy who screwed my mom.”

“Well, it will come to you eventually. And you can do with it what you want.”

“You’re assuming I outlive the guy. Nothing is guaranteed,” she added bluntly.

“No argument there.”

Five minutes later Blum said, “It looks like we have arrived.”

The Escalade had slowed and turned into a long drive that led up to a substantial home on about five acres.

“Well, whoever we’re dealing with has some bucks of his own,” noted Mercy.

Blum slowed the Porsche and pulled past the driveway the Escalade had turned into. Then she drove on and turned into the parking lot of a church that was down the street a bit. There were other cars in the parking lot, and she edged in between two of them so as not to stand out.

She stared across the street at the house.

“They might have Agent Pine in there.”

“Maybe so. Now what do we do?”

“We could call the police, but we really have no grounds to do so. And if they come and find nothing in there, the people will know we’re on to them.”

“I can go take a look,” offered Mercy.

“No, it’s too dangerous. If they are in there, they could capture or kill you.”

“Then what — we just wait out here while they might be in there hurting Lee?”

Blum looked torn. “But you have no experience doing this sort of thing.”

“Let me tell you something, I’ve kicked the shit out of more ‘tough’ guys than any gal you’ll ever meet, including your boss. There’s a lot to worry about with this, but me not being able to handle myself ain’t one of them.”

“But—”