For all his considerable bulk, the lawman could move fast when he wanted to. Farley and Feinberg stood at the window and watched the sheriff run to the car.
'What a piece of…' Farley muttered. 'He didn’t even ask us our names or ask to see our identification.'
'He’s got places to go, people to see…' Feinberg began.
'And a friend named Brenner to tell,' Farley concluded as he pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
The phone was answered on the first ring. 'You got him?' Farley asked. He listened for another minute, then said, 'Yes, sir,' and hung up.
Feinberg squatted down by the black case. 'Let’s get started,' he said as he handed the other agent a pair of gloves. 'This could take us all night.'
Farley was the eternal optimist. 'Maybe we’ll get lucky.' An hour later, they did get lucky. They found the video camera tucked high in a corner of the linen closet outside of Laurant’s bedroom. The camera lens was pressed against a hole in the wall and was pointed toward Laurant’s bed. He’d been watching her sleep.
Chapter 16
Nick wasn’t talking to her. Laurant assumed he was still furious because she had insisted upon returning to Holy Oaks. After she’d taunted the madman to come and get her, Nick had gone a little crazy. And that was putting it mildly. Tommy heard all the commotion and came running, with Noah hot on his tail. As soon as Nick told her brother what she’d done, Tommy joined in the shouting match, but she held her own and stood up to them. Pete and Noah came to her assistance, flanking her sides like protective guardians. They defended her plan, and after what seemed like an hour of battling, Tommy finally caved. The phone call convinced him that the man wasn’t going to forget Laurant, and if the FBI didn’t set a trap and catch the animal, then she would be on the run or in hiding for the rest of her life.
And while the unsub was playing his hide-and-seek game with her, he would, no doubt, be preying on other women.
They had no other choice.
Unfortunately, Nick hadn’t seen it that way, and thus far she’d been unsuccessful in penetrating his anger. Pete had once again suggested that Nick step aside, repeating his earlier argument that he was simply too close to the situation and couldn’t be objective. Nick refused to listen, but when Morganstern threatened to take the choice away from him and have him removed from the case, Nick saw Tommy’s stricken expression, and then he too caved.
Pete made a call to Frank O’Leary to get the ball rolling.
Now, she was finally on her way home, sitting side by side with Nick on a US Air Express plane that was taking them from Kansas City to Des Moines. They would drive the rest of the way. Pete told her a car would be waiting at the airport. Her automobile was going into the shop for repairs in Kansas City, and as soon as the work was finished, Tommy and Noah would drive it back to Holy Oaks.
She didn’t want to think about what was going to happen once she got there. She nervously flipped through the pages of Time magazine, even tried to read an article about inflation, but she couldn’t concentrate, and after rereading the same paragraph three times, she gave up.
How long was Nick going to give her the silent treatment? He had stopped talking the minute they’d entered the airport.
'You’re being childish.'
He didn’t respond. She turned to look at him and noticed how gray his complexion was.
'Are you sick?'
A curt shake of his head was her only answer. Then she noticed his grip on the armrest. 'Nick, what’s wrong?'
'Nothing’s wrong.'
'Then why won’t you talk to me?'
'We’ll talk later, after the plane lands… unless…'
'Unless what?'
'We crash and die in a fiery ball.'
'You’re joking.'
'No, I’m not.'
She couldn’t believe it. Macho Man was afraid of flying. He looked like he was going to throw up. His fear was real, and no matter how funny she thought it was, she forced herself to be sympathetic.
'You don’t like flying much, do you?'
'No,' he answered curtly before turning to stare out the window again.
'Want to hold my hand?'
'It isn’t funny, Laurant.'
She plied his hand away from the armrest and slipped her fingers through his. 'I wasn’t teasing. Lots of people don’t like to fly.'
'Is that right?'
His grip was firm and she could feel the calluses on his hand. Working man’s hands, but today he was dressed like an executive on Wall Street. Another contradiction, she thought, another layer of his personality she found puzzling and fascinating. Tommy and Nick seemed so different from each other. They certainly had chosen different paths. Her brother was dedicated to the church. He always looked for the good in others, and his primary goal was to save souls.
Nick seemed to have dedicated his life to fighting demons. His job was depressing and unending, and she wasn’t sure if the rewards were worth the price he paid. He seemed so cynical to her. He expected people to be bad, and thus far, he hadn’t been disappointed.
The urge to comfort him took her by surprise. She leaned close and whispered, 'We’re almost there.'
'We aren’t there until or unless we land.'
He was proving to be difficult to comfort. 'Landings aren’t dangerous-'
He snorted. 'As long as the pilot knows what the hell he’s doing.'
'I’m sure he knows what he’s doing. Pilots are trained to land planes.'
'Maybe.'
'We’ve only got a few more minutes to go. We’re making our final descent.'
His grip on her hand tightened. 'How do you know that?'
'The captain just told the attendants to sit down.'
'Did you hear the landing gear go down? I sure as hell didn’t hear it.'
'I did.'
'You’re sure?'
'Yes, I’m sure.'
He took a breath and told himself to calm down. 'You do know that this is when most accidents happen, don’t you? Pilots misjudge the runway.'
'Did you read that somewhere?'
'No, I just figured it out. Simple physics. Things go wrong… human error. Think about it. One man’s trying to ease down over a hundred fifty tons of metal on a couple of little rubber rollers. It’s a damned miracle every time a plane lands.'
She maintained a somber expression. 'I see. Then you believe that if man were meant to fly, he would be born with wings.'
'Something like that.'
'Nick?'
'What?' Now he sounded surly.
'In your line of work… don’t you have to dodge bullets… and don’t you go into life-and-death situations sometimes? You’re an FBI agent for heaven’s sake. The cream of the crop. Yet you’re afraid of a little plane ride.'
