know. All I care about is that a little girl is home with her parents tonight. And a woman who’s more a victim than an offender is about to get the help she needs. That’s the best outcome we could hope for under the circumstances.”
“Were you at the Willises’ till now?” Marc asked. The Forensic Instincts team had stayed only long enough to witness the touching family reunion-one that gave them the rare chance to see Edward Willis break down and weep, and to see Krissy meet her grandfather. Then they’d wrapped things up with the task force, and said their goodbyes. Hope Willis had followed them outside, insistent on giving them an overly generous check right there on the spot. They’d graciously accepted, asked to be kept posted on how Krissy was doing and left.
“Yeah, I came here straight from Armonk,” Patrick confirmed. “Krissy still hasn’t said very much. But that’s to be expected. She was with the FBI child psychologist when I left.”
“Any news on the charges against Felicity and Linda?”
“Not yet.” Patrick frowned. “Both situations are difficult. Both have extenuating circumstances. Neither woman is fit to stand trial. Obviously, Linda is by far the guiltier of the two, since she set this whole nightmare in motion. I’m sure she’ll be transferred to a high security health facility, where she’ll be treated for Alzheimer’s. And Felicity will need intensive therapy, and a lot of emotional support. I hope the sentence imposed on her will reflect her lifelong trauma.”
“I’m sure it will,” Casey replied. “Especially given Hope’s compassionate heart. She’ll intervene on her sister’s behalf. She’s adamant that a ruined life is more than enough price for Felicity to pay.”
A nod. “Oh, one interesting twist I got from Peg before she left with Felicity. Apparently the mob was so worried that we’d dig up something unrelated but incriminating on them, that they got one of the Sunny Gardens nurses to do some preemptive damage control.”
“Even though they had nothing to do with the two kidnappings?” Ryan looked amused. “Glad to make a mobster squirm, but what happened with this nurse?”
“Denise Amato,” Patrick supplied. “Seems she’s sleeping with Bill Parsons, Tony Bennato’s construction foreman. Peg got her to talk. She didn’t know a lot. Only that Bennato got inside info that warranted his ordering Parsons to try and find a way to point the Feds, the cops-” a pointed look in Marc’s direction “-and I quote, ‘and that nutcase Navy SEAL’ in a different direction. So, on Parsons’s instructions, Amato wheeled Linda Turner down to the lake, where Linda promptly went to pieces, screaming and crying and toppling her wheelchair to get away.”
“I guess Bennato knew about Claudia Mitchell’s confrontation with Lorna-slash-Linda, and dug up dirt on Linda’s past,” Marc said, trying to keep his lips from quirking.
“Yeah, and I guess you paid Parsons a less than cordial surprise visit on your own.”
“Do you want me to answer that?”
“Nope.”
“I didn’t think so.”
Patrick cleared his throat. “That brings me to the other reason I’m here.”
“Gee,” Ryan said, “and here I thought you just came by to tell us how awesome we are.”
“Nope. Like I said, you’re great at what you do. No arguments there. Your methods, however, leave a hell of a lot to be desired. You need supervision and restraint. I’ve decided to offer you both.”
“Pardon me?” That brought Casey’s head up.
“You need me. And I’m bored by the freelance assignments that come my way. So I’ve decided to come on board-
“You want to join Forensic Instincts?” Casey had to make sure she was hearing right.
“Surprised?”
“Thrilled.” Casey shot Patrick a huge grin. “You’d be the perfect counterweight to a bunch of out-of-control mavericks.” She glanced around the room. “I know we ordinarily make these decisions in private,” she told her team. “But since this interview-and job acceptance-were just conducted in public, and since we know that Patrick has no ego problem, how do you feel about adding another new member to the team?”
“Sweet,” Ryan replied at once. “Renegade Marc and by-the-book Patrick, battling it out. I smell a comic book series. The possibilities are endless.”
“And balanced,” Marc added, ignoring Ryan’s taunt. “I think it’s a great idea. A little more structure and discipline. I can handle the infighting if you can, Patrick.”
“Bring it on,” Patrick replied.
“And with Claire-voyant on board, we can use another person who has his feet on the ground.” Ryan slanted a look in Claire’s direction. “What do you think?”
“I think Patrick’s experience and
“And the piece de resistance-Hero likes you,” Casey said with a grin. “Or, at the very least, he likes your shoes. He doesn’t slobber on just anyone. If that’s not a yes, I don’t know what is.” She extended her hand to Patrick. “Welcome to the team, former Special Agent Lynch. We’re honored to have you.”
“You’ll be eating those words a lot,” Patrick replied. But he was grinning, too, as he shook Casey’s hand. “But I look forward to working with you all.”
Casey lifted her glass again. “To the new and improved Forensic Instincts. Onward and upward, and may we not kill one another in the process.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
With deepest gratitude to all those amazing professionals who so graciously gave of their time and helped provide me with the authenticity I needed to write
Angela Bell, Public Affairs Specialist, FBI Office of Public Affairs (Angela, you’re the exception to my rule-you’re always first, because you’re the most extraordinary central contact I could ever hope for!)
Arthur Cummings II, Former Executive Assistant Director, FBI National Security Branch
SSA James McNamara, FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit 2
SA Konrad Motyka, FBI New York
SA James Margolin, FBI Office of Public Affairs, New York Field Office
SSA Michael Harkins, Coordinating Supervisor, Violent Crime/Gangs Branch, FBI New York Field Office
SSRA Michael Ferrandino, FBI Long Island Resident Agency
SSA Leonard Johns, Formerly of the FBI Behavioral Analysis Unit 3
SSA Thomas Lintner, Chief FBI Laboratory’s Evidence Response Team Unit
SSA Rex Stockham, Program Manager for FBI Laboratory’s Forensic Canine Program
SSRA Edward McCabe, FBI White Plains Resident Agency
SA Tonya DeSa, FBI Newark Division National Academy Coordinator, NCAVC Coordinator, Assistant Training Coordinator
SA Laura Robinson, Senior Team Leader, Evidence Response Team, FBI Newark Field Office
SA Maria Johnson, NCAVC Coordinator, FBI New York Field Office
Retired SA Richard DeFilippo, Violent Crimes Task Force, FBI New York Field Office
Robert D’Angelo, Chief of Police, North Castle, New York
Retired FBI SA Richard Mika
SA Ann Todd, FBI Office of Public Affairs
Retired Detective Mike Oliver, NYPD
Jennifer Michelson, New Jersey Search and Rescue Dog Task Force
Hillel Ben-Asher, M.D.
In addition, I want to thank Adam Wilson, for being a true editorial partner, and Andrea Cirillo and Christina Hogrebe, for being agents and advocates extraordinaire.
And last, but always first, I want to thank my family, who’s there from start to finish…and then some. I love and appreciate you more than you’ll ever know.
