Thursday, May 22, 1:08 P.M.
Kit was asleep when he got the call about Moriarty and Spooky. Meghan was driving-later, he was thankful for that-and Gabe was with them, hidden in the back of the Jeep. They were on the freeway, near Riverside, and he was in the passenger seat, dreaming of one of Jerome’s victims, the one who had tried to comfort him. In his dream, she was escaping.
The cell phone rang and he came fully awake, immediately knowing something was wrong.
He was told that Moriarty’s team was scrambling to learn what had happened, while still leaving some men to guard the house. They would do all they could to keep Kit’s name out of this, but if at some point he wanted to bring law enforcement in to look for Spooky, that might not be possible.
Kit knew he need not worry about the security team’s coverage, even if Moriarty was not there to lead them. Still, the fact that they had lost contact with Moriarty made Kit fear for both Spooky’s and Moriarty’s lives.
The rest of the drive was nearly unbearable.
Kit took out his rabbit’s foot, stared at it for a moment, then put it away.
Gabe, who sat on the floor of the backseat of the Jeep, concealed from view beneath a blanket, tried to offer encouragement but grew quiet when Kit seemed not to respond.
Meghan turned on the radio to a news station.
“…gruesome discovery in the Santa Monica Mountains brings the total count to eight. Sources close to the investigation speculate that the remaining two fugitives-Wesley Macon Sloan and Gabriel Cuthbert Taggert-are also dead.”
“Death might be best,” Gabe said, “now that everyone knows my horrible middle name.”
“Gabe!” Meghan said in exasperation. “How can you joke at a time like this?”
“It’s okay,” Kit said. “Moriarty…Moriarty always makes jokes when he’s in trouble, too. And he hates his first name so much, he won’t let me use it.”
“What is it?” Meghan asked.
“Percy,” Kit said, and heard Gabe give a bark of laughter.
The news announcer went on to say that nearly one hundred people had gathered at the place on Mulholland Highway where Morgan Addison and Frederick Whitfield IV, the two young men believed to have been the so- called Exterminators, were found dead.
A young woman was asked why she was placing flowers there. “I didn’t know them at all,” she said. “But I admired them. In less than a week, they got rid of the worst criminals in our country. I think it’s really sad that they ended their lives before we could show them our appreciation for all they did.”
“Turn it off,” Kit said.
But just then, Detective Alex Brandon-intercepted by a reporter as he was leaving the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau-was asked to comment on whether Morgan and Whitfield should be considered heroes.
“If it’s proved that they committed these crimes,” he said, “definitely not. People should remember that those on the fugitives list are suspects-not convicted criminals.” He paused, then added, “Let me put it this way. If you were accused of committing a crime, would you want us to let your innocence be decided by a jury or by vigilantes who torture and maim their captives?”
Meghan lowered the volume of the radio. “He’s the one you want Gabe to surrender to, right?”
“If we can make sure everyone will be safe, yes.”
“Kit, turn me over to him now,” Gabe said. “If Everett knows I’m not with you, he has no reason to keep Spooky and Moriarty.”
“That’s one of the things I’m afraid of,” Kit said.
The phone rang again. The team had found Moriarty and the pickup truck. No sign of Spooky.
Moriarty was taken by helicopter to the UCLA Medical Center. Spooky had vanished. The license plate Moriarty had read to his team was found near the place where Moriarty’s truck had gone off the road-it was a stolen plate.
Kit arrived at UCLA after dropping off Gabe and Meghan in Malibu. Meghan had wanted to come with him, but he had seen a glint in Gabe’s eyes that made him fear his friend would do something foolish, so he asked her to stay with her brother. To Gabe, he said, “Please don’t think you are Everett’s sole target. He wants to get to me, too, and maybe Meghan most of all.”
“Give me something to do, then,” Gabe had pleaded.
Kit thought for a moment, then called one of Moriarty’s team members into the room and asked him to show Gabe and Meghan all the information Moriarty and Kit had gathered on Everett and Cameron, and on the cases so far.
“Look it over, see if you can see anything I’ve missed,” Kit said to Gabe.
“Meghan might be good at that kind of thing, but I’m not-”
“You’re not giving yourself enough credit,” Kit said. “I’ve never understood why you want people to think you’re a brainless clown. You aren’t.”
“He’s right, Gabe,” Meghan said quietly.
Gabe turned red. “Might as well try this, then. Kit never laughs at my jokes anyway.”
“Because I know why you tell them,” Kit said, and left.
They finally let Kit into Moriarty’s room. Kit told them he was Moriarty’s son, so that he would be allowed to learn more about his condition, but as he sat waiting for him to come out of surgery, he realized that Moriarty had, more than anyone else, been the father Kit had longed for as a child. No one other than Elizabeth Logan had done more to gently guide him away from the disastrous paths his childhood might have set him upon; no one had protected him, in every sense, as well as Moriarty had. It was Moriarty, he knew, who had convinced Elizabeth that he should be allowed to keep his dog. For that alone, he would have remained devoted to Moriarty for life.
Knowing he could not do more than Moriarty’s staff could to find Spooky, he had decided to wait at the hospital. Each minute of that waiting time was spent alternately between willing Moriarty to survive and thinking of what might be done to a thirteen-year-old girl by people like Cameron and Everett.
A doctor came out and spoke kindly to him, understanding that in his first rush of emotion after hearing the words “through the surgery fine” and “painful injuries, but unlikely to be life threatening,” he could not really take in any other information.
Moriarty was not lost to him.
“He’s incredibly lucky,” the doctor said, which got Kit’s attention.
“Lucky?”
“Yes. He’s pretty banged up, but all things considered-”
“Banged up?”
“He’s broken some ribs and his right wrist, and there are some fairly serious fractures of the right leg. That’s what concerns me most. He’s got a concussion, but we didn’t see any skull fractures or more serious head injuries, although he’s scraped and bruised. A few bad cuts. But to come through a ride down a ravine without worse injuries is pretty amazing. I think the seatbelt and airbag must have helped. And getting helped as quickly as he did probably saved his life-the bleeding might have caused problems-so he owes a lot to those people who found him. Best of all, they knew just what to do for him.”
“That’s what I was told by the nurse.”
“I think one of them must have had some kind of medical training. And your dad appears to have been in excellent physical condition before the accident.”
“Yes,” Kit said, “Dad’s something of an exercise nut.” The word dad sounded strange to him, but the doctor didn’t seem to suspect anything.
“Well, that will help with his recovery, if he doesn’t get too impatient. He should be in his room in about another fifteen minutes. You can go up to the fourth floor and they’ll let you know his room number at the nurses’ station. He’s had a head injury, and those often make people seem unlike themselves. He may be more emotional than usual. He’s going to need rest, so-”
“I won’t keep him awake,” Kit said quickly. “I-I just need to see him.”
He called the house to ask if someone could be spared to guard Moriarty and was told they already made
