Fear No Evil

on Scott in the hopes of cutting a deal.”

“A deal?” Dillon exclaimed.

“I didn’t say we would. We’re talking the difference between life and death, not life and ten years. Roger Morton is never going to be a free man.”

“There are no leads on Scott?”

“Your brother Jack gave us a good description, so we used a forensic artist to update the old school picture we have based on Jack’s comments. It’s being sent to every law enforcement agency in the country and he’s now an FBI Most Wanted. I have a pair of agents in New York tracking down family and friends. His parents are dead. Car accident eight years ago.”

“Adam Scott is a methodical killer. He would have had a reason to kill his parents.”

“Money. Except that his father had disowned him years before, severed all ties with him. We don’t know why. So Scott received nothing from the estate. I have financial and legal experts going through the records, starting from when Scott was expelled. We’re going to try to piece together his past, but the car accident may be just that, an accident.”

“It’ll take weeks,” Dillon said. “We don’t have weeks. He’s going to go after Kate.”

“He’s waited for years to go after her. He’s patient,” Peterson said.

“True, but his entire network has been destroyed. He doesn’t care about Morton and Denise and the others on the island. It’s his financial network. Not being able to launder money through Ullman. Having his identity known. His legitimate assets seized. This is about revenge now. Payback.” Dillon frowned.

“What?”

“He has nothing to lose. Before, he had time and money to play with her. But now he’s going to be scrambling to stay one step ahead of us. His picture is all over the media. His money’s been cut off. He probably has alternate identification, but he isn’t going to leave the country without first trying to kill Kate. He sees her as the reason for his failure and will feel an urgent need to make her pay so he can rebuild. He has patience, but less than you think. I don’t think he ever knew where she was in Mexico.”

“But he said-”

Dillon shook his head. “He’s a liar. You can’t believe what he says. If he knew where she was, he would have gone after her instead of Lucy. He smoked her out, made her-and you-believe he knew where she was. That makes her a sitting duck because now he knows. He’s been savoring this revenge for five years.”

“We cut off some of his money and resources, but he didn’t lose a fraction of his assets then.”

“But a woman thwarted him. A woman figured out his game. That eats at him like nothing else. To him, women are receptacles to serve him. They only exist to give him pleasure. They are worthless and lesser humans.”

Peterson grabbed his vibrating cell phone off his belt loop. “Peterson. Okay, I’ll be right there.”

He said to Dillon, “Mick Mallory is in recovery. I have clearance from his doctor to talk to him. Want to sit in?”

Dillon followed Peterson to the elevator and they went down to the second floor. “Jack believes Adam Scott was using Mallory as a hostage to lure Kate off the mountain, or to see if she sent backup. Scott must have seen what happened on the island-we have checkpoints set up all around the San Juan Islands and he hasn’t shown. We found an abandoned boat in Bellingham that has evidence that Lucy was on it. We think he left the island to meet Kate in the mountains, and either one of his people told him about the raid on the island, or he watched it on the webcam before you destroyed it.”

Peterson glanced at Dillon. “He knows who you are now.”

“I think he’s always known who I was. And everyone else in the family. He wouldn’t have gone after Lucy without knowing. But why her?”

“I should be asking you that question.”

“If I had to guess it’s because she reminds him of someone. Or she was a challenge. Or she was easy.” Dillon rubbed his face. “Seriously, I think she responded to him online, the easy part, and he researched her, learned about her family. Considered Lucy a challenge. He despises authority. His father was a judge. He was expelled from school. He’s never worked for anyone other than himself. He’s always been in charge, even when he was younger. He doesn’t take orders or advice from others. Every decision is his, but when things go wrong he’ll be the first to blame the other people involved. They aren’t worthy, they aren’t smart enough, they don’t see his vision.”

Mick Mallory was on a respirator, the monitors tracking his heart and lung function. “Jack said his kidney?”

“His right kidney is gone. Fortunately he can survive with one. He lost a lot of blood. Your brother saved his life. He would have bled to death.”

“Is he conscious?”

“Yes.”

They walked into the room.

Peterson stood next to the bed. “Mallory, wake up.”

The man opened his eyes. He was forty with a short military cut and hard brown eyes. His face had been through an ordeal prior to being shot, but he might have been handsome if not for a three-inch scar across his cheekbone.

“Who are you?” His voice was scratchy.

Peterson flashed his ID. “SAC Quincy Peterson, Seattle. I have a few questions.”

Mallory stared at him. “Did you find the girl in time?”

“Yes,” Peterson said.

Mallory’s entire body seemed to relax. He closed his eyes, let out a long breath. “I’m sorry.”

“When did you go undercover in Scott’s operation?”

“Scott?” Mallory opened his eyes, questioning.

Peterson explained how they had learned Trask’s real identity, then repeated, “When did you join his operation?”

“I’m not allowed to tell anyone but my supervisor.”

“Merritt?”

Mallory nodded. “It’s bad. I know it’s bad.” He looked at Dillon. “Who are you?”

“Dillon Kincaid. Lucy’s brother.”

“I didn’t want to hurt her.”

“But you would have. Had Kate not made the deal with Adam Scott, you would have raped her to protect your cover.”

“Kate? She got my message in time? I was afraid Trask-Scott-had intercepted it and that’s how he knew I was undercover.”

“Kate got your message. Can you explain what led to your being shot this afternoon?” Peterson asked.

Mallory frowned. Sweat formed on his brow, and his heart monitor started beating faster. “He called me off. I…I didn’t want to hurt her. I really didn’t. But if I exposed myself, I would be dead and who would have protected her?”

“But Scott figured out who you were anyway.”

“At first I didn’t know. He said he had a job to do off the island and needed me as backup. I thought, this is my chance. Except he had a fail-safe plan with Roger Morton. If he didn’t check in, Roger was to kill the girl and disappear. I wouldn’t have enough time to get back to her. And I didn’t know if Kate had gotten the message or understood it. So I went with him.

“He told me all about Kate Donovan. How she had put an end to his legitimate business and he had to resort to illegal porn. How he set a trap for her. That no one would believe her anymore because of all the false leads. He pulled Lucy off-camera to entice Kate to come.

“Then he told me that I was the bait. He decked me before I could reach my gun, disarmed me, and then drugged me.”

“Where does Merritt fit in all this?” Peterson demanded. “This was not a sanctioned undercover operation.”