Asheville, North Carolina
7:51 a.m.
I shoved my suitcase into the backseat of the car next to my climbing gear and stared up at the methodical gray slabs sliding across the sky. Dark continents hanging from heaven. The temperature hovered right around freezing; the air was wet and heavy. Freezing rain-or maybe even snow-was on its way.
Here’s what I knew:
(1) I was off the case. Last night was it, the last straw for Margaret. She was holding me responsible for Joseph Grolin and Vanessa Mueller’s deaths; and of course last night when the killer got away-well, that was my fault too. So Tessa and I were flying back to Denver today. And when all the internal investigations were over, I’d be lucky to get a job as a truancy officer in a middle school-at least according to Margaret.
(2) Alice and her children were safe, at least for the moment. Everything had turned so explosive that Ralph had kept her location top secret. He didn’t even tell me where he sent them.
(3) The Illusionist was still on the prowl. We hadn’t found any sign of him last night, even after searching the entire neighborhood.
(4) Aaron Jeffrey Kincaid and his group never arrived in Seattle. It was like they’d dropped off the planet. That worried me a little, but it looked like the team still had a few more days to find him.
(5) The safe house had run out of Mountain Java Roasters coffee beans. All we had left was tea.
I could tell already, it was going to be another rough day.
I still had some things to pick up from the federal building, but maybe I could get those on the way to the airport. My emotions? Honestly, they were mixed. Maybe I was better off at a desk job in Denver. I’d helped narrow the suspect pool here and focus the search area, but still, I felt empty, useless, like a failure. Yes, it would give me more time with Tessa, but I wanted to catch this guy. Wanted it bad.
I wasn’t sure if I would see Brent Tucker again before I had to leave town, so I gave him a call to encourage him. After all, I was beginning to understand how he felt. “You’re a good man, Brent Tucker,” I said as I walked into the kitchen and found Tessa foraging for some breakfast. “I appreciate all your hard work on this case.”
“Thank you, Dr. Bowers,” he said. “It was an honor to work with you. I look forward to the day our paths cross again.” After a couple minutes we both said our good-byes and hung up.
“Is there any coffee?” Tessa asked groggily.
“You drink coffee?” I said. “Oh, right. A twenty-first-century teenager. Of course.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Nothing,” I said. “I think we’re out.”
“Aha.” She held up a coffee can she’d found in the cupboard. “Want some?”
I read the label. “Hmm. I think tea this morning. But I’ll brew it for you if you want.”
“I can do it,” she said.
“I know. Just let me. Please. Have a seat.” I pulled out the chair for her. She hesitated for a moment and then eased into it. “Want some cereal too?”
“Whatever.”
While the coffee percolated I searched for some cereal. “So,” I said to her. “Almost packed?”
“Almost. So, the guy got away, huh?”
Great. Make me feel even worse.
“Yeah, but they’ll get him. There are good people on the case.. and I guess this will free me up to spend more time with you.”
Silence. I waited.
Nothing.
“How does that sound?”
“Whatever.”
“Well, are you glad you got to miss a day of school?” I opened the fridge and pulled out some milk and OJ.
Tessa shrugged.
C’mon, Pat, think. You can do better than that.
“Tessa, do you know what the most dangerous shark in the world is?”
She grunted in a teenage girl sort of way. “That was random.”
“Well, do you know?”
She rolled her eyes. “The bull shark. Everyone knows that.”
Kincaid led his family through the staff entrance to the Stratford Hotel. He recognized the faces of some of the guests who were milling around. Even though most attendees had come last night for the opening session, the most prestigious guests were arriving this morning by helicopter, trying to beat the snowstorm that was predicted to hit the area.
Security was tight. As tight as a glove. Metal detectors had been set up at every public entrance. But no one was the least bit suspicious of Kincaid and his family.
After all, they’d been hired as the caterers for this morning’s event.
It was time to prepare the food.
I opened the cupboard and pulled out a box of peanut-butter-flavored cereal. “How’s this?”
She shook her head very, very slowly. “I’m allergic to peanuts.
I’ve always been allergic to peanuts.”
Oh boy.
“I must have forgot.”
“I thought you were supposed to notice everything.”
“So they say.”
Silence again.
So notice something already.
“Um, right now, I notice that your left eye is slightly darker brown than your right one.”
She grunted. “Brilliant.”
I heated some water for tea and poured myself a glass of juice. “Do you want some OJ?”
“I guess.”
The coffee was ready. I poured her a cup, and then I studied her for a moment. “I notice you’re wearing long sleeves again, and I remember seeing scars on Cherise’s left arm back when we were living in New York City, and I’m wondering if…”
She stared past me quietly, wouldn’t look at me.
Careful, Pat, don’t blow this.
“Sugar and cream?”
“Black.”
You can get into all that later… Reach out to her with your hand open… Do it slower… that way she knows you’re not going to hurt her…
I set it on the table. “That’s all. Just long sleeves.”
After a brief silence she said, “Well, so far your powers of perception are unparalleled. ‘The girl is wearing long sleeves.’ That oughtta crack the case wide open. No wonder you get the big bucks.”
I took a slim breath. “Do you ever think about wearing a color other than black?”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Pink, maybe.”
“I look better in black.”
“How’s your coffee?”
She drank some. “Horrible.”
Well, at least she had good taste.
I found some puffed rice cereal and poured it into a bowl for her.
“I notice that you’re wearing your mother’s perfume.”
She paused with the coffee cup halfway to her lips. Just then the phone-Ralph’s phone-rang. I glanced at the number on the screen: unknown.
Kincaid walked around the magnificent enclosed courtyard of the Stratford Hotel. It was absolutely
