“Yes. The woman was a social worker for a nonprofit. She specialized in working with teenage prostitutes. The other woman was a girl named Maddie, a known prostitute and drug addict who was on and off the wagon. And the third victim, the husband, a congressional staffer.”
“Congress? Don’t tell me he worked for Crowley.”
“Dale Hartline.”
“I know next to nothing about who’s who in the Capitol.” That wasn’t completely true. He knew enough. RCK was often hired to provide personal security for high-ranking officials when they traveled overseas, but Sean rarely, if ever, took those assignments. He did, on occasion, run background checks for campaigns or high-security checks that weren’t covered by the FBI or another agency.
And it was clear that Lucy didn’t buy his disclaimer. She said, “And he used to work for Senator Paxton. In fact, the last call Chris Taylor made before he was killed was to Senator Paxton.”
“Paxton,” Sean said flatly. He had mixed feelings about the senator, from the time he’d first met him in January, but he didn’t share this with Lucy. Paxton had been her mentor for years, though after Women and Children First was shut down six months ago, they had a strained relationship. Lucy didn’t talk about it, and Sean suspected she had grown tired of trying to fill the shoes of Paxton’s dead daughter. Sean had seen pictures of Monique Paxton. The resemblance to Lucy was uncanny.
“He said Chris called to meet with him for advice, then admitted that Chris likely wanted money to help Jocelyn and the girls, but he was vague on details, claimed Chris didn’t give him any. I think he was more or less telling the truth about the call. What tipped me off that he knows something more was that he recognized the prostitutes we showed him.”
“He said that?”
“No. He kept his face completely blank, showed no recognition whatsoever.”
“Does he have a tell? Did his eye twitch or something?”
Lucy rolled her eyes. “
“Yes, but-”
“He has this way of being quietly enraged when women are in danger. It’s subtle, but it’s always there. And he buried it. I think because he didn’t want to show that he recognized the girls.”
“You’re not stretching on this? Reading something into it?”
“No! Dammit, Noah said the same thing. But I swear, Ivy Harris is the type of girl he feels compelled to save. Same basic physical features as his daughter.”
“And you.”
She closed her eyes.
“Luce, talk to me.”
“Today was the first time I saw Jonathon in nearly six months.”
“Why is that strange? WCF was disbanded. Would you have a reason to see him?”
“Maybe not.”
But something was on her mind, and he pushed. “Did something happen when you last talked to him?”
“I haven’t talked to him since the last WCF fundraiser, the week I learned my boss was a killer.”
“But I took you to the Capitol to see him. Remember? A few weeks after that fiasco.”
Lucy didn’t say anything, and Sean had the uneasy sensation that she was trying to come up with a lie. Lucy was one of those rare people who couldn’t lie convincingly.
“Lucy?”
“It’s nothing.”
“It’s not nothing. Something is bothering you, what is it?”
“I didn’t actually talk to him.”
“What do you mean, you didn’t talk to him?”
She looked at him, her eyes uncertain. “Did you ever know in your heart that something was true, but couldn’t prove it?”
“Tell me what you’re thinking.”
“I think Jonathon was an active participant in the vigilante group that destroyed WCF.”
Sean absorbed that stunning accusation.
“How active?”
“I suspect that he knew about it.”
“Do you think he’s a killer?”
“Maybe.” She glanced away. She was hedging.
“Who do you think he killed?”
“Shh,” Lucy admonished, glancing around the semiprivate room. She whispered, “Roger Morton.”
Sean looked at her for a long minute. “Why?”
“Something Mick Mallory said.”
“Mallory confessed to killing dozens of sexual predators.”
“Yes, but when I spoke to him,
“I can’t hate him for that,” he said simply. He brought her hand to his lips. Lucy was aching about this, and he wanted to remove her conflict. Roger Morton didn’t deserve to live, but saying that out loud wasn’t going to help Lucy. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I don’t know! What was I supposed to say? A powerful U.S. Senator killed a scumbag rapist and I’m actually kind of happy about it?” She shook her head. “I don’t have any proof. It’s just a bunch of little intangible things that have been bothering me. You kill once, it makes it easier to do it again.”
“Don’t go there, Lucy.” She’d killed two men. They were evil bastards who’d hurt and murdered numerous innocent people. Why did she keep torturing herself over it?
“I don’t know how deep he was involved,” she said. “I don’t want to know. Like I said, I have no evidence- and I want to keep it that way.”
That, Sean understood. “Don’t let it hurt you like this.”
“I’ve made peace with it.” Again, her eyes darted away. She was so easy to read.
“Have you?”
“Yes-”
“I think you’re torn. He
“I’m not.”
“Yes you are. It’s all clear to me now. If the senator is guilty, you think not saying something is wrong. But the truth is you have no proof, and saying anything about it would be the mistake. But I can find out.”
“How?”
“Talk to Mallory.”
“No!”
“You deserve the truth, and I know you don’t want to face that bastard.”
“I don’t
“Okay.”
“Okay?” She was obviously surprised he’d given up so easily.
Sean kissed her forehead. “You think the senator is capable of not quite legal activities,” he began.
Lucy raised an eyebrow. “Murder is illegal.”
“Not justifiable homicide.”
“Sean.” She shook her head at him.
“Okay, sorry. I’m proud of you.” He kissed her again. He’d crawl into the hospital bed with her if he thought he could get away with it.
“What is really bothering me was talking to Jonathon today, what he said and what he
