“It’s Sean. I can’t reach Lucy or Kate. What’s going on?”
“There’s a hostage situation. There’s been a shooting. I don’t have the status, but I’m on my way now.”
Sean sped up. “Where?”
“St. Anne’s.”
Sean hung up and added more speed.
Sean had to park down the street from St. Anne’s because of all the cop cars, ambulances, and FBI vehicles.
He strode purposefully to the police barrier, flashed his P.I. identification hoping the cop wouldn’t notice, but he did.
“Hold it.”
“I’m expected.”
The doors of the church were open and a gurney with a body bag was wheeled out. His stomach heaved. He looked around for Lucy, but didn’t see her.
He continued forward and the cop got in his face. “Stand back or I’ll have you arrested.”
He wanted to hit the cop. And maybe he would have, if Kate hadn’t see him.
She ran over. “Officer, he’s with me.”
Sean brushed past the cop. “Where is she?”
Kate followed his eyes to the body bag.
“Lucy is fine. That’s Kirk Edmonds.”
He glanced at her belt. Her gun was gone.
She said, “They always take the weapon pending official investigation into any discharge of a firearm in the line of duty.”
“You okay?”
She nodded. “Dillon’s coming home tonight. I’ll be better when I see him. Lucy’s in the courtyard of the church-it’s private, quiet, and she needed to talk to Ivy and Sara about what’s going to happen next. Ivy has a lot of talking to do, but if she cooperates fully, I think she’ll avoid prison time.”
Kate added, “Lucy was a hero today.”
“I’m not surprised.”
“No, truly, a hero. We faced two serious situations and she was calm and quick thinking. She’s really grown up.”
Sean said, “She’s been grown up for quite a while.”
Kate walked with him to the church and cleared him through the security. Sean found the courtyard. Ivy and Sara were sitting on a bench holding each other. Lucy was sitting on the bricks being treated by a paramedic. He didn’t see any blood.
She saw him and smiled so brightly all anxiety fell away.
He sat next to her. “Hey, Princess. I heard you had an adventure.”
“Did Kate tell you?”
“Some of it. I hear you’re a hero.”
“Sara’s the hero. She stood up to her father. She’s going to be okay. I’m more worried about Ivy, but with time…” She breathed deeply, then winced.
“What happened?”
The paramedic handed Sean a bulletproof vest, then finished cleaning up his supplies. “Those things are amazing,” the paramedic said. “Need anything else, Ms. Kincaid?”
“I’m fine, thank you.”
Sean held the vest in his hands. The bullet was still embedded in the vest.
“Don’t touch it, it’s evidence,” Lucy said.
“This is the back. He shot you in the back?” He lifted Lucy’s shirt up from the back. A large round bruise had already formed. He kissed it, though containing his anger was becoming difficult. Between Paxton and no sleep and what happened to Lucy-he needed to decompress.
Lucy sensed his tension and hugged him. “I really am fine.”
Sean held on to Lucy as tightly as he could. He feared he would lose her. To her job, to violence, to his own mistakes. He’d told her before that he needed her more than she needed him, and she’d never truly believed it. He didn’t care, because he knew the truth. Lucy gave him hope. Lucy made him realize he needed love in his life-love, trust, commitment. That there were things greater than him worth fighting for.
His past was a danger zone. He had to protect Lucy from it. While he knew that she could handle anything life threw at her, deep down he feared she’d turn her back on him when he needed her the most.
“I love you, Luce.”
“Sean-” She kissed him warmly, with a deep passion he craved from her. Needed from her. She pulled back and smiled. “I love you, too.”
They sat like that for a long minute, then Sean asked, “How did he find her? Did he have someone in the FBI on payroll?”
Lucy shook her head. “He told Sara he put a GPS chip under her skin. At the base of her neck. Like she was a pet. After Ivy ran away, he didn’t want to lose her. But proximity mattered-it didn’t work beyond five miles. So when he learned she was in DC, he came here and just drove around.”
Sean smiled, then burst into laughter.
“It’s not funny. It’s rather scary.”
He hugged her. “I’m sorry. But I just came up with the name for your new cat. Chip.” He grinned. “I know exactly what Wendy James did with her data.”
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
Lucy and Kate were dressed in scrubs and stood sentry in the operating room. Chain of custody was critical, especially in a complex case like this. Kate had even set up a video camera in the corner in case the court had any questions about the procedure.
It wasn’t every day that key evidence in a homicide investigation was hidden in a pet.
The veterinarian had put Chip under general anesthesia and the cat lay motionless on the table. Lucy frowned.
“What’s your problem?” Kate said. “You worked at a morgue.”
“Dead people don’t bother me,” Lucy said. “I really like this cat.”
“He should be fine,” the vet said. “Though whoever did this to him should have his license pulled. It’s dangerous. The chips they put in pets for tracking are the size of a grain of rice. This one is much bigger.”
He gestured to the X-ray that showed a square of metal on the back of Chip’s neck.
“He’s doing well,” the vet purred. “Good kitty.”
“I wish Mina’s surgery had been this easy,” Lucy said.
“She’s healthy and the doctor is optimistic,” Kate reminded her. “It’s just a long road to recover.”
“Are you doing okay with the shooting and everything?”
“It was justified. If I think too much about it, I remind myself that it was him or innocents.” Kate glanced at her. “Him, or you. Thank God you didn’t take off that vest.”
Lucy rolled her sore shoulder and winced. It still hurt, probably would for days. “Sean said I was lucky not to have cracked a rib.”
“Bingo,” the vet said. He held up the chip with his tweezers. “It’s coated in silicone.”
“Plop it right in here.” Kate held up an evidence bag. The vet dropped the chip in. Kate sealed the bag and signed the front. “Now to take this to the lab. This will be fun.”
“When can we take Chip home?” Lucy asked the vet.
“Give him a couple hours. I want to make sure there are no side effects from the surgery or anesthesia.
