apartment. On the screen, Lucy watched her quietly close the door. She walked down the short hall and looked at Peter, now pretending to sleep on the chair. She then turned toward Sean on the couch, also pretending to sleep.
“Suz,” Lucy said, “she has a gun in her right hand.”
She raised her gun toward Sean.
Suzanne came out of the bedroom and karate chopped her arm. She dropped the gun, turned to face Suzanne, but Suzanne kicked her legs out from under her and had her on the ground in seconds, her knee in Alexis’s back.
Sean hobbled over and put his gun on Alexis while Suzanne cuffed and searched her. By the time Alexis was on her feet, Noah and Lucy were in the apartment.
Peter rose from his chair and stared at her. “Why?”
“He knows where you are. He’ll find you.”
“Let him come,” Suzanne said, sitting Alexis down in a chair. “We’re ready.”
She shook her head. “He won’t come now. He’s the smartest person I know. And patient. He’ll wait.”
Lucy sat down across from her. “Alexis, tell Peter the truth. He deserves to know why you went to Syracuse.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “You don’t understand how hard it was for us after Cami disappeared. She was just … gone. We didn’t know where, if she was dead or alive. Kip blamed himself because he was there, at the park with her. Mom told them, watch out for each other.
“But it wasn’t until you came back that Kip changed. He wanted so desperately to be your friend. He wanted to talk about your sister, and his sister, and you wouldn’t. He became fixated on you and everything about Rachel and the investigation.”
Suzanne said, “You were part of it.”
She looked down, but Lucy saw the anger in Alexis’s face. When she looked back up, it was hatred. “Feds like you fucked up the investigation. Cami was alive for a year. And no one cared; no one was looking; no one believed she was alive. Do you know what she suffered at the hands of the man who took her? The pain? Repeated rapes? Torture? For
Peter said, “None of that was my fault.”
Alexis softened when she looked at him. “I know that, baby. I know. That’s what I told Kip, but he didn’t understand. When he found you in Syracuse, I convinced him to let me get close. I tried to protect you. And for a while, it worked. Kip was in college, and focused on finding out what really happened to Cami, on tracking the cops who screwed up the investigation. I fell in love.”
“Is that why you put the dead pig in my bed?”
“That was Kip. I walked in and saw it and realized he was going to kill you. That’s why I cleaned the apartment and disappeared.”
Lucy said, “Why didn’t you tell the police?”
Alexis looked at Lucy. “You of all people should understand how broken the system is! We had a plan, and it worked.”
“You just didn’t want Peter to be part of the plan.”
“Kip agreed to stay away from Peter if I left him, so I did. I did it to protect you.” She implored Peter, “I love you, Peter.”
“When did the plan change?” Lucy asked.
“When Presidio went to New York. He was looking in all the right places; if he figured it out before we were done, it would blow everything.”
Lucy said, “You stole the file after you poisoned him.”
“I had to. I didn’t want to do it like that, I wanted him to know why, but I had no choice.”
“You killed him?” Peter said in disbelief. “You killed an FBI agent?”
“Three cops,” Suzanne said. “Retired agent Theissen, Detective Bob Stokes, and SSA Presidio. Plus you put Assistant Director Vigo in the hospital.”
“He was looking into Presidio’s death. It was a heart attack, it should have been dismissed as natural, but he was suspicious. I had to do it.”
“You can make amends, Alexis,” Lucy said. “Help us stop your brother before he hurts anyone else.”
She shook her head. “You’ll kill him.”
“He needs help.”
“By locking him up? Like a criminal?”
“He killed at least two people-Rosemary Weber and Dominic Theissen.”
Alexis stared at her defiantly. “So?”
“This is getting us nowhere,” Noah said. “DeLucca and I are going to put her in Holding until I can get a transport to federal prison.”
“Alexis,” Lucy said. “You killed a federal agent. That’s a death penalty charge. Help us stop your brother and I will help you.”
“So I can go to prison for the rest of my life?” she snapped sarcastically.
“Do you want your daughter to suffer for the rest of
Alexis’s eyes teared. “Peter. Take care of Missy.”
Peter stared at her. “What?”
“She looks just like you,” Alexis whispered.
“Alexis,” Peter said quietly, squatting in front of her, “I don’t understand why you and Kip blamed the police for what happened to your sister. But I know your pain more than anyone.” He glanced at Lucy. “Lucy and I both understand. You can’t let him finish whatever he’s doing. It needs to end now.”
Tears streamed down Alexis’s cheeks. “I’m not going to turn on my brother.”
Peter stood and gazed down at her. “I understand.”
She sighed in relief. “Go, far away from New York.”
He shook his head.
“No. I’m staying here. I love my job. Those kids mean everything to me. I’ve been running since Rachel died. I’m not running anymore.”
“He will kill you,” Alexis said emphatically. “Don’t you understand? He’ll kill you. That’s all he wants now.”
Noah motioned for Lucy. She walked over to the small kitchen and he said in a low voice, “She’s stalling.”
“I think she’s torn. She honestly cares about Peter and doesn’t want him hurt.”
“She’s loyal to her brother.”
Lucy nodded.
“Something’s wrong. She might have come here to warn Peter, but she knows her brother’s near. Lucy, try to get the info out of her, but I’m calling in Tactical.” Noah stepped into the hall to make his calls.
Lucy walked back over to Alexis. “Where is your brother now?”
“I don’t know,” she said, looking at Peter.
“You do. I think you came here to warn Peter, but you know Kip is already on his way.”
She didn’t say anything.
Sean said, “Peter, come with me.”
Suzanne cut him off. “You’re hardly in prime condition. I’ll take you and Peter to the safe house, and you can babysit him.”
Sean was going to argue-he hated being out of the center of an operation-but he looked at Lucy and she nodded. “You’re not one hundred percent.”
“My eighty percent is better than most hundreds.” He winked. “But I’m with Peter. Be careful, Luce.”
Noah came back in. “We have a problem. Alexis mirrored your computer at Quantico, Lucy. Every communication that’s come in through your e-mail, she saw.”
Lucy turned to her. She felt violated and angry. But it explained how Alexis knew when to leave. “You knew
