“You’re benching me?”
“It’s for your own good, and it’s just until we see how these new identities—”
“Toppings,” I corrected him.
“Yes, well, how these new toppings are going to affect your pizza in the long run. I’d like to see you in another month to rerun the tests to see if there are any more changes. At that time, if you’re stable, we’ll readdress your hunting participation.”
“Thanks, Doc,” I said, even though I was ready to scream until my voice broke. I’d signed on with the FBI. I’d finally given in and committed, and now I couldn’t even hunt if I wanted. What kind of jacked-up world was I living in?
I walked out of the office and bypassed the craziness of the nurses running around trying to get everything in order. I needed my own nurse like Betty Williams to get my life in order.
I stepped out into the lobby and headed straight for the door. Grant still had the phone pressed to his ear, but when he spotted me, he got off the phone.
“Well, how did it go?”
I opened my mouth to tell him, but the words got stuck in my throat like it was coated with sandpaper. “I’d rather tell you and Gigi together if that’s okay.”
Grant rested his palm on my arm, stopping me, and turned me. “Lucy, what is it?”
I held up a palm. “It’s nothing. I’m going to be fine. Well, maybe not fine. But I’d rather explain it just once instead of a million times.”
“Are you sure?” Grant asked.
I nodded.
“Okay, well, I’ll call a team meeting when I get you home. Gigi and Ford are digging into Elliot’s past.”
“Good.” We walked to the SUV, and I climbed in.
My phone rang and a familiar number flashed on the screen. “Hey, Asher.”
“Lucy, the nurse isn’t at home, but her car was found in a bar’s parking lot, not far from her house.”
“Asher, the doctor said this is out of character for her.”
“I’ll keep looking, but it’s possible she just got lucky last night and maybe a bit too drunk.”
“Thanks. I appreciate your help,” I said.
“Oh, about that other issue that you came to see me about. Her name is Morgan Fairfield.”
“The barista?” “I asked with a bit of hope in my voice.
“Yeah, and I found a connection between her and the other person you were concerned about.”
“You must not be able to talk,” I asked.
“Yeah, give me a second,” he said.
“Okay. I can’t wait to hear the connection between coffee girl and Sebastian.”
I heard a door close in the background. “Sebastian was the one pushing for her brother, Billy, to do hard time. He was the driving force behind Billy’s conviction.”
“Maybe she was trying to convince him to go easier on her brother, and he just took advantage of the situation.”
“Yeah, but to kill her. That’s…”
“Sadistic. Yeah, I know. Have Morgan’s parents reported her missing yet?”
“It was only her and Billy, and well, he’s doing time in Travers Correctional.”
“Wow, talk about Elliot’s abuse of power.”
“Lucy, an overdose was the cause of death on the SUV driver you found in the apartment. There were no other prints on the needle other than Roger, the deceased.”
“He could have been coerced,” I offered.
“Yeah, I’m trying to track Elliot’s movements to see if I can put him in the area or not.”
“He’s slippery. I doubt he’d screw up by leaving evidence behind, but maybe it was the other guy in the apartment. The one who got away. If that’s the case, Sam might have ID’d the runner from the glasses I was wearing, not that the video would be admissible in a court of law or even get you a warrant, but the runner might be able to provide us some answers we need.”
“Yeah, well, let me know if he does and I’ll pull what we have on the man. Listen, I’m going talk to Morgan’s roommate if you want to join me.”
“Yeah,” I said, glancing at Grant. “Grant can drop me off at your office. I’ll be there in five minutes.”
“See you soon.”
I hung up, and Grant raised his brow. “Lucy, are you avoiding going to see Gigi?”
“No.” I protested. “I’ll talk to her tonight, but this is important. I might be able to help.”
I wasn’t ready to explain to any of them that one day I might not be myself. That I might lose all sense of what mattered most. And I damn sure wasn’t ready to be benched, not when my own life was on the line. I’d already poked the bear. I couldn’t undo that, and I wouldn’t even if I could.
Chapter 16
Asher knocked on the door to Morgan Fairfield’s apartment. A young woman with auburn hair, cut to frame her freckled face, answered the door.
“Yes?”
Asher flashed his badge. “I’m Detective Rowan, and this is my associate, Dr. Lucy Bray. And you are?”
“Crystal Miller,” the twenty-something girl answered, crossing her arms over her chest. “What can I do for you?”
“We’d like to ask you some questions about Morgan.”
“Is she okay?” the roommate asked and dropped her arms to her side. “I told her if she had to hide who she was dating that the man was probably married.”
“May we come in?”
She stepped back and opened the door for us to enter.
The apartment was homey and decorated tastefully, even if done on a dime. The look was vintage chic, and it reminded me of my first apartment years ago.
Crystal gestured to the couch as she grabbed a blanket off a nearby chair and started to fold it. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting company.”
“Have you heard from Morgan?” I asked.
“Not in a week, but that isn’t unusual. Is everything okay?”
“She hasn’t reported for work and we’re trying to find her. Why wouldn’t that be unusual not to hear from her?” Asher asked.
“She was dating a new guy, and they were serious. She spent a lot of time at his house.”
“You got a name for this new boyfriend?” Asher asked.
Crystal shook her head. “She wouldn’t tell me his name. She said she had to keep his identity secret. I assume the guy had a wife. I tried to talk her out of seeing him, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“And you’ve never seen him?” I asked.
“No, sorry. I wish I would have insisted on meeting him.” Crystal was pulling at the hem of her shirt.
“Did she have her cell phone and purse on her?”
“Yeah, I mean, you’re more than welcome to look in her room, but you won’t find much. She was hocking all of her stuff to pay for her brother’s appeal.”
“That had to have been hard to watch and even harder for her to have to do,” I said.
“She said her luck was changing. She actually believed Billy was getting out or something. She asked if Billy could sleep on the couch until he gets on his feet.”
“Why would she think that?” I asked.
Crystal shrugged. “I think her boyfriend had money.”
“Did she come home with expensive things?” Asher asked.
“Just a new phone. It was dedicated just for the boyfriend’s calls. She couldn’t use it for anything else.”
Asher and I exchanged a look. “She had a phone exclusively to talk to him? Any chance she left it here?”
“No, it’s not here. I looked for it.”
“I’m guessing you don’t have the number?” I asked.
“Actually, I do.” Her eyes lit up, and she hopped up from her seat and crossed the room. She dug into her purse and pulled out her phone and scrolled. “She called me from it one day because she forgot her personal phone at home and wanted me to bring it to her. She told me to delete the number, but I never did.”
Crystal turned the phone for Asher to write down the number. “That’s helpful.”
; “I hope she’s okay.”
“We do too,” Asher said, rising from his spot. “Can you show me her room?”
Crystal walked down the hall, and we followed. She opened the door to the room. It was bare just like Crystal had said. A bed, dresser, and not much else but a couple pictures. One of her and what looked to be her parents and one of her with another guy who was older, but they shared the same eyes.
We didn’t find much of anything else in her room. No address book, no love letters, nothing but a bill from an attorney demanding payment.
Asher and I left and walked out to his car. He waited until my seatbelt was buckled before he spoke. “I have to run to Travers Correctional to ask the brother some questions. Are you good with that?”
I nodded, delaying the inevitable conversation I was going to have to have with everyone that mattered. I sent a text to Ford telling him I’d be home after we went and talked to Billy.
Don’t forget, we have plans tonight. I’m kicking everyone out, so it’s just the two of us. XOXO Ford.
I smiled.
“That’s a sight I haven’t seen in awhile,” Asher said.
“What’s that?” I asked, looking up from my phone.
“You’re smiling.”
“Ford is sentimental. We’re celebrating.”
“What’s the occasion?” Asher asked.
“When we met and our first case.”
“He loves you, you know that, right?”
“Yeah, and I love him,” I said and meant it.
“Good. It’s time you had stability in your life.”
I let out a full-belly laugh at his version of stability. I had a psycho who wanted me dead, a cocktail of blood coursing through my body that might make me crazy, and a job I couldn’t perform because I might go insane or die. That was my stability.
Asher pulled up outside the correction facility and parked. “If you’ve got a weapon, you need to leave it in the car.”
I nodded and pulled out my ID and left my purse in the car before following him inside. It took twenty minutes for us to be seated in a room with William Fairfield.
He looked like an older version of Morgan, only he hadn’t taken the high road. The stress lines of his face were hard and deep. He had a tattoo on the side of his neck and several down his muscled arms. He looked like he could hold his own behind these walls. He was no longer the scrawny kid in the picture on Morgan’s dresser.
“Mr. Fairfield, I’m Detective Asher Rowan, and this is Dr. Lucy Bray.”
He glanced between both of us and pulled at the cuffs. “What do you want?”
“We’d like to ask you some questions about Morgan.”
Chapter 17
Billy’s brows dipped. “Morgy? She’s my baby sister. What did she do? Is she okay?”
“She’s missing,” Asher said.
“Missing?” Billy asked, pulling harder at his cuffs. “You must have the wrong girl. She knows to watch her surroundings. I taught her.”
His eyes seem to plead with us to tell him we were joking, even as the muscles in his arms tensed.
“We know she came to visit you often. Did she ever mention having a boyfriend?”
“Morgan didn’t date,” Billy said.
“Oh, come on now,” I interjected. “Maybe she did but just didn’t share with you.”
“Lady, Morgy didn’t have a boyfriend. She would have told me. We tell each other everything. We’re the only family we’ve got.”
“What about any new acquaintances?”
“No, none that I know of.” He answered.
“She was convinced you were going to get out of jail,” I said.
“That doesn’t make any sense. I confessed. She knows why I beat that man within an inch of his life.”
“And why is that?” I asked.
“Because that asshole had it coming. He was beating his wife in public, and Morgy knows I couldn’t tolerate that. Not after how we grew up. I had to stop him, and I did.”
I shared a look with Asher.
“Detective, where’s my sister?”
“We don’t have proof yet, but we’re working on a tip that she was abducted by a suspected serial killer,” I answered.
Billy shot up from his chair and sent it crashing to the floor. He yanked at the cuffs like he was ready to tear them apart. Anger flashed on his reddening face as he pulled harder.
“Way to just toss that out there, Lucy,” Asher said, lowering his head and shaking it.
“Sit down, Billy.” I said.
The guard near the door appeared behind him and clenched Billy’s arm as he scooped up the chair and set it straight. “You heard the lady. Sit down or go back to your cell.”
“You think she’s dead?” Billy’s eyes flashed like a caged animal as he glanced between both Asher and I before settling on me. “What are you a medium or something?” Billy asked as the handcuffs clanked on the scarred wooden table.
“Something like that,” I answered. “I’m sorry, and I’m doing everything I can to find her.”
A thundercloud shadowed Billy’s face. “You find the son of a bitch and you give me his name.”
Asher rose from his seat. “If and when we find out anything definite about your sister, I’ll be in touch.”
Billy sat there like we’d knocked the wind out of his sails.
“I’m sorry that I blurted it out. I hope I’m wrong.”
“How often does that happen?” Billy asked, staring up at me.
“Not often, I’m afraid,” I answered. “But I promise to try my best to help catch her killer.”
“She was all I had. She was the good kid, Dr. Bray. She was supposed to grow up and get married and have kids. That was her dream. She wanted the white picket fence,” Billy whispered.
“I’m sorry for your loss,” I answered just as Morgan’s gossamer apparition appeared in the room. Goosebumps settled over my skin. Morgan was staring down at her brother with sadness in her eyes. “I’m sure she’s never far away from you.”
Asher walked to the door and held it open for me.
Moisture leaked from one of Billy’s eyes as helplessness shaded his face. “I want the name of the man responsible.”
I nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
I followed Asher out of the building and back to his car. “Well, at least we have some more to go on now.”
“You’ve got the number from the burner phone. I’m sure that should be easy enough for you to trace, and if it’s not, I’m sure I can slip it to Sam and he’d do it under the table.”
“We stay aboveboard on this one. Noah has already put me on notice. Sorry.” He slid behind the wheel.
Staying aboveboard wasn’t going to happen. We didn’t have the time.
Chapter 18
I walked up to my door and turned to wave at Asher as he drove off. The sun was starting to set behind the trees. I’d spent the entire day avoiding this moment.
Grant’s SUV was parked in the driveway next to Ford’s car. The lights were on inside the living room. Gigi was sipping wine, sitting next to Grant on the sofa. Ford had a laptop on his lap.
This was the normal I wanted to remember. No one else’s idea of a happy moment but my own toppings, my own pizza, and it might all get ripped away. My heart clenched at the thought, and I blinked to clear the pricking of tears in my eyes. I couldn’t let that happen. Not when I was so close to having what mattered most.
Ford glanced over his shoulder as if sensing me.
He must have read the look in my eyes. He shut the lid on his laptop and set it aside before rising from his seat and heading for the door.
I couldn’t go in. I couldn’t break the news of what might become of me.
My breath hitched in my throat as Ford opened the door. A look of panic crossed his face as he eased the door shut. He pulled me into his arms and held me without saying a word.
My shoulders trembled as first one tear and then more rolled down my face. He stroked
my hair and kissed my temple. “Whatever it is, we’ll work it out. It’s what we do.”
There wasn’t going to be any working this out. Nothing he could do to fix me. Nothing any of them could do. This was my hand to play.
“Ford…”
“Shh,” he whispered and then released his hold and took my hand. “Before you say anything, there’s something I need to say first. Something I’ve been trying to do for two days.”
I nodded, and he gently wiped the last tear that fell.
“This isn’t where I wanted to do this. I had the whole thing planned. It was going to be perfect.”
I shook my head. “Ford—”
“Nope.” He kissed me, cutting off my question. He cupped my cheek. “Lucy, I love you. You drive me mad but in the best possible ways. I knew the minute we met that you were meant to be mine, and it took almost losing you for me to quit being a jackass and act on it.”
“Ford.” My heart clenched tight.
Ford dropped to his knee and opened a little blue box with the most stunning diamond ring I’d ever seen. “I don’t care where we go or what we have to deal with, as long as we do it together as husband and wife.”
“Ford. I need to tell you what the doctor said.”
“No, you don’t. I’m asking you to marry me through sickness and health, good times and bad. I’ll be there for both. I love you, Lucy, please be my wife.”
More tears gathered, and I nodded, unable to speak. I held out my hand, and he slid the ring on my finger before rising and lifting me off the ground. He kissed me with the heart and heat I’d longed for all my life.
“Yes, yes, a thousand times yes,” I whispered against his lips.
The door behind him opened, and Gigi was smiling the biggest smile I’d ever seen. Grant was behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist.
“I thought you were going to wait until after dinner,” Gigi said.
“You knew?” I asked.
“Of course, she knows. He had to ask permission first,” Grant said, releasing his wife and holding out his hand to Ford. “Welcome to the family.”
Broken Justice (Fractured Minds Series Book 6) Page 7
