“And you tell him what, Robert? You tell him you had someone perform illegal acts and you checked things out yourself, found your child, and now-please, kind sir-come and get my son for me?” Trula stood with her hands on her hips.

“No. I’ll tell him the truth.” Robert glanced at Susanna, who raised an eyebrow. “Well, part of the truth. I’ll tell him that we got the names of the former nuns from the sisters at St. Anthony’s-”

“Which you haven’t done,” Trula reminded him. “How do you propose to do that?”

“We’ll send Kevin to the convent to ask for the names. Everyone likes Kevin. They won’t turn him down. No one ever turns him down when he asks for favors.”

“What if by, oh, some miracle, the mother superior has respect for the privacy of the ladies in her order, and against all odds, defies expectations and withholds the information?” Trula would not let up.

“Then I suppose Kevin will have to resort to bribery.”

“Bribery! You’d ask a priest to bribe a nun?” Trula shook her head. “Really, Robert… that’s shameful, even for you. Besides, have you thought about what Kevin might say to the mother superior that would get her to give up the names?”

“Easy one. If it comes to that, he’s going to say that several names have come to his attention from an anonymous source-”

Trula snorted.

“… and he merely wanted to confirm with her that these ladies were in fact at one time members of the order. He’ll say that Ian is his nephew-almost true, since Kevin is as close to a brother as I’ve ever had, as you well know-and that he’s hoping to find whoever has the child before the FBI does, because, well, you know how the FBI can be. He can say anything he wants, that he wants to help this poor soul-”

“This is another one of your plans with half an ass, Robert.” Trula-speak for a half-assed plan.

“One of these women could have my son. I want him back. I’ve waited long enough. We’re this close to finding him.” He turned the monitor back to face him. “If Kevin has to promise them a new convent, even a new school-do you really think I care what it will cost? I’ll do whatever I have to do, but I will get my son back.”

Susanna leaned over and turned the desk phone around. She dialed a number, then waited while it rang. When the call was answered, she smiled.

“Colin, hi. Susanna. Very well, thank you. Listen, I’m going to put Robert on the line. He needs your help.”

TWENTY-ONE

Time to check in with the people who are paying me this time around, Sam told himself as he dialed Mallory’s number.

“What’s going on?” Mallory sounded concerned when she picked up.

Sam brought her up to speed.

“What a hot mess this case turned out to be,” she said. “Have you been in touch with our client recently?”

“I was going to call her,” Sam told her. “I’m just not sure how to tell her I’m at the heart of all this.”

“Do you think you should do that at this time?”

“I don’t know. I’ve been going back and forth on this. On the one hand, I feel I owe her the truth. On the other, I don’t know how much it could muddy the water. I wouldn’t blame her if she got pissed off when she found out that the investigator she has asked to look into her husband’s death was actually the cause of his murder. But what if she takes it one step further and decides to call a local paper or TV station to complain or to vent? Maybe the only advantage we have right now is that there’s a chance the killer still might not know that we’ve figured out that he’s targeting me. If this goes public now, we’re going to lose that, and it’s a slim enough edge as it is.”

“Good point. My advice would be to hold up on contacting Mrs. Walker. If she calls in for a status report, I’ll take the call and let her know you’re still working on it.”

“Okay, thanks. Let’s see how this plays out over the next couple of days.”

“I read your email about the fifth murder. I’m assuming you still haven’t been able to come up with any possible suspects.”

“Fiona is sure it’s someone from my past. Since I’ve been out here, I’ve run into a lot of my old friends. I hate to admit that I need to look at each of them as a potential killer. I just don’t see that in any of them.”

“Maybe you’re not looking at them with a clear eye. Maybe you need to be a little more objective. Why not talk to Fiona about your relationships with each of these people-the good times and the bad-and see if anything looks out of place? Maybe something that seems innocuous to you might jump out screaming at her.”

“If I knew where she was, I’d do that.”

“I thought she went to Nebraska with you.”

“She did. She left early this morning. She told my sister-in-law that something came up and she had to go.”

“Well, maybe if you call your contact at the Bureau…”

“Already did that. He won’t tell me. So I guess I just have to wait until the rest of the posse shows up.”

“What posse?”

“John-my old boss-is sending out a few agents as backup here today. There are only two more acts of mercy left, and I’m thinking this guy is going to go after my brother. The last act, I believe, will be saved for me.”

“Why do you think he’ll go after your brother?”

“At this point, he wants to hurt me, so he’s going to take someone I care about. No more anonymous victims. In the past, he’s only killed men, so I’m thinking he’s going to target my brother, the guy who means the most to me. Then he’ll come after me.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because that’s what I would do.”

“What do you mean, he’s gone?” Robert stared at Susanna from across the room. “Gone where?”

“I don’t know, Robert. I just got a call from Luke saying that he was being temporarily reassigned to some emergency and that he’d be back on the case as soon as he could.”

“Wonder what the emergency could be,” Trula thought aloud. “Do you think there’s going to be a terrorist attack? Maybe I should turn on the TV and see what’s on the news.”

“I don’t know what to think,” Susanna told her, “but I’m sure it must be something very important.”

“It had better be damned important.” Robert was beginning to steam. “He’s supposed to be looking for my son.”

“I’m sure the FBI wouldn’t pull an agent from a kidnapping case unless they had a damned good reason, Rob. I’m sure he’ll be back as soon as he can.”

“That’s not really good enough.” He shook his head.

“It’s going to have to be, for now,” Susanna countered.

“Why? We have the same list of names that he has. We’ve already started to narrow down the field a little. Why do we have to wait for Parrish?” Robert’s stance was defiant.

“Because we have no authority to go knocking on people’s doors, that’s why,” Suse reminded him. “He’s got a federal agency behind him. We have-”

“Kevin.” Robert nodded slowly. “We have Kevin. And he’s backed by a higher authority than the FBI.”

Robert grabbed the phone and hit speed-dial.

“Rob, what are you going to do?” she asked quietly.

He appeared not to have heard her.

“Hello, Mary?” he greeted the church’s secretary when the call was picked up. “Good morning. It’s Rob Magellan. Good, good, yes, we’re all fine, thanks. I’m trying to track down Father Kevin. Have you seen him? Great… yes, I’ll hold.” Robert glanced over to Susanna and said, “When you only have one card, you have to play it.”

“What card…?”

“Kevin, hey, I need you. Now. Come to the house… get someone else to cover that for you. No, it can’t wait, bro. Today’s the day.” Robert appeared to be listening for a moment. “Great. See you then. Oh, and Kevin? Wear your collar.”

“Rob, I’m almost afraid to ask what you’re doing,” Susanna told him when he hung up the phone.

“Who knows how long Parrish is going to be tied up? Days? A week? More?” Rob’s jaw tightened. “Supposing the person who has Ian is moving. Maybe she’s nervous about staying in one place for too long, maybe she’s renting and her lease is running out, maybe she’s psychic and knows we’re coming after her-I don’t know.” He reached for her arm. “Don’t you see? We’re this close. I can’t sit around and wait for Parrish to finish up whatever it is they’ve got him doing.”