Ken studied the man dispassionately. Decker had just uttered more words at one time than he’d said in the last three years. ‘You seem to know quite a bit, Decker.’

Decker bristled. ‘I listen at the meetings, sir. I have eyes. I watch what goes on. But I didn’t know that Alice had gone after that employee of the tracker company. Had I known, I would have advised strongly against it. It smells of a trap.’

‘Really?’ Ken said coolly. ‘How so?’

‘What better way to draw out your opponent than with such an important prisoner?’ he said acidly. ‘The tracker supplier would know who he was selling to, so the cops knew you’d want him silenced. He was too tempting a prize. Therefore it was a trap.’

And I should have thought of that. ‘I have to get her out of there.’

‘With all due respect, I don’t think that’s necessary, sir. Certainly not if you’re considering something as drastic as a jailbreak.’

Which is exactly what I was considering. Ken’s silence was answer enough.

‘She won’t break, will she, sir? She won’t give your name?’

‘No.’ Of that Ken was sure. ‘Of course not.’ Unless they offered her a deal she’d be too smart to refuse. His daughter was not stupid.

‘She doesn’t have a record, right? No prints in the system? She’ll experience a bit of discomfort in lockup, but you’ll get her a good lawyer. She’ll be out soon.’

‘Perhaps.’ But he didn’t think so. She’d been caught with her finger on the trigger. Someone had known she was there, of that he was certain. But he was running out of people to suspect. Ken rolled to his feet without Decker’s help. ‘How is Demetrius?’

A quiet exhale. ‘He’s dead, sir. He lost too much blood. A surgeon might have been able to save him, but . . . I’m sorry. I was coming to tell you when I heard the window smash.’

Ken had felt panic and fury when Sean had told him about Alice’s arrest. Now he felt . . . absolutely nothing. Which was preferable.

‘Clean up the mess . . . here and upstairs. Thank you.’

‘Should I dispo— I mean, what should be done with Demetrius’s body?’

‘Same place you put Chip and Marlene Anders. Oh, and kill the Anders girl too. Demetrius was supposed to set up an auction and I don’t want to do that now.’

‘What about the guard who got shot at Anders’s house yesterday morning? He’s still sedated. And what do you want done with Burton?’

‘Whatever you want to do with them. I don’t care. I just don’t want Burton talking. If the other guard is loyal to Burton, dispose of him, too.’ Ken walked to his office and closed the door. He poured himself a stiff drink and dropped into his desk chair. Then he called Sean.

‘Dad . . .’ Sean sounded as numb as Ken felt. ‘What are we going to do now?’

‘What I should have done a long time ago.’ Ken pushed the glass of bourbon aside and opened his gun safe.

I’m buying a one-way ticket to Bora Bora. I’m going to kill Marcus O’Bannion.

Cincinnati, Ohio

Wednesday 5 August, 3.45 P.M.

Scarlett gave Marcus a sideways glance from the driver’s seat of the department unmarked car after leaving her Audi parked in the CPD garage. He was being a little too quiet. ‘Do you want to go see Phillip first?’ she asked him. ‘I understand if you do.’

‘No. We need to answer these questions about Demetrius. Lisette’s with Phillip now, so he’s not alone.’ He looked out the car window. ‘I’ve remembered more of what happened when I was in the hospital. It’s starting to freak me out a little.’

Ah. ‘Tell me.’

‘I realized that I’d actually remembered it before, but I thought it was just a bad dream caused by the morphine.’ He grimaced. ‘That stuff gave me the worst nightmares.’

‘What do you remember, Marcus?’

He sighed. ‘There was another person there. A woman. I didn’t see her face.’

Scarlett had to swallow back her rage. ‘Because your face was covered with a pillow.’

‘There was that,’ he said sarcastically, then paused for a few beats, his forehead furrowed. ‘She told him to hurry, that someone was coming. I think that was why he didn’t finish with the pillow. They must have left because the charge nurse came in. The machine had been beeping like my IV got pulled.’

‘Well it wasn’t like you were almost suffocated or anything,’ she muttered. ‘Thank goodness for the machines.’

‘The nurse fixed my IV and I didn’t say anything. Couldn’t if I’d tried. I think he came back a second time. Had a hypo filled with God knows what and had injected it in the IV bags that were staged to be next in line. I remember needing to tell, but being so out of it that I couldn’t. Like that dream where you’re screaming in your mind but nothing comes out. I think I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or not. Or even sane,’ he added a lot more quietly.

Scarlett hoped she found Demetrius or whatever his real name was because she wanted to kill him with her bare hands. But that wouldn’t help Marcus, so she kept her voice mild. ‘You were lucid the time I came to see you. He may have found a way to increase your drugs if you were that out of it. Some drugs can make you doubt what you’ve seen. Some can make you trapped in your own body.’

‘I hadn’t thought of that.’

She squeezed his hand, relieved to hear his relief. ‘Given what we know this man is capable of, drugging you is definitely within the realm of believability. Don’t go doubting your sanity yet. So what happened with the IV bags?’

‘I don’t know. I didn’t die, so something obviously happened.’

‘Maybe you’ll remember more later. Or maybe you could find the nurse who worked your shift that night and ask what she remembers.’

‘She wouldn’t remember back nine months.’

‘Don’t be so sure. You were quite the celebrity. You lying there in that bed, so handsome and brave and heroic. A man who jumps in front of bullets to save a stranger is quite a turn-on for a lot of women.’ She batted her eyelashes, making him laugh again.

‘As long as it is for you,’ he said, kissing her hand. ‘Where are we going first?’

‘To the Ledger to see Stone. I want to know about McCord.’

‘What about the two people who may have seen Drake?’

‘I called the shelter. Tommy and Edna are there, trying to stay out of the heat. Tommy’s got a heart condition,’ she explained. ‘Dani’s there and she’s going to hold them for me. When we get to the Ledger, I want you to go straight in. Same with the shelter.’

‘I’m wearing Kevlar.’

‘The sniper yesterday was aiming for your head so keep your head down. Don’t wait for me and don’t be a gentleman. Not when people on roofs might shoot you.’

‘What about you?’

‘They ain’t gunnin’ for me. Besides, I’m suited up, too.’ She tugged at the collar of the thin Kevlar vest she wore under her shirt. ‘Damn thing chafes. Promise me, Marcus. No heroics.’

He made a disgruntled sound. ‘All right, fine. I’ll tuck and roll.’

He kept his promise, hurrying into the Ledger’s lobby when she stopped the car. He grabbed her as soon she came through the door, and before she could protest, his mouth was on hers, his hands moving her head this way and that as he tasted her thoroughly.

‘People, people, get a room,’ someone called. Sounded like Diesel.

Scarlett smiled against Marcus’s mouth before pulling away. ‘Very public, Marcus.’ Which had likely been the point. There had been a possessiveness to the kiss, as if he wanted his whole world to know.

‘I know,’ he said, then turned her to face the lobby.

Diesel sat behind the desk, grinning at them. ‘Detective.’

‘Mr Kennedy,’ she said with a nod. She looked around the lobby, noting the presence of the newly hired armed guard in the corner. ‘Where is Gayle?’

‘I told her to take a coffee break, so I could install extra firewalls on her computer. I shored up the network server already, but Gayle’s computer needed extra.’