Chapter 8

Kendra was already sitting in her usual parking spot when Lynch's Lamborghini took center stage a few minutes later. Kendra jumped out and headed for the elevator. "I'll see you up at the condo. If I remember correctly, everyone in the parking lot has to swoon over that blasted Lamborghini of yours after you park it."

"No problem." He threw his keys to Pauley, the garage attendant. "Take good care of it. I'll be up in the condo."

Pauley grabbed the keys eagerly. "You bet I will, Mr. Lynch. Okay if I wax it?"

"Carnauba paste?"

"Of course. Nothing but the best for such a fine piece of machinery."

"Thanks, Pauley. I'll reimburse you." He was already getting in the elevator with Kendra.

"You made his day," Kendra said as she gazed at Pauly's eager face. "You know, it took him months to learn my name. For you, it took all of one visit."

Lynch smiled. "Roll up in a car like mine, nobody will ever forget you."

Kendra shrugged. "I told you I'd go up ahead of you."

"Well, I wasn't going to let you go up to the condo alone," Lynch said as he punched the button. "Not a good idea considering what happened the last time that scum decided to raid your place."

"I wasn't hurt. Nothing was stolen here."

"Pure luck."

"No, I was careful to make sure Olivia had the documents safe. No luck about it."

"I stand corrected." Lynch was grinning. "Forgive me."

She grinned back at him. "I'll think about it."

"You do that." Lord, she loved his smile, and she was suddenly back to the time when it was so very natural for them to be together.

"It's going to be fine," he said softly as they exited the elevator and walked toward her condo. He watched her unlock her front door. "I told you I'd go slow. No rush. But I go in first to look around. Okay?"

Her mouth dropped open. "The hell you do." She threw open the door and stepped to one side as she entered the condo. "In your dreams, Lynch. My condo. My assignment."

"Whatever." He sighed resignedly and yet somehow he'd suddenly managed to get ahead of her, using his own body to block her as she moved through the condo. "I thought there was no way it was going to be that easy." He gestured ahead of her into the living room. "By all means, guide me. Show me… everything. I'm at your disposal."

"You bet I will," she said crisply. "The documents first… Those women managed to find virtual treasures that no one else in the case had discovered." Kendra pulled her iPad from her leather satchel and pulled up the Morgan sisters' files that Zack had scanned for her. "I'll explain as I go along."

She explained in detail as he sat on the couch, his intent gaze fixed thoughtfully on her face, only asking a question now and then. But there was no doubt that he was paying attention to every word she said. She knew him well enough to be able to read his every expression, and when she finally started to put the iPad away, she tilted her head and asked curiously, "Well, do you believe I've missed anything?"

"You know you haven't." Lynch's eyes were twinkling. "You were reeling off those facts as if you were quoting the encyclopedia. However, there's a distinct possibility that I might have missed something. But I'm certain you can take care of that as well."

Kendra frowned. "I thought I was being very clear. What do you think you missed?"

"Why, you promised me a cup of coffee. So far I haven't seen a drop." He reached for his phone. "But I'm certain Olivia will take care of me."

"She always does," Kendra said. "Did it occur to you to ask me?"

"Of course. But I'm trying my best not to be a bother. Haven't you noticed?" His smile was almost blandly innocent. "I guess I'll have to try harder."

"I believe I got the point." Yet she'd be relieved to have Olivia as a buffer in the hours to come. She listened to him chatting with Olivia, and then a few minutes later Olivia was at the front door and Lynch was acting as if he owned the condo as he welcomed her.

Patience, Kendra thought.

Then she saw Lynch wink mischievously at her as he handed her a cup of coffee and was tempted to throw it at him.

Patience, she thought again.

"Isn't it time you made your move, Lynch?" Olivia lifted her glass of wine to her lips. "Personally, I'm getting a little bored with this game you're playing. You took too long, and you let Kendra get hurt before you showed up on the scene. I always thought you knew what you were doing, but I had to make a few moves myself before you got around to showing up. I shouldn't have to tell you how that pissed me off."

Lynch turned toward the hallway that led back to the home office, where Kendra was adjusting her client appointments. He turned back to Olivia. "I can't tell you how upset it makes me to hear that. Particularly since I dropped everything and rushed back here when I heard that she'd been attacked by that scum."

Olivia shrugged. "Perhaps I was playing a few games myself. I got very tired of worrying about Kendra this time. She's my best friend, and she can be very stubborn. I didn't see why I should take a chance on losing her because you didn't move fast enough. I decided that wasn't going to happen." She took another sip of her wine. "I thought you might understand."

"Oh, I do," Lynch said. "That prospect is totally unacceptable. I can see why you decided to use desperate measures. Only I wasn't quite as desperate as I might have seemed. I was doing a little investigating of my own while I tied up a few loose ends. I did get here as quickly as possible, Olivia."

"Then you'd better tie up these particular loose ends here, too, Lynch." She handed him her empty wineglass. "Because I've been watching Kendra since I came here today and I'll bet she's becoming impatient, too. She's used to working with you and she wants those women found. I can see the signs. If you handle it right, we can get this show on the road."

Lynch grinned. "Then by all means let's get you out of here and I'll stroll over to her and see if you're right."

"I am," Olivia said as she headed across the living room. "Just don't blow it."

"I promise I'll do my very best to please you." He waited a few minutes before he followed her and then gave Olivia a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you. I believe I can handle the situation now, Olivia."

"See that you do."

Kendra emerged from her home office. "Is everything all right?"

"It will be now," Olivia said. She quickly changed the subject. "Listen, I've been wanting to talk to you about those files I had Zack scan."

"Oh, thank you again. He did a fantastic job."

"He did. His scans were very easy to import into my text-to-speech app. I've been going through the files, and I've been amazed at the work those young women did. But one thing stuck out: In the past few weeks, they've been re-interviewing so many people connected with the case, and their files reflect this. Pretty much everyone connected with the case has their own file, but not former detective Todd Williams."

"Really?" Kendra said.

"Yes. Which is strange, because along with Paula Chase, he was lead investigator."

"Maybe he didn't cooperate with the Morgan sisters," Lynch said.

"But he did. In the section summaries, he appears a lot. There are recent quotes and information only he could have provided. I think he must have had a file devoted to him, and it was recently removed. Did you find a file like that in Paula Chase's house or in either of the Morgan sisters' homes?"

"No," Kendra replied. "And not in their cars or anywhere else."

Olivia shrugged. "It seems like it should be there."

"I agree. Wow. Good work, Olivia."

"Thanks. I'll keep listening to the files when I'm running or taking an Uber somewhere. I'll let you know if anything else jumps out at me." Olivia hugged her. "I'll see you tomorrow." Then she left the condo.

Kendra turned toward Lynch. "That was fantastic. I didn't even catch that."

"Neither did I. Not much gets by her. Something we should definitely keep in mind."

Kendra plopped down on the sofa. "So… I have a feeling I missed something while I was out of the room."

"Yes. Unlike you, she was very angry with me for not showing up on the scene sooner. I had to apologize to her. She considered it an act of betrayal."

"It was none of her business," Kendra said. "You'd think she'd listen when I try to explain our relationship."

Lynch shook his head. "She cares about you. And I totally understand her attitude. It was the one thing about which we were in complete agreement. No, there was one other thing. She told me that she thought you were ready to ease off and give me a break and let me help you find those two women. Is that true?"

Kendra didn't speak for a moment. "It might be."

He shook his head. "That's not good enough, Kendra. I have to be in all the way. I'm not going to put up with the thought of letting some lowlife beat you up because I'm not around to stop it. Screw your independence. We'll work something out."

"Not with an attitude like that." She started to turn away.

He whirled her back toward him. "We'll work something out," he repeated. "Unless you want it all to come to an end. Do you?"

She could feel the tears sting her eyes as she looked up at him. Dear God, she loved him. "I didn't say that."

"Then tell me we'll work it out," he said softly. "I'm not going to be unreasonable. I realize how lucky I am to have you. Let's just go out on the terrace and let me hold you for a little while and talk about plans and how we're going to go after those bastards and find those two women. All I want to do is help. Okay?" His arm slid around her waist and he was leading her toward the French doors.

"You never want to just help," Kendra said. "You tend to take over."

"I suppose I do, but it's probably because I grew up an orphan, working in Hell's Kitchen, and developed a passion for order. I learned very young that you eat more and considerably better if you have organization on your side."

Kendra nodded. "Though I imagine it also helped you in getting your own way."

"True. But I always work hard at making certain you're happy, don't I? I never leave you out in the cold?"

She shook her head. "I have to admit, there's nothing cold about you, Lynch."

His eyes narrowed on her expression. "But is there an implied but in that sentence?"

"Perhaps," Kendra said slowly. "No one can be more charming or entertaining and the sex is wonderful, but you're so many-faceted that sometimes I'm not sure I really know you. You just told me about growing up an orphan in New York, but I don't remember you mentioning it before. I know you're a great cook. Is Hell's Kitchen where you learned it? What else don't I know about you, Lynch?"

"Probably a good many things, but it's not because I'm intentionally keeping secrets from you. Ask me and I'll tell you anything you're interested in knowing. I've just never been generous about sharing the more seamy side of my life with you. Some of it's not been easy or pretty. But I'll even go down that road if you choose."

"I don't choose," she said jerkily. "I don't have the right. Forget I asked."

He chuckled. "And now you're feeling guilty? I don't care, Kendra. If you want to explore, step into my world. Just don't go too deep. I don't want to have to dive after you."

"You won't," Kendra said. "But now you know how I felt when you were running around thousands of miles away, possibly getting shot at, and there was nothing I could do to help."

"Yes, I know how you must have felt," he said quietly. He was no longer smiling. "My worst nightmare."

But she was no longer wanting to think of nightmares. She wanted to take a step forward where hopefully no nightmares existed. "But I should have been grateful that you wanted to be there for me this time. Because it's not only me that you're helping now." She suddenly turned and gave him a swift, hard kiss. "I am grateful. I wasn't at all gracious. Please forgive me. I won't be that way again."

"You probably will." He was laughing as he gave her an affectionate hug. "But I'm just happy that you decided to be gracious this time. I'm sure the occasions will be few and far between."

Her lips were suddenly twitching. "And that was bordering on rudeness, Lynch. I didn't deserve it since I was being exceptionally polite at the moment."

"Then I'd better make amends very swiftly," Lynch said. "Any suggestions?"

"Maybe," Kendra said. "And if those sisters are still alive, I might have found a way to help them."

His eyes narrowed. "What are you up to, Kendra?"

"It's a big if, I know. But I have to try."

"We have to try."

She turned to face him. "Yeah?"

"I'm in this with you to the end." His hand tightened on her waist. "I thought I made that very clear. Now what's your play?"

She drew a deep breath. "Detective Perry has the Morgan sisters' files spread out over a conference room at police headquarters. It was interesting seeing them that way. Chloe and Sloane were excited about something they found in the last month, just around the time they started re-interviewing witnesses."

"Interesting. Was there anything special in those new interviews?"

"Not really. But seeing everything reminded me of what Olivia noticed… about how there was no file for Detective Williams, even though new material from him appears elsewhere."

"Right, so he's obviously still alive."

"I looked him up. He retired from the force four years ago, but he's still local. I believe I should talk to him."

"When?"

Kendra felt the excitement begin to soar. They were together again. It was going to happen. This was how it was supposed to be. "How about right now?"

Lynch nodded. "Let's do it." He was already heading for the front door. "I'll drive."

"I'd forgotten how ridiculous this car is, Lynch." His new Lamborghini was attracting more than its share of attention in Williams' middle-class suburban street.

He smiled. "There's nothing ridiculous about pure automotive perfection."

"I think a guy back there gave your car an actual catcall."

"Maybe he just saw you."

"He was screaming something about ‘sexy wheels.'"

"Not the first time that's happened. The man probably couldn't help himself. And who could blame him, really?"

"I definitely could."

"Aw, come on. I caught you giving an admiring glance or two when we climbed inside."

"We've discussed this before…"

"And we will again, if you keep dissing my ride."

"Far be it from me."

They rolled to a stop in front of a one-story Spanish bungalow at the end of the street. The yard, obviously designed with an eye toward water conservation, was tastefully landscaped with rocks and desert plants. Kendra and Lynch walked to the front door and rang the bell. A trim, handsome African American man in his sixties answered.

"Todd Williams?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"My name is Kendra Michaels. I've been helping out with the Morgan sisters' disappearance case. I was brought in by Paula Chase."

Williams winced at the mention of Paula's name.

"I know who you are, Dr. Michaels. Paula told me she would be talking to you. Please come in." Williams opened the door wide for them to enter. "We can talk out back."

As they walked through his living room, Kendra took notice of several hand-painted portraits, most picturing different dogs. "Did you do these?"

"As a matter of fact, I did."

"You're very talented."

"Well, I have to admit I had some help." Williams smiled. "You can send a photograph to companies out there, and they'll send back a paint-by-number set. These are pets we've had over the years. My friends want me to try doing it freehand, but I haven't found the courage yet. Maybe someday."

He led them out a sliding back door to a table next to a small swimming pool. They sat down, and Williams gestured toward Lynch. "And you are…?"

"Adam Lynch. Former FBI. I've been working freelance for a few years now."

Williams gave a low whistle. "I've heard of you, too."

"Really? I'm quite sure your former partner didn't mention me."

"No, but a lot of other law-enforcement officers have. You have quite a reputation, Lynch. You move in very unique and specialized areas. I'm impressed by what I've heard."

"Good things, I hope."

"It depends on who you ask. Not many local FBI agents leave the Bureau and become black ops agents-for-hire for the DOJ."

Lynch shrugged. "Just one of my employers. I'm kept fairly busy."

Williams regarded him for a long moment. "I'm sure you have some interesting stories to tell, Mr. Lynch."

"Some interesting, some not so interesting. I guess it's like being a cop."

"Indeed." Williams sat back in his patio chair. "Now, what can I help you with?"

"Well, as you may know," Kendra began, "I met with Paula Chase on the last day of her life. She was extremely concerned about Chloe and Sloane."

"We all are," Williams said. "Paula and I knew them since they were children. We were with them the day we found their mother's corpse near that hiking trail. It isn't something you easily forget."

"You and Paula stayed in touch with them over the years?"

"On and off. They've been kind enough to invite us to some of their big events. High school and college graduations, that sort of thing."

"They reached out to you several times, isn't that right? That's unusual."

"Very. But those are two extraordinary young women. Most families of murder victims retreat into their grief and just learn to live with it. Not Chloe and Sloane. I'm sure you've seen the lengths to which they've gone to investigate their mother's murder over the years."

"Of course. Did you ever do anything to discourage that?"

"Absolutely not. It's how they chose to deal with it. I've met the families of many murder victims in my career, and everyone deals with these things in their own way. If this helped them feel that they had some control over their world, who was I to take that away from them?"

"I get it," Lynch said. "But did you ever feel that their investigation might put their lives in danger?"

"Never." Williams seemed annoyed by the suggestion. "If I believed that, I never would have encouraged them. I know Paula felt the same way."

Kendra leaned forward. "Paula was trying to figure out what they were doing in these last few weeks. She didn't have much luck. Did she talk about it with you?"

"Only after they disappeared. Chloe and Sloane were in the process of re-interviewing witnesses, and somewhere in that process, they apparently found out something that put their investigation on a whole new track. Paula thought I might know something about it, but I didn't. I hadn't seen either one of them in years."

"Really? I would've thought you would be one of the first people they re-interviewed," Kendra said.

"We exchanged a few emails, but I honestly didn't have anything new to give them. I'd already been in touch with Chloe and Sloane several times over the years. I just tried to be of help."

"Was there anything about their questions, anything at all, that gave you even the slightest hint about what leads they may have been pursuing?"

Williams flashed a pained smile. "Paula asked me the same thing. I'll tell you what I told her: I'm afraid not."

"I can tell that Paula Chase's death hit you hard," Lynch said. "It hurt Kendra, too. The minute she heard, she was on her way to find out how she could help. I had to be the one to break the news to her. I'm sorry for your loss."

"You have no idea," Williams said. "I'm still in shock about it. She was my partner for over nine years." Kendra could see tears welling in his eyes. "She was a better cop than I ever was."

"Did you keep in touch with her after you retired from the force?" Kendra said.

"Not as much as we said we would, but I guess that's normal. I retired first, and she left a couple of years later."

"Any theories at all about what happened to her?" Kendra asked.

He shook his head. "I leave the theorizing to the cops working her case. But of course, it's suspicious that this happened just as she was investigating this old case of ours. Yet I don't know what to think."

"One more question," Kendra said. "And I know this is going to sound strange. Did Chloe and Sloane say anything to you about ‘the bomb place'?"

He cocked his head as if he may have heard her incorrectly. "I beg your pardon?"

Kendra repeated herself. "The bomb place."

"That's what I thought you said. No, they didn't mention anything like that. Really? ‘The bomb place'? I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Neither do I," Kendra said. "I have no idea what it means. Or if it even means anything at all. It just came up during the investigation."

Williams shrugged. "Sorry."

Kendra stood, and the others followed her lead. "Thank you for your time, Detective. I appreciate it."

He smiled and shook her hand. "I'm not a detective anymore. I'm just Todd. If there's anything I can do to help bring Chloe and Sloane home, please let me know."

Kendra and Lynch didn't speak until they were back in the car and pulling away from Williams' house.

"Chloe and Sloane did communicate with him in the last few weeks," Kendra said. "But there's no written report. All the others they did were in their file. Why not his report?"

"I have no idea," Lynch said. He was silent a moment. "Also, he seemed slightly suspicious of my government work."

Kendra shot him a glance. "Half the world has probably heard about the way you're hired to bring down governments. That might be entirely justified. I certainly wouldn't fault him for that."

"Hmm. I'm not sure what to think of that."

"Let me ask you this: Did you kill anyone this week?"

"Kill?" He pretended to think about it for a moment. "No."

"Did anyone try to kill you?"

"Well… Yes."

"I thought so. I was certain that was going on during one of our calls. Considering… Then it might be wise to drop the subject."

Evidently Lynch wasn't quite ready to let the subject go yet. "They don't appear to understand my methods. By all means, though, let's move on, shall we?"

"Let's do," she agreed quickly. "It's been a couple of days since I checked in with the police and I have a few questions I want to ask them. Wanna go downtown?"

"If you like. But as I said, sometimes I have difficulty with the locals."

"Gee. And you wonder why an ex-cop might give off negative vibes toward you?"

"Good point." He asked solemnly, "Then do you suppose I should look at this as my opportunity to mend a few fences?"

She could tell he was teasing her. But she was enjoying it, so what the hell? "Let's not get carried away. I'd consider it a success if you just managed not to step on any toes."

Lynch grinned. "Then suppose we see where the day takes us."

Detective Perry had only three words for Kendra and Lynch when he approached them in the headquarters' fourth-floor lobby.

"The bomb place?"

"I see you've spoken to Charlie Davenport."

Perry nodded. "You put the fear of God into him. I think he broke a land speed record getting here after you talked to him. He told us about his affair with both Morgan sisters, and his overhearing something about ‘the bomb place.' Which is just vague enough to be almost completely worthless."

"For now. Maybe there's just a piece we haven't seen yet."

"Well, I hope you're close to finding it, because I don't seem to be getting closer."

Perry looked at the name printed on Lynch's visitor's badge. "Mr. Lynch. I was told that Dr. Michaels' participation in our cases occasionally brings you as part of the package. I was beginning to think that wouldn't be the case this time."

"I'm here mostly as an observer." Lynch shrugged. "Kendra puts on a good show. I always enjoy it."

"So I've seen."

"So, what did you think of Charlie Davenport?" Kendra asked Perry.

"He didn't give us any reason to disbelieve him. He seemed to genuinely care for both sisters, and his alibi checks out. The ‘bomb place' bit he overheard sounded a bit wonky, but he was helpful in another way."

Kendra wrinkled her brow. "What way?"

"Chloe and Sloane's phone PIN numbers. He watched them each using their phones and tapping in their unlock codes. And what's more, he remembers them."

"Good man," Lynch murmured.

"Naturally you would think that's an admirable thing for a boyfriend to do," Kendra said.

"Not admirable as much as fortunate. Fortunate for us, and maybe for Chloe and Sloane."

"Exactly," Perry said. "It's one thing to get a warrant to search someone's phone, but another thing entirely to get one of the big tech companies to help bypass the encryption for you. It's almost impossible. That young man saved us weeks."

"What did you find?" Lynch asked. "Texts? Emails?"

"All that, of course, though those weren't really of much help to us. But our computer forensics team were able to take advantage of Google location tracking history on those phones. Both women spent a lot of time at one location in the past month. Come look."

Perry led them past a row of desks to his workspace, where a printout was resting on top of a short stack of papers. Perry picked up the printout and pointed to the thousands of tiny red dots on it. "Each of these dots represents a stop that these phones made. If you look at the clusters, you can see a concentration of visits that we've tracked to likely destinations: workplaces, gyms where they held memberships, favorite lunch spots." Perry's finger traced another cluster on the other side of the page. "But both women also made frequent visits to this area."

Kendra leaned over the printout. "Where exactly is this?"

Perry turned the page over. "We're checking it out now."

She gazed at him in disbelief. "May I remind you that I'm the one who gave you Davenport? You wouldn't even have this if it wasn't for me."

"Which is why I showed you what I did."

Kendra stared at the overturned page on Perry's desk. "A geographic map with a bunch of dots and no street or neighborhood names. Come on, Perry."

"We've had a couple of officers there all morning on a canvas, waving around pictures of Chloe and Sloane. I'll fill you in after we're done." Perry picked up a stack of files and dropped them on top of the overturned page.

Kendra shook her head. "It looked like the other side of the bay. Where was that? Coronado?"

"We'll talk about it later. By the way, our lab is confident they'll be able to get usable DNA off that blood and tooth you extracted from your attacker at Sloane's apartment. That could be a big help."

"Good. I fought hard for that lead."

"I know you did. And good work getting Davenport to fess up to his affair with both sisters. It gave us something to work with."

"All in the spirit of cooperation, Detective. Try it sometime."

Kendra turned and walked out of the squad room.

Kendra swore as she and Lynch stepped onto the sidewalk outside police headquarters. "That son of a bitch. I was starting to think Perry was a decent guy."

Lynch shrugged. "He is a decent guy. He was much more forthcoming than a lot of cops you've dealt with."

"Not forthcoming enough."

"He didn't need to be. We got everything we needed from him."

"How can you say that? He totally shut us out on that tracked location."

Lynch smiled. "He tried."

"Whoa whoa whoa." Kendra stopped and turned to face him. "What are you saying?"

"We have our own copy of that printout." Lynch raised his phone. "Right here."

"You didn't."

"Of course I did. Chalk it up to my usual trust issues with local law enforcement. And our friend Perry should beware any man crossing his arms in front of him while holding a phone. It's far too easy to squeeze off a few dozen photos or even videos without being detected." Lynch pulled up a perfect copy of the printout Perry had quickly showed them.

Her eyes widened. "How long will it take you to zero in on that location where Chloe and Sloane went?"

"Thirty seconds, give or take." He flashed her his best movie-star smile. "Still wish I'd stayed in Switzerland?"

"You're not out of the woods yet. Show me."

"Sure." His fingers flew across his phone screen. "It's just a matter of pulling up a street map of the San Diego area, rendering a translucent copy, and superimposing it over the geographic map that Perry so cruelly dangled in front of you. It's easy to line up the Coronado Bridge and the coastlines on each map…" Lynch used his thumb and forefinger to size and rotate the image until the two maps matched perfectly. He pointed to a cluster of red dots. "This is where they went. You were right when you said that it was across the bay in Coronado."

Kendra looked at the superimposed maps. "It looks like all their visits were on or near Flora Avenue."

Lynch nodded. "That's where the officers must be doing their canvas today. We could either join them, or hang back someplace and wait for Perry to call with their results."

"You're joking, right?"

"Of course I am. I know we're going there right this instant."

She grinned. "Damn straight."