Chapter 12

After a night at her mom's spent dreaming about chasing Jason Abbott through icy water and over snow-filled peaks, Laurel finished her breakfast burrito sitting in her FBI office. The Bearing family still hadn't been located, nor had Pastor John, and she fought irritation as she glared at the rough surface in front of her. Like the conference table, her desk was an old, repurposed door. She leaned to the side and yelled down the hallway. "Kate, are you any closer to acquiring a desk for me?"

"I'm working on it," Kate called back. "The requisition forms have been a pain, and the FBI holds on to money as long as it can. You need a drawer?"

Laurel looked at the basket holding pens and notepads near her left foot. "I require a couple of drawers. Would you put a priority on that one, please?"

"Of course. I'll do my best."

Laurel crumpled the burrito wrapper and tossed it into the garbage. She didn't want to apply pressure on Kate, but she really needed a drawer. She turned to her computer and typed her notes from Jason Abbott's two recorded jail interviews as a rustle sounded down the hall.

Huck soon filled her doorway. "Mornin'."

"Good morning." She gestured toward one of her two leather guest chairs. "Have a seat."

He dropped into one, his shoulders slightly slumped. "Thanks. No luck on finding the three Bearing men, but we finally tracked down the location of Pastor John Govern."

"Where was he?"

"Apparently the junior pastor left very early Thursday to go snowmobiling with a group from the church and should return sometime Sunday night, and we have no idea where. They just took off into the Cascades and let the wind lead them," Huck said. "I find it irritating that Pastor Caine didn't give us that information."

Good point. "Perhaps he didn't know."

"It was a church event," Huck said. "I have no doubt Pastor Caine knew all about it. I have half a mind to drag him into interrogation and ask him why he wants to hinder our investigation."

That might be interesting to watch. For now, she couldn't read Huck's expression. "Are you all right?"

He rolled his neck. "No. Rachel Raprenzi won't stop posting the video of me pulling over Teri Bearing, our latest victim."

She blinked. "Why?"

"She likes to mess with me."

Laurel winced. "I'm sorry."

Huck dug his fingers into the side of his neck as if the muscles had knotted. "She'd love to show some sort of improper relationship between you and me."

So the news of the pregnancy would be opportune for the reporter. "For now, we need to focus on finding Jason Abbott as well as the Bearings." Laurel would worry about Rachel's personal interest in them later. "I spoke with Dr. Ortega's assistant a few minutes ago about our first victim, the one found by Iceberg River."

Huck straightened. "Was she my mother?"

"Dr. Ortega is still working to identify bodies and determine the different causes of death from the Seattle nightclub fire. His assistant expressed uncertainty when he'd be able to send us the autopsy results."

Huck shrugged out of his jacket and draped it over the chair, flexing the muscles in his chest. "That's okay. Honestly, the more I think about it, the more I realize it just doesn't make sense that the vic is my mother. I shouldn't have said anything."

"Your instincts are often correct."

His gaze softened. "I thought you weren't a big believer in instincts."

"I lack natural instincts, but I believe in yours," she said honestly.

His smile made him look younger. "That's the sweetest thing you've ever said to me."

"It is not," she countered. She could think of many sweet things she had said to him.

"It was sweet. Speaking of sweetness, are you excited about our upcoming appointment with the OB-GYN?"

She had conducted copious research to find the most qualified doctor. "Yes."

"Will we be able to hear the heartbeat?"

She nodded. "Affirmative. I'll be more than twelve weeks along, and a Doppler fetal monitor should be able to pick up the baby's heartbeat."

Huck grinned full-on this time. "Do you think it's a boy or a girl?"

"I have absolutely no idea."

"Yeah, but do you feel anything? Do you have any sort of mother's intuition?"

Mother's intuition. What if she couldn't relate to the baby as her own mother had to her? She didn't have those emotions, or she didn't know how to express them. She reached for a pen to tap on the worn door. "Did you know that while many cultures have myths and old wives' tales about mothers being able to sense something about their unborn babies, none of it is scientifically verifiable? I have no better chance of guessing than do you."

"Then I guess it's a boy," he said instantly.

She sat back, intrigued. "Why?"

He shrugged. "Gut feeling."

There was no possible way he could know that fact. She crossed her arms. "We'll see."

"Are you ready to tell anybody yet?"

"No. You?"

He shook his head. "No. I figure it's nobody's business but ours."

She liked that. "Did Rachel ask you out again?"

His chin lifted. "Why? You jealous?"

She considered the question. Was she jealous? "No. I'm fairly confident in our relationship. I'm not jealous, just curious."

"I like that about you," he said. He often surprised her with that statement.

She never understood to what he referred. "Please clarify."

He shook his head. "Nope. I just like you."

She might never fully understand him, but she did trust him. Believing in somebody besides her mom was new for her, especially since her own father was such an abomination. She's been spared pain in her childhood by not learning of him until recently.

Huck sobered. "Have you been able to reach Abigail Caine?"

"Yes. She came in earlier for an interview. I believe she knew that Jason Abbott would escape."

Huck ran a rough hand through his hair, ruffling the thick mass. "Why would she do that? She has to know that he wants her dead."

"She's a narcissist who lacks the ability to feel fear," Laurel said. "If Abbott attempts to harm her, I'm sure she's confident she can handle him."

"Why would she want him free?"

Laurel looked out the window to find a light snow falling. When had it started to snow again? "She obviously wanted Jason Abbott to escape, so she definitely has a plan." What that plan might be, Laurel had absolutely no idea.

Kate poked her head in the doorway. "Nester called and said his sister is doing well in the hospital. Broken leg in three places and a concussion. No clue who hit her, though."

"I'm glad she's going to be all right," Laurel said.

Kate nodded. "Melissa Cutting and Haylee Johnson are here as promised. Do you want them in the conference room, or do you want them down at Fish and Wildlife?"

"Let's interview them here," Laurel said. "Is that all right with you, Huck?"

"Sure." Huck stood and waited until Laurel crossed around the desk to walk in front of him. Today she wore heeled boots, so she felt a little bit taller than her normal 5'2". She'd paired black slacks with a green sweater, and she had her badge at her waist.

"Do you want to lead or want me to?" Huck asked.

She shrugged. "Let's both ask questions."

"Sounds good." He pressed his hand to the small of her back, and she felt his warmth all the way to her toes.

Regaining her composure, because she wasn't a woman who lost her composure, she walked down the hallway and into the conference room. "Thank you for coming in, Ms. Johnson," she said, noting Haylee pouring a glass of water.

Melissa Cutting sat next to her niece and across the table from the door. For the meeting today, she wore a high-end pantsuit with subtle gold and diamond jewelry. In her early fifties, Melissa had thick brown hair that curled around her shoulders, a smoothly botoxed forehead, and fully filled lips. She played with a thick emerald ring around her right finger. "We heard that Jason Abbott escaped," she said without preamble.

"Yes." Laurel looked at Haylee, who today had dressed back to form in a gray sweatshirt and faded jeans, her blond hair pulled up in a ponytail. "Did you know Jason was going to escape?"

"No." Haylee shook her head wildly. "I had no idea. I'm so glad he's out, though."

Huck pulled out a chair for Laurel and then sat next to her across from the other two. "Why is that? Do you want him to kill more people?"

Haylee flattened her hands on the rough wooden door serving as a table. "You have him all wrong. He is not a killer. What happened is all Abigail Caine's fault because of those experiments she conducted on him."

Laurel tilted her head, studying the young woman. Her facial expression showed markers of truth. Did she really believe that nonsense? "He cut the hands off women after raping and strangling them," she said slowly. "Nobody else in the world can make somebody do something like that. He is a bad person, and if he gets near you again, he will hurt you."

Haylee's eyes flashed. "You're just mad because I'm suing you."

"I couldn't care less about your lawsuit," Laurel said honestly. "The suit lacks merit. I'm surprised it hasn't been dismissed already."

Melissa Cutting smiled, her teeth perfectly aligned. "We think we have a good case, and I'm greatly looking forward to your deposition next month. You were reckless and unprofessional, considering your sister was involved in the whole situation. We will prevail, Agent Snow."

"I disagree based on the law and the facts," Laurel said easily. "However, I don't have time to worry about that right now. We need to concentrate on finding Jason Abbott before he murders somebody else." If he was killing women by drowning them, he had just struck twice, so hopefully he'd take some time to cool off. If he wasn't the current killer, he would murder soon. She focused more directly on Melissa Cutting. "Why did you move to dismiss our injunction against Dr. Abigail Caine visiting Jason Abbott?"

Haylee swung to face her aunt. "You did what?"

Melissa met Laurel's gaze evenly. "I represent Jason Abbott, and he requested Dr. Caine's visit. He has the right to see anybody he wishes, especially when it comes to his defense." She glanced at her niece. "Dr. Abigail Caine is how we get him free, Haylee. Now, control yourself."

Haylee gulped and looked down at the rough table.

Huck cleared his throat. "Ms. Cutting, you perfectly match the description of his former victims. Please tell me you understand the risk and are taking precautions to protect your safety."

"I'm taking precautions," Melissa said. "But I represent Jason Abbott, so he has no need or wish to hurt me."

Laurel shook her head. "You do not understand the compulsions that drive him. If that craving builds up in him again, he will come after you, absent, of course, another potential victim."

"I hope he gets to Abigail Caine," Haylee burst out.

"Haylee!" Melissa said, drawing back.

Haylee sank in her chair. In her early twenties, she suddenly looked much younger. "I don't care. Jason would not have hurt anybody without that woman. Surely you understand that." She glared at Laurel.

"No," Laurel said. How could the woman be so lacking in self-preservation? "I do think that Dr. Caine accelerated tendencies that wouldn't have manifested themselves so soon otherwise, but anybody who would brutally kill the way Jason did was going to kill at some point. You need to understand that." Jason would eventually murder Haylee if the woman didn't begin to take precautions. "You have to understand."

"I don't know what to think." Haylee flattened her hands on the table.

Huck studied the two women. "Where were you both the night Jason Abbott escaped from custody?"

Melissa drew back. "Excuse me?"

"We just need to clear you, Ms. Cutting. You're Jason Abbott's lawyer."

Melissa swallowed. "I was home working on a brief."

"Alone?" Laurel asked.

"Yes. If I needed an alibi, I would have created one. I had no idea Jason Abbott was going to escape from the hospital." Melissa leaned forward. "In fact, I didn't know he was in the hospital. The jail failed to inform my law firm about that."

Laurel couldn't read whether the attorney was telling the truth or not. She looked at Haylee. "Where were you?"

Haylee shuffled in her seat. "I was home, studying for a test on hair coloring. I've been taking beauty classes." She studied Laurel. "You could use a blunter cut. You have wonderful bone structure."

A blunt cut? Maybe. "Do you live together?" Laurel asked.

"Not anymore," Haylee said. "I have my own apartment on the other side of Genesis Valley."

Laurel studied her. She'd been keeping tabs on Haylee since Abbott's arrest, so Laurel had already known the answer to the question, but she had wondered if Haylee would tell the truth.

"Do you have a roommate?" Huck asked.

"No."

Huck settled back in his chair, looking intimidating as he did so. "Can anybody corroborate your story?"

Haylee looked at her aunt.

Melissa shook her head. "We're finished with this line of questioning, other than to affirm that we had no idea Jason was going to escape, and we certainly did not facilitate his actions. He has not been in touch with either one of us."

"Will you submit to a phone dump?" Huck asked.

Melissa's jaw tightened. "No. I have communications with several clients that could be considered privileged, including the identity of said clients. Surely you understand that?"

"I do." Huck looked at Haylee. "What about you? You're not an attorney."

Haylee sighed. "You need a warrant, right?"

Laurel mentally clicked through an affidavit. "Haylee, I can obtain a warrant for your phone based on your relationship with Jason Abbott and the threat to the public now that he's on the loose. This would be a lot easier if you just cooperated."

Haylee looked at her aunt. "Do I have to?"

Melissa shook her head. "No, but I do believe that Agent Snow can obtain a warrant for your phone."

Haylee shrugged. "Okay, you can have my phone. But there's nothing interesting on it."

The interview continued for another hour, but Laurel failed to glean additional information from either woman. Finally, she ended the interview. Melissa and Haylee stood and walked toward the door.

At the entranceway, Haylee turned around, her movements hesitant. "Agent Snow?"

"Yes?" Laurel asked.

"I want to believe that Jason has changed and does regret what happened. He was drugged by your sister, and I think he wasn't in his right mind that entire time. However, if Jason truly wants anybody dead, you have to know that it's you, right?"