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“But we can’t take him out because he was killed in the same way—meaning he was on parole and targeted by the WCF.”
“I didn’t say I had all the answers, but I think whoever is selecting the parolees to target is focusing on convicts who committed a crime similar to one perpetrated on someone they loved.”
Kate said, “Prenter was in a position of authority as well—he was a teaching assistant who raped a student.”
“Not a minor student,” Dillon said. “Sara Tyson was nineteen, correct?”
Lucy nodded.
“She was still young,” Kate said.
“And,” Lucy said, “there is the victim they couldn’t tie to him, his ex-girlfriend who’s in a coma because of a near-lethal dose of homemade X. Anyone who was involved in Prenter’s case knows about her. But it was never allowed into the court record.”
“How do you know it’s not in his official records?” Kate asked.
“WCF has backgrounds on all the predators we identify and monitor. But—” She frowned.
“What?” Dillon prompted.
“He was seventeen at the time. His juvenile record is sealed, and the judge refused to unseal it during his trial.”
“Then how do you know about the girl in the coma?” Dillon asked.
“From my briefing at WCF. Fran has a lot of contacts—she could have spoken to the original investigating officer in his hometown. Or even the D.C. detective in charge, because they would have uncovered it in the course of investigating Sara Tyson’s charges.”
“He’s different,” Dillon said. “Something about Prenter doesn’t fit the other parolees, though maybe you’re right and it goes back to his first victim.”
Sean looked at Kate. “You might want to leave the room.”
She glared at him. “Why?”
“I bugged Fran Buckley’s office. It’s a digital bug; everything is sent to a blind server that I can retrieve. I don’t actually need to listen live.” Sean glanced at Dillon. “It’s a gray area.”
“I believe it’s illegal,” Dillon said.
“It is illegal!” Kate exclaimed.
“I’ll dispute that. I’m not stealing corporate secrets, nor am I using these tapes to incriminate her in a criminal investigation.”
“It’s fruit from the forbidden tree,” Kate said.
“All the more reason for you to leave the room,” Sean said pointedly.
Lucy bit her lip. She hadn’t seen Kate this angry in a long time. Her sister-in-law stood abruptly and left. A moment later her office door slammed shut.
“I’m sorry,” Lucy said to Dillon, “but someone is setting me up, and I couldn’t sit by and let it happen.”
“Kate knows that,” Dillon said. “She’s not angry with you. I think it’s the situation—she hates when an investigation gets out of control. She finally has her life back. She doesn’t want to cross the line again. The FBI isn’t big on second chances, and third chances? Forget it.”
“I don’t want to put Kate in a difficult position,” Sean said, “and I didn’t want to bring her in at all until we had something.” Sean caught Lucy’s eye. “You okay with this?”
She nodded. “Play it.”
Sean turned up the speaker on the laptop and cued the recording.
A moment later, Fran’s voice came through surprisingly clearly. She was talking to Gina, her assistant, about following up on donor commitments from the fund-raiser.
Then Fran was on the phone with someone—they heard only her end of the conversation, but it sounded like it was the hotel manager of the event and they were settling some details. Sean fast-forwarded, then said, “This is about seven minutes after the assistant left.”
