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“Fine, but that takes time. We’ve got to act now. We’ve got to figure out Linda’s mind-set—her real mind-set—at the time Felicity was kidnapped.” An ambivalent pause as Casey wrestled with what she wanted and what she knew was ethical. “You mentioned that Linda had counseling after her daughter died.”
“Yup.”
“You don’t happen to know who her therapist back then was, do you?”
“Do you even need to ask?” Ryan chuckled, ignoring Casey’s customary internal battle. “I’ve got a name and address of his current practice. And, from my cyber stalking, I learned the happy fact that Linda’s shrink is a pack rat who keeps files from the year one. So somewhere in that office is his file on Linda Turner.”
“And you’ve already thought of a way to get your hands on it.”
“I repeat—do you really need to ask?”
This time Casey smiled. “Never. Not when it comes to you.”
“The psychiatrist’s name is Stanley Sherman. His office is in a three-story building in White Plains, not far from the courthouse where Hope presides. As soon as you and I hang up, I’ll be hitting up Marc. He and Hero blew out of here a little while ago. He was a man on a mission.”
“And that mission, I take it, is about to change?”
“Damn straight.” Ryan was already tinkering with something in the background. Casey could hear the sounds of metal being manipulated. That meant one of Ryan’s toys. And she knew exactly which one.
“The little critter?” she asked.
“Yup. Gecko is about to make his debut performance.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Marc met Ryan inside his van at the designated spot half a block away from Dr. Sherman’s building.
“Nice work with Diaz,” Ryan commented after Marc had hopped in. “You didn’t trust him from the beginning.”
A shrug. “All we found out was that he’d left Casey the note and that he saw Krissy’s abductor come and go from the Willises’ house. Not much at this point. And it pales next to what you dug up.” Marc glanced over his shoulder at the back of the van to see what supplies Ryan had brought with him today. There was a packed duffel bag, along with Ryan’s ever-present laptop. “So how are we doing this?”
“I did a quick tour of the building while you were filling the FBI in on Diaz’s story. Sherman’s office is on the second floor. His receptionist is out today. So we’ve g
ot that on our side. But Sherman’s in with a patient. We’ll have to wait for him to go to lunch.”
Marc grunted. “At which point he’ll lock the office door behind him.”
“You’ll take care of that part,” Ryan continued, reaching behind him for the duffel bag. He pulled out some tools, which Marc pocketed, followed by a maintenance uniform, which he passed over to Marc. “Time to wear service coveralls again. You should be used to it by now—and they bring out your eyes. Now go in the back and put this on,” he instructed. “I’ll fill you in on the rest as you change.”
“Done.” Marc climbed into the rear section of the van and began yanking the uniform on over his clothes. “Why do I know this is going to involve your little critter robot?”
“Because it is.” Ryan didn’t miss a beat. “I’ve been dying to try him out. Now’s my chance. There’s a maintenance closet in the basement,” he informed Marc. “That’s where I found your uniform. Grab one of those carts so you can look authentic. Then we’ll time this until you can do your thing with the lock. Once you’re inside Sherman’s office, I’ll tell you what to do. More specifically, Gecko will.”
Marc’s fingers paused on a shirt button. “Explain.”
“When I stole your uniform, I went up to the roof,” Ryan said calmly. “I placed my little guy inside the air-conditioning ductwork. I’ll steer him down to where we want him, inside a duct in Sherman’s office. There are built-in cameras inside Gecko that’ll scan the place, and a microphone that can communicate with you. So Gecko becomes your robo-lookout. And it’s all connected to my trusty laptop.” Ryan reached back and patted the computer. “Together you and I will find the file on Linda Turner. You’ll photocopy what we need, put everything back the way you found it, and get out of there. I’ll steer Gecko back to safety. And we’ll hope that there’s something in the file that’ll lead us to our suspect.”
“Got it.” There wasn’t a shred of surprise in Marc’s response. He knew Ryan, knew the way his brilliant mind worked. He respected the hell out of him. And, tactical and physical skills combined, they worked really well together. “Do I need an earbud?”
“While you’re waiting for my ‘all clear’ signal, yes. But, once you’re inside the office, we can talk to each other through Gecko’s mike. The earbuds alone wouldn’t give me a visual. Besides, like I said, mostly I’m dying to try the little guy out. This is a cool way to do a trial run.”
“Ready.” Marc finished donning his uniform, adjusted his earbud and peered out the window. “You first, or me?”
“You. I can position Gecko in ten minutes.”
“Then I’m gone.”
Marc sauntered down to the maintenance closet and found a cart, which he promptly filled with mops, brooms, rags and various chemical cleaners. Then he made his way up the stairwell, avoiding the elevators so he wouldn’t run into anyone who asked questions. He carried the cart ahead of him, until he’d reached the second floor. He passed a couple of women walking down to the main corridor, laughing and heading out for a coffee break. He kept his head low and his attention on his cart, although he couldn’t help but chuckle silently at the man-bashing conversation. His presence didn’t slow them down a bit. To them he was invisible, so they continued their chatter. Charlie—the clueless boyfriend whose head was on the chopping block—was about to be dumped. Evidently, he was an inconsiderate bastard, and lousy in bed to boot.
