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“None of us saw this coming.” Peg turned to Casey. “That’s why you didn’t want us going to Sunny Gardens.”
Casey nodded. “If you’d burst in there with a warrant, you’d risk upsetting Linda enough to call Felicity and blurt out something. Clearly, Felicity’s already wary. She must have heard rumors. That’s why she made that extra trip to see Linda yesterday. She customarily visits every Wednesday. But she wanted to see if law enforcement had been poking around. Right now, she’s probably feeling relieved. Which means she’ll have no reason to grab Krissy and run.”
“Today’s Tuesday,” Peg said. “Wednesday’s just one day from now.”
“So we wait,” Don qualified. “We remain patient and sit tight. Then, tomorrow, we stake out Sunny Gardens. We let Linda and Felicity have their visit. And when Felicity leaves, we follow her. She’ll lead us straight to Krissy.”
“How can we do that?” Hope asked, tears coursing down her cheeks. “I know that Felicity is my sister, and God help me for saying this, but we’re leaving an unbalanced woman with my five-year-old child. Who knows what she’s doing to her, and what she could keep doing to her until tomorrow afternoon?”
“She’s not harming her.” Claire spoke up for the first time. “Krissy’s scared. But she’s safe. Felicity’s created a virtual princess suite for her. She tried to replicate the one Linda made for her all those years ago. It’s her idea of a safe haven.” Claire paused, sage realization flickering in her eyes. “Now I understand my visions. I kept getting images of Hope—or the person I thought was Hope—interspersed with my images of Krissy. I couldn’t understand why. Or why I never got so much as a glimpse of the kidnapper. Now I realize I was seeing the kidnapper. Only it wasn’t Hope.”
“But Krissy’s safe?” Hope aske
d Claire pleadingly. “You’re sure?”
“She’s frightened. And she doesn’t understand why you haven’t come. But she’s physically unharmed.”
“And psychologically?”
“Psychologically she’s a lot better off enduring one more scary day than a long, scary lifetime,” Hutch stated flatly. “She’s only been gone a little over a week. I know that seems like a lifetime to you. But she’ll recover. On the other hand, if we miss this chance, we could lose her for good.”
“We don’t have a choice.” It was Edward who spoke, his tone hard and determined. “I want my daughter back. We lose nothing by waiting, since we have no clue where Felicity is hiding her. I don’t see a choice.”
Hope was still openly weeping. “She’s scared, Edward. She probably thinks we’ve abandoned her. Plus, she sees me, yet she knows it’s not me. Can you imagine how confusing and devastating that is to a child of five? Another day like that…it kills me that she has to go through this.”
“Keep your eye on the prize,” Casey said quietly. “It won’t ease your fear or worry, but it will give you the strength to go through with this. It’s the only way, Hope. The task force will surround the building. They’ll alert the Sunny Gardens staff. The minute Felicity arrives, they’ll know her car and her license plate. They’ll put a GPS tracking device on it. There’ll be plainclothes police and agents posted on the street. She’ll be followed and tracked from every direction. There’s no chance of her getting away.”
“I want you and your team there,” Hope stated flatly. It wasn’t a request. It was a demand that was aimed at the task force. “And I want to go with you.”
“Not a good idea, Judge Willis,” Peg intervened at once. “We’re perfectly capable of handling this alone. If there are too many people present, it could alert Felicity to the stakeout.”
Hope’s tearstained stare was unflinching. “Forensic Instincts did an extraordinary job of solving this case thus far. I’m sure they can manage to situate themselves on the scene without being spotted. As for me, I’m Krissy’s mother—and Felicity’s sister. I might be needed to defuse the situation. You can’t force me to stay away.”
“You’re right. I can’t. But I can strongly advise you. You’re emotionally involved. You have no objectivity, much less training. You’re more apt to jeopardize this operation rather than assist it.”
“Peg is right, Hope,” Casey inserted. “You have my word— Forensic Instincts will be there every step of the way. But she’s right about you accompanying us. You’re way too close to the situation. You could wind up putting yourself, and this stakeout, at risk. I agree with Peg’s advice. Stay here. Be patient. We’ll call you the minute we have something.”
“Advice received,” Hope returned without so much as a pause. “And rejected. I’d go crazy here, wondering what was happening. I don’t want updates. I want to be there. And I will be. I’m paying your fee. That entitles me to occasionally call the shots. This would be one of those times. I’m going to Sunny Gardens. And you and your team are going to take me.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
Day Nine
It was 2:40 p.m.
The task force, BAU and local police were positioned all around Sunny Gardens. Ryan’s van containing the entire Forensic Instincts team—plus Hope Willis—was parked in the wooded alcove on the east side of the grounds near the gardens where Linda was sitting. They’d been banished there, since the task force wanted to utilize all the prime areas that gave them a full view of the front and rear parking lots.
That was just fine with Ryan, since the Sunny Gardens administration had agreed to allow minimal video surveillance, and Ryan had arranged for Gecko to be part of that surveillance. Given the little critter’s range, the alcove was perfect for keeping an eye on Linda—and her guest.
Ryan made sure that Gecko was primed and ready.
The facility’s senior staff had been told only that one of their visitors was a person of interest in a law enforcement matter, and that they were to say nothing to anyone about the FBI and police presence. Their instructions were issued casually, as if the basis for the inquiry was standard rather than high priority. They were to make sure there was no disruption to their patients, and no panic among the rest of the staff.
Two forty-five.
The three-o’clock shift was arriving, and the task force, along with Sunny Gardens security, was monitoring the arrival of each vehicle. The visitor lot was separate from the employee lot. Both were being heavily surveilled. Nothing seemed amiss—yet.
Inside the van, Casey slanted a quick, anxious glance at Hope. The waiting game had depleted her to the point of near-collapse. Her complexion was sallow, her eyes were haunted and she was gaunt from having eaten next to nothing all week. She’d said very little during the ride up, just sat in the backseat of the van, twisting her hands in her lap and staring out the window. But her spine was stiff, and her entire body was rigid with worry.
