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Kendra felt a bolt of panic. “Why don’t you just try to go after me? Are you afraid that you wouldn’t be able to take me down?”
“No, it’s because I want to see your pain.”
He cut the connection.
***
Kendra sat there in the car for another five minutes to try to recover from the ugliness and shock of the conversation with Milo. She probably shouldn’t have gotten so angry and taunted him, but she hadn’t been able to resist. She had been so frustrated that they hadn’t been able to score off the bastard. And, yes, there had been that little bit of exhilaration that she had made a small breakthrough during the last couple of days. She hadn’t been able to tell him of that success, but it had made her heady enough to try to strike sparks.
But she hadn’t wanted to turn that malice on anyone but herself. Face it, the threat had already been in place, her defiance had just reinforced it. Her mother and Olivia had security and Lynch was always on guard. Just sit here for another moment and then go up and pretend that she hadn’t received that ugly reminder that Milo was always with them. He hadn’t really told her anything new and there wasn’t any reason to upset anyone else.
***
After dinner Lynch watched Olivia come toward him across the room with a feeling of foreboding. Her face was without expression, but he could tell she was pissed off. She thrust the glass of tequila she was carrying at him. “Here. Drink it. Smile. Pretend to be sociable.” She lifted her own brandy to her lips. “What happened? When you came into the condo tonight you told me everything was okay.” She gestured to where Kendra was sitting on the couch beside Tricia laughing and talking. “What the hell did you do to her, Lynch?”
He wasn’t about to question or deny the charge. Olivia was too sharp, and he’d been wondering the same thing since Kendra had shown up an hour ago. “Nothing. When I talked to her on the phone, she was excited and eager to start hunting that bastard down. I thought she was still okay when she came in and was filling Tricia in on the progress she and Dumont had made.”
“I didn’t,” Olivia said flatly. “She was phony, and Kendra is never phony. She’s talking too fast and laughing too much. She was even doing that with me. Tricia’s not noticing because she doesn’t know her as well as we do. Something’s wrong. Find out what it is.”
“I had every intention of doing that,” Lynch said. “I don’t need you to push me, Olivia. Whatever is wrong, I’m not responsible, but that doesn’t mean anything. I won’t have her upset if I can make it right. Now find a way to keep Tricia down here and send Kendra up to her condo. I’ll meet her there and talk privately to her. Agreed?”
Olivia nodded. “As long as you let me know what’s wrong. Ihatethis, Lynch.”
Of course she did, Lynch thought. She and Kendra had been closer than sisters growing up in that school for the physically challenged, and they still were. “I know you do. We’ll get it taken care of.”
“Is that supposed to comfort me?” Olivia was smiling crookedly. “That almost works, Lynch. Except no one takes care of me but me.”
“And occasionally Kendra. She reaches out to you as much as you reach out to her.” He grinned. “And woe to anyone who gets between you. I tremble at the thought.”
“Bullshit.” She turned away. “Slip out of here and go up to her condo and I’ll handle everything else. But you’d better get the job done.”
“Absolutely. Whatever you say.” He put his tequila down on the end table. “Run along and do your duty. I’ll report directly to you when I know the scoop and how to fix it. Trust me.”
***
“Lynch!” Kendra threw open her door and saw him sitting on the couch in the living room casually thumbing through an issueofNational Geographic. “What are you doing here? Olivia said there was some kind of emergency, and I should come up and check on you. You don’t look like it’s an emergency.”
“I hadn’t read the latest copy ofGeo.” He tossed the magazine on the coffee table. “That might be described as a minor emergency.”
“Not in my world,” she said. “And not in yours. What’s going on, Lynch?”
“That’s what Olivia and I were wondering,” he said quietly. “I was planning on asking you a little later as befits my rather problematic status, but Olivia also noticed what she designated as phony behavior on your part and accused me of causing it. She told me I had to go fix it.” He spread his hands. “Here I am. Tell me how I go about it.”
Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “It’s not as if I was acting weird. Tricia didn’t think so.”
“No, you just weren’t being genuine. We’re used to genuine. It’s like a red flag when we don’t see it. You might keep that in mind in the future.”
“I will. You can bet on it.”
“And remember that Olivia appears to be an expert on all the many facets of phony. It makes her very nervous.” He was walking toward her. “Me too. Are you going to tell me what changed between the time I spoke to you on the phone and when you walked into Olivia’s condo?”
“I don’t seem to have a choice,” she said. “It was no big deal. I didn’t see why anyone else should be upset. It’s not as if it would help anyone to know about it. Part of it was my fault anyway. I was angry.”
“What part of what?”
She reached in her handbag and pulled out her phone. “See for yourself.” She handed it to him. “I’m not going to listen to it again. I’m going to take my shower and, if you’re still here after I come out, we might talk about it.” She was heading for her shower. “And then again, we might not.”
She slammed the bathroom door behind her.
