“You bastard, he's not ready. What, it'slet's risk Troy again—what do we have to lose?He’s already damaged!” Wes exploded.
“He was gone before I was notified. Wentworth’s usualI’d rather ask for forgiveness than seek permissionroutine.”
Wes’s anger dissipated. He wanted to be furious, but he couldn’t. He understood.
“Troy left a detailed plan of action. Two burn phone numbers. He texted us with the license plate of the car they are using.” Kieran detailed the plan. “Wes, if it were my choice, I wouldn’t approve it.”
“Stop him.” Wes blew out a puff of air. “If we have a plant still in the training center, their identities are outed.”
“Troy thought of that too. He dropped hints in front of people that, prior to
his injuries, they’d been a couple. And now that he was walking again, he didn't want another moment to go by without building the family they always wanted. Damn it. I wish I’d made a different decision—for Greece and for Farmer in Iowa. I wish we had been that methodical when we sent him out in Iowa.”
Wes saw the pain in Kieran’s face.I guess we all carry guilt from Iowa, he thought. “Ice made the plan,” he stated, rather than questioned.
“Yeah with Greece. Greece knew you wouldn’t go for it,” Kieran sighed.
“Asshat,” Wes chuckled. “Who is his back-up?” Wes looked into blankness. “Tuck is working the Peds unit.”
“And I thought you were dumb,” Kieran was sarcastic. “We shifted Tim Holland to work opposite him. Both kids are critical. Last check-in, the little girl is showing signs of encephalitis.”
“Can I come in?” Zach knocked and opened the door.
“I will rip your head off if something happens to him—to them,” Wes snarled a warning.
Zach sat with them. “I know,” he said in a cracking voice.
“Who is running control?” Wes asked.
“I am.” Kip walked in, deep, dark rings underlining his eyes.
“You okay?” Wes got up, grabbed a bottle of water and handed it to him.
“What’s going on?” Kieran asked.
“Fury and I spent the day in the box with Starr. “I’m sorry, man. We managed to take his mask off. An audit by the Office of Inspector General in 2010 found issues in six district offices. Starr was caught up in the mess, but not implicated. They moved him to Leesburg’s office.” Kip unscrewed the bottle and drank deeply.
“He befriended Phyllis West. As a new guy in town, Phyllis had him over for dinner often. There, he met the girls. At that time, he had no idea the girls were protected witnesses. He also met Phyllis’s single best friend who was renting a room from the Wests after a bad divorce.”
“He played her,” Wes said.
Kip nodded. “He played her. Soon they were dating. He became a frequent visitor to the West house. His target was Belinda. The bastard started abusing her at sixteen. Soon after, he married Phyllis’s friend.” Kip looked up at the ceiling. “The affair continued. Now twenty, the girls left to go back to school after a long weekend home. Phyllis came home from the store and found Starr in the house alone. She confronted him, and he gave her a half-baked excuse he was picking something up that his wife left there. He was picking up the business card case he stashed his condoms in. He left thinking Phyllis suspected something.
“Not knowing why Phyllis was in a hurry to head to New Jersey earlier than planned for parents’ weekend, Jason asked Starr’s wife to feed the cats. He didn’t have a chance to board them. She mentioned it to Starr. The next day, Phyllis and Jason were dead. It wasn’t Belinda and Ellie’s folks; it was Starr.”
Wes ran a hand through his hair. “I assume there’s more.”
“Cindy Starr had trouble conceiving. They had tried three rounds with infertility drugs to no avail. He started to look into adoption. At the same time, Ellie was working on her master’s degree, and Belinda was living home alone. Starr visited often. Cindy thought it was work-related.
“Cindy and Lance continued with another round of in-vitro. About the same time, they also discovered the Drakes’ business. It would give them a baby made to order. His sperm and a woman who looked like his wife. This time, they got pregnant. Ecstatic, his wife was going to have a baby. She was happy, and he, in his depraved mind, thought he could continue with Belinda.
“Cindy’s pregnancy was doomed from the beginning. She discovered pictures of Starr and Belinda. When she came down from her rage, she set up Belinda. Ellie was collateral damage. The night the girls disappeared, Belinda walked into the bathroom where Dinah Drake and another woman were waiting. They recognized each other. Starr claimed Dinah threatened Belinda, and she set up Eleanor to save herself. Right after, Cindy Starr lost the baby.
“Starr claimed he found out about the setup after the fact. To cover the trail, Starr and his wife faked the rest of the pregnancy and brought home Drake-created triplets. Fury and I feel the bastard is still hiding something. Fury and Dictionary will go at him again in two hours.”
