Page 45 of Girl, Remembered

She had no proof for it.

And yet it arrived without any barriers.

While Dever took another gulp of vodka, Ella shot off a quick text to Luca. It contained all the necessary information, condensed into three or four abrupt sentences. It would have to be enough, because Ella had another plan to put into motion.

Dever was, by his own admission, Lindsey and Tracy Doyle’s hero.

So why not see if one of them remembered him?

‘Terrance, put the booze down. You’re coming with me.’

‘Am I now?’

‘Yes. It’s in your best interest to do so, and we don’t have all night. Sober up and let’s go.’

CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

Luca had been in the waiting room at Mount Olive for two hours, and his biggest success was that he was now on a first name basis with three prison officers. They kept coming back and forth into the waiting area, despite them having no reason to do so, and he was starting to think they just felt sorry for him.

Poor Fed. Sent on an errand that might not even be necessary.

In many ways, wasn’t that the life of everyone who worked in the field? Cops got called to dud scenes all the time. Why would it be any different for FBI agents? It was a sad attempt at justification, but it was all he had. In a foolish manoeuvre, he hadn’t even brought a book to keep him occupied while he sat around doing nothing.

‘Hawkins,’ a guard – the same guard that had wandered past thirty minutes ago – said.

‘Denton. Still nothing.’

‘Creed’s getting ready to turn in any second. One hour of recreation, then lights out at ten. You think you’re gonna need him tonight?’

Luca checked his cell one last time. Five new emails and a message from his sister graced the screen, but Ella’s name was noticeably absent. What were the chances of her getting a breakthrough tonight? Not impossible, but improbable given that Doyle had evaded capture for nine months. Ella would surely snag a breadcrumb, but it was a long road from a breadcrumb to the whole loaf. Luca had made peace with that, although his better half struggled with such a notion.

‘I doubt it. I might just find somewhere to sleep.’

‘You staying in town?’

Luca didn’t know the specifics. As much as he wanted to go home, he could only imagine the look on Ella’s face when she eventually asked him to see Creed and he had to give her the bad news that he was at home watching the NBA Finals.

‘I’ll probably sleep in my car. The seats go all the way back.’

‘Hey, if you need somewhere to crash, we’ve got an empty cell up on G.’

At that moment, it occurred to Luca that prison was simultaneously the safest and least safe place on earth to sleep. Doyle wouldn’t get him, but five hundred other whackjobs might. ‘Thanks. I’ll keep it in mind.’

Just as Luca was genuinely contemplating the idea of sleeping in a jail cell, the phone in his hand sang with an incoming text. Ella’s name popped up, and the message was short enough that it fit in the preview screen.

Dever saved L&T as kids in 1996. They grew up five miles from Creed’s farm. Don’t need to speak to Creed tonight. Sleep x

‘Hmmm,’ Luca said.

The guard caught it. ‘Something?’

‘No. It’s just…’ Luca trailed off as he put his own thoughts to use. He’d had his own ideas about Austin Creed and Lindsey Doyle, but hadn’t put them forth to Ella because it didn’t feel like his place to say. Creed and Doyle were hers, and he didn’t want his second-hand analysis to corrupt her own theories. After all, Luca had never met Creed or Lindsey in the flesh. The closest he’d come was when he’d smashed Tracy Doyle unconscious with a coffee machine, and the second closest he’d come was right now, when Austin Creed was sitting on the floor above him.

Neither gave him authority to impart his wisdom.

But Luca thought that Ella, love her as he did, occasionally forgot that he was once one of the best criminal psychologists in New England. He wasn’t one for boasting, but he liked to think that psychologist still lived inside him.

‘No problem. I’ll tell Creed he’s off duty for tonight at least.’