revenge?”
Bayonne stared at a spot somewhere behind Jim.
“You get any ideas who did this, you bring them to me. Understand? Shove any gangland notion you might have of hitting this bad guy first right out of your head. Because revenge…justice…payback…whatever the hell you want to call it—I’ll haul your ass to jail without blinking, Three Pop. And no judge is going to care about some filled-in teardrop.”
Bayonne “Three Pop” Jackson brought his stare back to Jim. Then he stepped away. His shoulder bumped Jim’s as he made his way to the door.
Chapter 10
Olympia
Lydia sat behind her communications console, eager to follow up on what Oliver had told her. She canceled her patients for the rest of the week, feigning a case of the flu. Most were sympathetic, offering home remedies sure to cure her symptoms. A few sounded irritated but were soothed when Lydia appealed to their own self-interest, assuring them the last thing she wanted was to infect them. She had to hold firm with only one. Audrey Sullivan was a thirty-four-year-old law student who was working with Lydia to break her habit of sexually acting out when she was under stress. When Lydia called to cancel their appointment, Audrey shrieked so loudly Lydia needed to hold the phone away from her ear.
“I have mock court coming up next week!”
“I have all the confidence in the world in you, Audrey.” Lydia faked a raspy voice for her panicked patient. “You know the topic. You’ve built your arguments. Use the tools we’ve discussed to stay calm and you’ll be stunned how well you do.”
“But it’s my first time in front of the whole class! I need to see you!”
“You’ll be fine. We’ll meet in two weeks. I can’t wait to hear how it all turned out. In the meantime, if you feel any urge at all to troll campus bars, I want you to imagine my voice whispering in your ear.”
“I don’t know.” Audrey’s voice was shaky. “What’s your voice telling me?”
“Knock it off! My voice is telling you to knock it off. Slow yourself down enough to use the skills you’ve learned. Do you understand me, Audrey? First sign of trouble, what are you going to do?”
“Hear your voice.”
“That’s right.” Lydia coughed for effect. “And what am I saying?”
“Knock it off.”
“Goodbye, Audrey. I’ll see you in two weeks.”
Oliver had assumed the beautiful woman he had slept with recently was one of Lydia’s patients, out to create some drama. Lydia let him hold on to that. It seemed an easier explanation than the truth. How could she explain that the woman he knew as Cassie was actually Allie Grant, the sociopath daughter of Seattle’s chief of detectives? A woman who had targeted him specifically to hurt Lydia? A woman who saw any obstacle standing in the way of what she wanted as an exercise in domination? Seduction, kidnapping, murder…they were tools Allie used to reach her goal.
Allie and Oliver had spoken about places to vacation. It was a long shot, but Lydia was fresh out of ideas. She entered a search for “BVI and Spanish Town.” Less than a second later she had an island name: Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands.
Next she searched area hotels and retreats. An internal radar hummed into readiness as she scanned the luxury sites. Virgin Gorda was not a place for the masses. It was dotted with exclusive—and wickedly expensive—accommodations. Hotels, spas, and retreats promising unparalleled service with complete discretion.
Just the type of place Allison Edith Grant would favor.
Lydia began with the most expensive hotel on the list. The Prince of Wales Hotel promised indulgent pampering from the moment the guest arrived on the island. Lydia was interested in two particular services offered in the hotel’s extensive list of options: private heliport and on-site, prescreened nannies.
She targeted the hotel’s central computer and her own system did its thing. Within ninety seconds she had full access
Bayonne stared at a spot somewhere behind Jim.
“You get any ideas who did this, you bring them to me. Understand? Shove any gangland notion you might have of hitting this bad guy first right out of your head. Because revenge…justice…payback…whatever the hell you want to call it—I’ll haul your ass to jail without blinking, Three Pop. And no judge is going to care about some filled-in teardrop.”
Bayonne “Three Pop” Jackson brought his stare back to Jim. Then he stepped away. His shoulder bumped Jim’s as he made his way to the door.
Chapter 10
Olympia
Lydia sat behind her communications console, eager to follow up on what Oliver had told her. She canceled her patients for the rest of the week, feigning a case of the flu. Most were sympathetic, offering home remedies sure to cure her symptoms. A few sounded irritated but were soothed when Lydia appealed to their own self-interest, assuring them the last thing she wanted was to infect them. She had to hold firm with only one. Audrey Sullivan was a thirty-four-year-old law student who was working with Lydia to break her habit of sexually acting out when she was under stress. When Lydia called to cancel their appointment, Audrey shrieked so loudly Lydia needed to hold the phone away from her ear.
“I have mock court coming up next week!”
“I have all the confidence in the world in you, Audrey.” Lydia faked a raspy voice for her panicked patient. “You know the topic. You’ve built your arguments. Use the tools we’ve discussed to stay calm and you’ll be stunned how well you do.”
“But it’s my first time in front of the whole class! I need to see you!”
“You’ll be fine. We’ll meet in two weeks. I can’t wait to hear how it all turned out. In the meantime, if you feel any urge at all to troll campus bars, I want you to imagine my voice whispering in your ear.”
“I don’t know.” Audrey’s voice was shaky. “What’s your voice telling me?”
“Knock it off! My voice is telling you to knock it off. Slow yourself down enough to use the skills you’ve learned. Do you understand me, Audrey? First sign of trouble, what are you going to do?”
“Hear your voice.”
“That’s right.” Lydia coughed for effect. “And what am I saying?”
“Knock it off.”
“Goodbye, Audrey. I’ll see you in two weeks.”
Oliver had assumed the beautiful woman he had slept with recently was one of Lydia’s patients, out to create some drama. Lydia let him hold on to that. It seemed an easier explanation than the truth. How could she explain that the woman he knew as Cassie was actually Allie Grant, the sociopath daughter of Seattle’s chief of detectives? A woman who had targeted him specifically to hurt Lydia? A woman who saw any obstacle standing in the way of what she wanted as an exercise in domination? Seduction, kidnapping, murder…they were tools Allie used to reach her goal.
Allie and Oliver had spoken about places to vacation. It was a long shot, but Lydia was fresh out of ideas. She entered a search for “BVI and Spanish Town.” Less than a second later she had an island name: Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands.
Next she searched area hotels and retreats. An internal radar hummed into readiness as she scanned the luxury sites. Virgin Gorda was not a place for the masses. It was dotted with exclusive—and wickedly expensive—accommodations. Hotels, spas, and retreats promising unparalleled service with complete discretion.
Just the type of place Allison Edith Grant would favor.
Lydia began with the most expensive hotel on the list. The Prince of Wales Hotel promised indulgent pampering from the moment the guest arrived on the island. Lydia was interested in two particular services offered in the hotel’s extensive list of options: private heliport and on-site, prescreened nannies.
She targeted the hotel’s central computer and her own system did its thing. Within ninety seconds she had full access
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