“Right. Right. A rich one whose family is connected to the Thompsons.”

“She inserted herself into the lives of the elite, all of whom are friends of the Abbott family. Makes a name for herself in fundraising—an unavoidable facet of life for anyone dragging in the big bucks or enjoying old family money. It makes them feel better about their abundance to donate to the less fortunate.”

“But who’s the mark, Devlin? We can assume Old Man Thompson, since the sister worked for him, but that might not be the case. Obviously, it’s someone with money and power, or she wouldn’t have had to go to all the trouble of luring in Ben Abbott for a husband. But there’s a lot of rich folks in Birmingham. How do we figure out for sure which one was or is the real target? I think we can pretty much rule out the husband since he was off getting all those fancy degrees when Janelle Stevens disappeared.”

Kerri stared at the photos of the players—both dead and alive—lined up on their case board. “Part of figuring out who was involved depends on the lab results. If we’re right, and the blood on the bed came from the mother, we’ll know the wife set up at least part of the crime scene. She bought that car. Getaway car?” Kerri shrugged. “Maybe. Makes sense. I can’t think of any other reason. If she’d wanted to donate a car to some worthy cause or person, she would have been better off buying a nicer one for the ten K she spent. Giving someone a junker doesn’t feel like her style.”

“I think we can assume the car was for her.” Falco laced his fingers behind his head, leaned back, and propped his feet on his desk. “The problem is the old Stevens case file doesn’t give us a whole lot. The two detectives who worked on the case have since passed. All we know is where she worked and lived. Since she lived in an apartment building that no longer exists—it’s a mall now—we haven’t been able to locate any old neighbors to interview. We got nothing except that she worked for the Thompsons—who are connected to the Abbotts.”

Kerri checked her phone. “Bellemont still hasn’t called back.”

They had called him again when they’d left the Abbotts. His vehicle hadn’t been at his office when they’d driven by, so they’d gone to his home. His wife had said he was at work. Maybe work was at a client’s house today. Or maybe he’d gotten smart and hidden his vehicle.

“He’s putting together his story,” Falco said. “That’s what lawyers do. Old Man Abbott has no doubt already called and told him what we’re up to. The two are probably trying to work out a story to cover their asses for not telling us this shit up front. That’s what people who have something to hide do. Trust me. I know this from personal experience.”

She told herself to stay out of personal territory, but she couldn’t do it. He was right. It was late. It was Sunday. Well past time to go home, and she was suddenly sick of rehashing the disjointed fragments they had raked together.

“Why did you give up everything, Falco?”

He held her gaze for three seconds . . . five seconds . . . ten. By the time he spoke, she had decided he wasn’t going to answer.

“Because I wasn’t fit to be a part of it.”

Somehow this idea of selflessness got to her. Made her want to know things. Exhaustion really was playing with her tonight. “Why weren’t you fit? Because your father abused you?”

“That was part of it.” He closed his eyes for a moment before he opened them again. “I was undercover for a long time. It was my thing. I was really, really good at it. But I had to go deeper and deeper to get what we needed.” He shrugged. “I ended up in too deep. Drugs became a part of who I was. I . . .” He exhaled a big breath. “I became like them. I lived, I breathed, I killed . . . just like them.”

Surprise, regret, sympathy all seared through her so quickly her heart couldn’t pound fast enough to catch up. “But you came through in the end.” She was certain of it. He wouldn’t be sitting here otherwise. “Right?”

“Yeah, yeah. My loyalties were never in question. It was my obsession with doing what no one else had done that became the problem. With going where no one else had gone. My determination not to fail at bringing down a legend. To be a better cop than my father. It almost killed me. It took everything in this world that meant anything from me. Except the job. The job is all I have. It’s all I am.”

Legend. Headlines scrolled through her head. “Oh my God. You’re talking about the Bayards case. Down in Mobile. You were there before you came here?”

The case had been national news for weeks. The Bayard brothers, Kurt and Sullivan, had been running the biggest drug operation in the history of the area. No one—and plenty had tried—had ever been able to tie the two to anything other than real estate. Big real estate, all over the Southeast. The brothers had set up a near-impenetrable cover.

“That investigation took years,” she said, more to herself than to him. “Wow.” She stared at him with a new kind of respect. “I can’t imagine how you pulled that off.”

“We can’t talk about this, Devlin.”

The sadness, emptiness in his eyes took her breath. She held up her hands. “I understand. I guess I thought your career in law enforcement started in Birmingham just five years ago.”

He shook his head. “Try nine years before I came back here.”

Shock rumbled through her as she did the math. “You went straight from the academy into undercover work?”

“Never went to the academy.”

Wait. That wasn’t possible. “You’re yanking my chain, right?”

“I attended a special training program, and then I went straight to work. That’s all I can tell you.”

“You were undercover on that operation for nine years?”

Before he could or would answer, her cell vibrated. The area code was a California one. “This is probably that professor.”

Falco looked more than a little relieved to be moving on.

“Devlin.” She put the call on speaker.

“This is Carlos Percy. You left a message about Sela Rollins?”

Kerri explained the situation to the degree possible. “We’re wondering if you may have heard from her?”

“This is terrible news, but to answer your question, no. I haven’t heard from her in years. Not since she moved from San Diego. I had no idea she’d gotten married and moved to Alabama.”

“Can you tell me about Sela when she was your student? We’re hoping information from her past will help us with what’s happening now.”

“She was a very dedicated student. Keenly interested in criminal investigation.”

“Is that the course you taught?”

“It is. In fact, my course focused on the lengths to which criminals will go to avoid leaving evidence. Sela was the best student I had. She became very good at planning a crime from the perpetrator’s perspective. She was particularly skilled at taking a situation and figuring out a way to work around it.” He laughed. “I told her she would be the best detective on whatever force she joined or a damned clever criminal.”

This news was tipping the scale. “Do you have any idea where Sela went after graduating?”

He was silent for a moment. “You know, her mother had quite a number of health issues. I’ll never forget how devastated Sela was when the cancer diagnosis came.” He made a sound as if he were thinking back through the years. “I recall her mentioning some hospital in Mexico where they planned to go for a while. I believe it was in Mexico City. Of course, I have no idea if they actually went.”

Kerri met Falco’s gaze. She imagined they were both thinking the same thing. Cancer. Expired medications. Kerri suddenly wondered if Sela had ever told anyone the truth.

“I appreciate your help, Professor Percy. I may need to call you again if I have other questions.”

“Don’t hesitate. I’m more than happy to help. I hope the situation is resolved quickly and Sela is found safe and sound.”

Kerri hoped so too. The only question was, Would they be rescuing her or arresting her? At this point, her money was on the latter.

When the call ended, her partner held up his phone. “I just ordered pizza. I’ve got a feeling we’ll be here for a while.”

“Oh yeah,” Kerri agreed.

She was beginning to believe that no one really knew Sela Rollins Abbott, particularly not her husband.

29

So, so many secrets.

They will never uncover them all.

There are so very many. The vast number was essential to ultimate success. Some were simply unavoidable.

I covered my tracks extremely carefully. They will not be able to find the answers they seek in time to stop what has begun.

They will try.

The struggles to stop me will be mighty.

But they will all be too late.

My only worry is that they will do harm to the one person I have trusted completely. It’s time for me to let go of my final connection to this life that is no longer mine and to her. For her safety there must be no further contact. She must move on with her life and forget about me.