Half an hour later Cross and her friend arrived. He looked like a homeless drunk she’d picked up from under a bridge. Kerri’s heart sank. This was a total waste of time. She should just call the LT and do what needed to be done.

Falco provided both Cross and her friend with gloves and shoe covers. Kerri paced the room while the man who’d come with Cross sat down behind the computer and went to work.

She thought of Tori and what would happen to her when this all came out. Could she plead temporary insanity? Would the new baby her ex was having with his fiancée cause him to ignore Tori even more? If Kerri went to prison, Tori would end up with him.

Damn it.

“Found it.”

Kerri whipped around and stared at the guy.

Falco was looking over his shoulder. “All right. Now we’re cooking with gas.”

Kerri wandered over, her curiosity and no small amount of hope overtaking her.

“He has a state-of-the-art surveillance program on here. It’s the bomb, man.”

“Can we see the footage?” Kerri asked.

“You could.” The guy looked at her. “Except someone deleted all of it. Every stinking pixel.”

“Can you tell when this happened?” Falco asked.

“This morning. Time stamp is nine forty-five a.m.”

Kerri had already been out of here by then. She’d wrecked her car, and Falco had picked her up. Someone else had shown up after she’d left. But who? The one person they could definitely rule out was Lewis York. He had been dead before that. Jen had been with Thompson. Suzanne, T. R., and Ramsey were already dead by then. Daniel and Tempest Abbott too.

Who the hell did that leave? Only Sela Abbott.

“Does the FBI or someone like that have people who can recover the deleted files?” Falco glanced at Kerri as he asked the question.

“Not if you don’t want them to,” Cross’s friend said.

“I don’t want them to.”

Everyone in the room looked at Kerri. She hadn’t realized she was going to say the words until she did.

The guy tapped a few keys, then a few more. This went on for what felt like forever. Finally, he looked over at Kerri and said, “Done.”

“Thanks, Cross,” Falco said. “I’ll square this with you.”

Sadie Cross nodded, then glanced at Kerri. “See you around.”

Kerri managed a vague nod.

Cross and her geek left. Kerri wasn’t sure if she was relieved or undone.

“We should call in the crime scene guys now,” Falco said as he dug out his phone.

“Yeah. We should.” Kerri felt as weak as a kitten.

“Don’t think about it,” Falco said as he waited for the call to go through. “That’s the best way to get past it.”

She wondered how many times he’d had to do that. Maybe she didn’t want to know. He was her partner, and she trusted him.

The past didn’t matter.

Within an hour four other cops and the crime scene investigators were on the scene. Kerri stayed out of the way. Falco drifted between the goings-on and her. He was worried about her.

She was worried about her.

The work was wrapping up when Lieutenant Brooks showed up. Kerri was actually surprised he didn’t have the chief with him.

Falco moved close to her as Brooks approached them. He shook his head. “This is stunning. You two have brought down some damn big names. You’re going to be in the spotlight for a while.”

“We were just doing our job,” Kerri said. She wished she sounded more enthusiastic, but she just couldn’t summon the energy.

“I was very sorry to hear about your niece, Devlin. I don’t know how you’re even still here.”

He had no idea.

“I should probably take her home,” Falco said.

“That’s a good idea,” the LT confirmed. “As soon as your final reports are wrapped up, you two need to take some time off. You’ve earned it. The department is very proud of you both. You make a damned good team.”

At least she could agree with that last part.

“Thank you, sir,” she offered, somehow managing to almost make it sound sincere.

“Thanks,” Falco mumbled.

Kerri got the feeling he was not accustomed to praise.

Brooks nodded. “Carry on.” When he would have turned away, he hesitated. “Just so you know, Thompson is cooperating fully. He’s spilling his guts on his cronies. I have a feeling he’s going to take a deal.”

As her boss walked away, Kerri wanted to kick something. Thompson didn’t deserve a deal.

“I guess we’re big news now, Devlin. Heroes.”

She let out a dry laugh. “I don’t know if I’d go that far, Falco.”

His face turned serious, and he looked around before saying, “What’re you thinking about our vanishing wife who suddenly reappeared?” He glanced around again. “You think she made all those murders happen last night? She is pregnant.”

Kerri thought of what Sela Abbott’s professor had said. She was his best student. He predicted she would either become a great detective or a clever criminal.

“I don’t know how much of what happened was her personal doing,” Kerri allowed, “but I know she made it all happen.” She thought about what she wanted to say next for a moment. “I’m a cop. I’ve dedicated my entire adult life to taking down the bad guys.”

“You see her as the bad guy, then?”

Kerri shook her head. “No. I see her as someone who did what she had to do. Sometimes we just have to do that.”

“And what you did? Can you live with that?”

She thought about the question for a moment. “Yes. Someone once told me I should open my eyes. That I would be surprised at what I could see. My eyes are wide open, Falco.”

“Come on.” He tugged her by the arm. “I should get you home. I’ll wrap up things here.”

At his car she hesitated before getting in. “Do me a favor, would you?”

“What’s that, Devlin?”

“Don’t change. Not one thing. I want you to stay exactly the way you are.”

He grinned. “I can do that.”

64

It is done.

They have all paid for their evil, selfish deeds. The one who survived was only guilty of loving my sister . . . and being a coward.

He will pay a high price for both.

A celebration is in order. I am understandably proud of myself. I successfully lined up all the players in a neat little row, like ducks in a shooting gallery.

I studied and analyzed each of them long before I came here. I schooled myself in where they lived, what they ate, when they slept . . . what they did with their time and money. By the time I arrived in Birmingham, I knew everything. But they didn’t see the real me until the time was right.

Fifteen years of preparation culminated quite nicely.

Surprisingly, despite the elaborateness of my plan, there really was only one true glitch beyond the unexpected pregnancy. No one was more startled than I.

You see, all this time I felt certain no one could touch me . . . hurt me.

I was wrong. Perhaps I am not as dead inside as I thought.

When they took my one remaining friend, I realized simple revenge would never be enough. I wanted more.

I wanted to be the last thought on each of their minds before they took their final breaths.

My hands rest on my protruding belly as the nurse fusses over me. She’s going to help me with a shower soon. She thinks I’ll feel much better then. She’s placed a printout of the ultrasound on the bedside table so I can look at my little girl as I lie here resting.

I feel sad for the man who loved me and gave me this baby. He shouldn’t have had to pay for the sins of his father. For that, I feel a great deal of regret—far more than I expected.

I will make sure our daughter knows what a good man her father was. I will also make sure she is strong and learns to protect herself from the ugliness of this world. Knowledge is so very powerful, and I have armed myself with every bit of knowledge I could glean from the many, many sources I have encountered in my life.

I suspect Detective Devlin has learned a good deal during this investigation. I respect her. She is one of the good ones, which is why I felt compelled in the end to see that she was protected from what she was forced to do. Actually, she saved me the trouble. Cleaning up her little problem was nothing. It was the least I could do after her family sacrificed so much.

My heart aches for the loss of Amelia. She only wanted to help. She searched relentlessly until she found and took the key I needed from York’s office. That key, a simple brass object, allowed me access to the place in that damned cabin where York kept his laptop locked away. The laptop that held all the details of all the dirty little deeds.

For that key, Amelia gave her life.

I walked her through the steps necessary for shutting down the cameras in the building. Just long enough to do what she had to do. It was simple. I am somewhat of an expert when it comes to security systems. If only York’s nephew hadn’t seen her coming out of his office . . . perhaps the bastard would never have known about my sweet little spy.