Say Goodbye

The worst of the thunder and lightning seemed to have passed, leaving behind merely the pouring rain and howling wind. It was difficult to hear. Even more difficult to see. For Quincy, the conditions brought to mind another time, not so long ago, when he and his future son-in-law, Mac, had slipped and slid their way through the Tillamook County Fairgrounds in a desperate bid to get a glimpse of the man who was holding Rainie for ransom.

That day had not gone as pla

The streetlamps reflected off each car’s water-beaded windshield, distorting the view, making it difficult for them to peer in while not so hard for a driver to see out. It occurred to Quincy that they were going about this all wrong. They didn’t need to inspect each vehicle’s interior; they simply needed to examine each exhaust pipe.

Bank Robbery 101: The getaway car was already fired up and ready to go.

He motioned for Rainie to take the right side of the parking lot, closest to the street. He worked to the left, ru

He caught Rainie’s attention with a wave of his hand. She started over and he realized at the last moment that they had a problem after all. Gi

Quincy went with plan B. He picked up a large rock, placed it in his fist, and wrapped the whole affair with his coat. Four strides later, he suddenly loomed in the driver’s side window. Gi

The girl screamed.

He popped open the door and gave her his best predatory smile.

“Bad news,” he said, “my daughter’s still alive and you’re coming with me.”

Gi

“Please,” Rainie said, materializing at his side. “As if either of us care.”

They dragged Gi

Rainie and Quincy made it up the stairs with Gi

“Kimberly, no!” Quincy got out, then Kimberly’s shoulder was driving into Gi

Rainie tried to grab one of them, Quincy the other.

Both of the women were moving too fast, Gi

“Where’s the boy? I’m not asking you again. Where does Dinchara keep the second boy!”

While Gi

“You had no right to risk my life! I was trying to help, all you ever had to do was tell me the truth!”

“Aaron, Aaron, Aaron!”

Sal finally waded into the fray. He got Kimberly under the armpits and dragged her off Gi

Kimberly finally stopped struggling long enough to look up. Two of Sheriff Wyatt’s deputies stood in the hallway, eyes wide, hands on their holstered firearms. They looked from Gi

“Special Agent Sal Martignetti,” Sal supplied crisply, using one hand to flash his creds while his other hand maintained a tight grip on Kimberly’s arm. She fisted her hands, still overloaded on adrenaline. She tried to rein it in. Didn’t work. She wanted to scream. To scream and scream and scream. Then she wanted to curl up in a ball and cry in her husband’s arms.

Rainie and Quincy introduced themselves, then Gi

“Ma’am,” the older deputy said slowly as he appraised the scene, and in particular, Kimberly’s blood-spattered hair. “Are you hurt? Do you need medical attention?”

“No.” Kimberly’s gaze returned to Gi

“Bitch,” the girl mouthed.

That was it. Kimberly dabbed a smear of blood from her cheek. Then she reached over and very deliberately wiped the gore on Gi

“Hey, what the fuck-”

“That’s from Aaron,” Kimberly said. “Guess what? He didn’t graduate.”

Gi

Thirty minutes later, Gi

Kimberly thought they were like boxers in the corners of the ring. Which made Duff, seated in the middle, the referee.

“Why don’t we start with the preliminaries and work our way from there, shall we?” Duff suggested in his deep, grumbling baritone. “Everyone has water. Now we’ll all play nice together.”

He turned to Gi

Gi

“Gi

Duff got the full names and badge numbers from the law enforcement officers in attendance. He also noted date and location. Then he read Gi

Yes, Virginia had driven Aaron Johnson to the Smith House tonight. Yes, she knew he was armed and intended to possibly shoot federal agent Kimberly Quincy.

Except Aaron Johnson wasn’t his real name, but an alias manufactured by a second unknown subject so he’d have something to call the boy in public. The second subject, known as Dinchara, was the one who supplied the 9-mm and identified FBI Special Agent Kimberly Quincy as the target. In return for shooting Special Agent Quincy, Aaron had been promised his freedom-that basically, Dinchara, who had kidnapped Aaron Johnson more than a decade ago, would finally let the boy go. Dinchara referred to the event as graduation, and Aaron Johnson had wanted to graduate.

“And your role in this?” Duff pressed the girl.

She shrugged. “Just drive.” She had her hand folded on her barely rounded tummy. “We’re go

Her gaze shot to Kimberly, some of the earlier heat returning. “What did you do to him? He was just a kid. He didn’t know any better. How could you shoot a boy?”

Kimberly thi

“You set me up,” Kimberly stated. “Aaron needed a target for his ‘graduation’ and you chose me. Why?”

“I did not-”

“He told me all about it! Now start talking, or your baby’s go