will do it; I won’t play with her like Donnelly. Wham bam, dead.”
Sean recognized Elise’s singsong voice.
“Not now. But later. I promise, when everything dies down, you can do it.”
“You really promise?”
“Yes.”
Paxton ended the recording. Hunt waved his hand. “I was just telling her what she wanted to hear. If I didn’t tell her she could kill that bitch, umm, the fed, she might have done it anyway. She’s young and reckless. But I promised you we wouldn’t, and you can trust me, Jon. I’ve done everything you wanted, and then some.”
Jonathan nodded. “Just so we have that straight.”
“We do, we do. I know the terms. I’m not going to blow this. It’s too important, for both of us.”
“Yes, it is.” Jonathan smiled. “Thank you again for all your help.” Jonathan extended his hand to shake Hunt’s.
Sean knew what Paxton was going to do before he did it.
While holding Hunt’s right hand, he flipped a butterfly knife that was concealed in his other hand, and stabbed Hunt in the gut all the way up to the hilt. Then he twisted the knife, pulled it out, and jabbed it back in at an angle, again twisted the hilt.
Hunt’s mouth moved, but he didn’t—couldn’t—speak.
“You were never going to walk away, Mr. Hunt. From the beginning, I was looking forward to killing you. I wanted to wait, because I needed a few more things from you … but you threatened my daughter, and I cannot have that.”
Daughter.
Sean felt the blood drain from his face.
He leaned over so he could see the lone photo on Paxton’s desk.
It was of Lucy and Paxton, at an event years ago, when Lucy volunteered for Women and Children First.
Paxton had lost his mind.
Chapter Forty-four
HOUSTON, TEXAS
It was after nine Saturday night before Michael Thompson was finally brought down to the interview room.
The tipping point was that Paxton was not at his estate in New York. According to his staff, he only visited periodically, and hadn’t been there in months. They claimed not to know where he was, and gave the authorities a cell phone number they used to contact him. Rick called the number himself; it was disconnected. He was having Kate run a search on the number, but doubted they’d uncover anything of value without a warrant—and right now, they had no cause for a warrant.
Jonathan Paxton could be anywhere in the world. He had the money and contacts to disappear.
Thompson was barely six feet but walked as if he were taller, unlike most other prisoners, who seemed defeated to Lucy. He had a sense of peace surrounding him, as if he were comfortable with his fate.
Maybe he was.
If Lucy was right, then Thompson’s mission—to rid the world of sex offenders—was so righteous that even the possibility of his death didn’t faze him. In fact, he would be considered a martyr by many. And if she was right, he would never turn on Paxton, just like she told Rick.
He was a true believer. Like Sergio Russo, no one would be able to convince him that killing sex offenders was immoral or wrong. He would insist that the law against it was corrupt, that he was justified in his actions.
Megan stood and said to the guard, “You can take the handcuffs off Mr. Thompson.”
“It’s against protocol.”
“I’ll take responsibility,” she said.
The guard complied, and motioned for Thompson to take a seat. He did. Megan extended her hand. “Mr. Thompson, I’m Supervisory Special Agent Megan Elliott, and this is Special Agent Lucy Kincaid, with the FBI. Thank you for agreeing to speak with us.”
At the mention of Lucy’s name, Thompson looked at her. She didn’t know what she expected, but it wasn’t this—a look of reverence was all Lucy could describe it as.
Megan caught it too, nodded at Lucy, then sat down.
Lucy extended her hand. “Mr. Thompson,” she said.
He shook it, held it a second longer than necessary, but he didn’t scare her. “It is very nice to meet you, Agent Kincaid. Agent Elliott.”
He sat straight in his chair and looked at them with a serene, attentive expression. “What can I do to help you?”
Lucy had already told Megan that they couldn’t offer Thompson anything in exchange for turning in Paxton. Thompson would die before he betrayed the man who gave him his mission. What they wanted was first confirmation that their theory was right; second, any hint as to where Paxton might be—and information about his plan with Jimmy Hunt.
Megan said, “You may have heard that Jimmy Hunt, who testified