it to the FBI. And knowing that she had been in contact with her father, I could see him pushing her to get retribution by targeting Brad and Kane. But they didn’t have the resources. Not to hire all those people and put this all together. They had the vision—revenge—but Paxton paid for this. Which means it was his plan—Paxton wanted Sean. Why?”
Dillon didn’t say anything for a long time—but Lucy knew him well enough to know that he had a theory and was trying to find the best way to share it.
He said, “You cut off all ties from Paxton after you learned he was behind the vigilante group in D.C.”
“You know I did. I knew why he did it, but I couldn’t prove it—so I gave him back Monique’s locket. It’s all he wanted.”
“Paxton has always felt like you were his chance at redemption,” Dillon said. “You look like his daughter, but more than that, you were strong. You killed the man who killed his daughter.”
“I killed him because he raped me and planned to kill me,” Lucy said, her voice cracking at the end.
“He saw it as an act of vengeance … of love … of redemption. You were strong and you fought back. It was the catalyst for everything he did. He has always used you to justify his actions.”
She was horrified. On the one hand she knew it was true … Paxton had never regretted killing anyone. She wanted nothing of his plans. Nothing to do with the murder of anyone, guilty or not. She believed in the system, flaws and all. If she didn’t … she didn’t want to go there. She could have gone down that same path, but she hadn’t. She had found a way to overcome what happened to her, to be stronger. To survive. And now, she felt like Paxton was stripping away every layer of protection she’d painstakingly built over the last ten years.
“Lucy,” Dillon said, softening his voice, “do not even go there.”
“I created a monster.”
“If anything, I did.”
“What the hell, Dillon? You did not have anything to do with this.”
“I told the FBI ten years ago that it would be okay to tell Paxton what happened to Monique.”
“You had to. She was his daughter; he deserved to know.”
“But I should have been there; I should have done it myself. Who told him and how was he told? We know that it was after learning what happened to Monique—and after you killed Adam Scott—that he built his network, that he began to plot to kill predators who slipped through the system. He recruited men like Sergio Russo and Michael Thompson and others because he saw a kindred spirit—no guilt. He never recruited you—you were on a pedestal. You were untouchable. If he thought you would join his crusade, he would have roped you in, if only to keep you by his side, in his debt, as his daughter. Because that is ultimately what he sees you as—his daughter. And what does a father do for his daughter?”
She didn’t know if the question was rhetorical or not. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”
“A father, above all, wants to protect his daughter. Don’t give me that look, Kate,” Dillon said. “I know what you’re thinking. But you have to think like Paxton. Who he is, how he was raised, what he lost. His wife died of cancer when Monique was young, Monique was all he had. But he was a workaholic, a low-level politician and prosecutor who wasn’t around because he was fighting other people’s battles. Then his daughter disappeared. He had no idea if she was dead or alive. He searched for her until the day he found out that she was dead. Because he didn’t know. Not knowing is almost as bad as knowing your child is dead. The hope and fear never goes away until you know the truth. By that point, the hope and fear had created a senator … a powerful orator with a natural charisma and a cause that people naturally gravitated toward. Because he spoke for them—their loss, their fears, their hopes. When he found out Monique was dead … and how she died … the grief and anger twisted until a vigilante was born. In fact, I don’t think he’s ever truly grieved.
“Paxton is not just any vigilante,” Dillon continued. “Because he’s smart and powerful and wealthy and has a strong sense of preservation, he’s not going to pull