my friend. I’ve already lost too much to that son of a bitch. I don’t want to go into some room and see her lying there with a bullet in her brain.”
Lynch was silent. “I’m not going to tell you it couldn’t happen. You wouldn’t believe me. I’m just saying that considering how sharp she is, the chances are minimal. Do you want me to call her and try to get her to stop?”
“It’s too late. I should have sent her away when she showed up at that factory. Just as I should have sent you away. I was just so angry and upset about Elaine and Mr. Kim that I reached out and grabbed any help I could find. It didn’t matter that this was my fight and I might get you killed.”
“It mattered,” Lynch said. “You’re not thinking straight. We know who you are. We had to twist your arm to get you to let us help you. And I’m the one who got you sent here to Griffin and involved in your own personal nightmare. So quit blaming yourself and blame me. It will be much more fun for you.”
“No, it won’t.” She drew a shaky breath. “And I’m thinking straight, I’m just being emotional. I have a right now and then. It’s probably your fault for giving me that shot.”
“Absolutely. I deliberately spiked it.”
“And I just want to say one more thing. In the end, I have to be the one who goes after Dietrich. I can’t have you or Jessie pushing me aside like you did when we were in that sewer. I don’t care how much more experience you have than I do.”
“We’ll talk about it,” Lynch said warily.
“No, we won’t.” She added, “Though you did have another argument that I’ll agree is a winner. I brought my gun with me today and I won’t be leaving it behind until I get Dietrich.”
“Great. Then you can protect me. I always appreciate a woman who—”
His phone rang, and Metcalf’s name flashed on the dashboard monitor. Lynch punched a button on his steering column that would answer the call on speaker. “What’s up, Metcalf?”
“Is Kendra with you?” Metcalf’s voice came through the car stereo system.
“I’m here,” Kendra said. “We’re heading to the FBI building right now. We’ll see you there in fifteen.”
“No, you won’t. I’m not there.”
“Where are you?”
“Back on the campus of Woodward Academy. Listen…You should get down here as soon as you can.”
Kendra didn’t like the way that sounded. “Why?”
“There’s been another murder here on the grounds.”
God, no.
She almost didn’t want to ask. “Who…Who was it?”
She could hear voices in the background before Metcalf finally replied, “We just got here ourselves. We don’t have an ID yet. Just get yourself to the campus.”
* * *
Less than half an hour later, Kendra and Lynch were walking across the Woodward Academy campus, just a few hundred yards from where Elaine Wessler’s body had been found. The uniformed police officers staffing the gate had directed them to the campus’s west side, where a long and winding path led down to the access road that fed into the Pacific Coast Highway.
Kendra steeled herself for the sight that awaited her on the other side of the hill ahead. Woodward had always been a source of comfort, of support to her, but that had all changed in the past few horrible days. Could it ever go back to the way it was?
Lynch squeezed her arm. He knew how this was affecting her. He always knew.
She nodded. “I’m okay.” She swallowed. “Not really. This is scaring me. Another death. Allison must be barely holding on right now. All this scandal and horror…And I don’t understand it. Why would anyone want to kill someone here at Oceanside? It’s a place that only wants to heal kids.”
“Who knows? And this is a beautiful spot,” Lynch said, gazing at the dramatic beauty of the Pacific glittering in the distance.
“Yes, it’s called Lookout Point.” She tried to regain her composure. “Kind of a funny name for a school with so many visually impaired kids. I think it was called that long before the academy was here.”
As they climbed the gentle slope, the crime scene came into view, a little bit more with each step.
The yellow tape. The FBI investigators in their suits and polyester-blend blazers. A pair of uniformed officers, doing little but keeping onlookers away.
And finally, the corpse.
Kendra’s eyes narrowed on it as they ducked under the tape.