about her background,” Snatcher butts in. “Else they’d have secured her better. They’re not data experts.”
I raise my chin at him. “Which also supports the view that they could be white supremacists. Women are no threat to them.”
“The talk about raping her adds into that,” Stormy says. “That’s the kind of threat they’d make. Their sort tend to control women with sex. I find myself agreeing with Road.” His tone suggests, reluctantly.
Duty starts tapping on his laptop. I notice Pip staring off into space.
“We been up against any white supremacists?” Snatcher asks him, as his own brow creases.
Honor suddenly whistles loudly. “My man at the lab came through with a match on the DNA.”
“Name?”
“Christian McGregor.” Honor looks at the man by his side. “Birthdate, June 10, 1990.”
“Kincaid,” Pip says out of the blue. “But he’s dead.”
Duty’s eyes narrow and he looks at Pip, then back at his laptop.
“Did you pull that name out of the air, or was it triggered by McGregor?” Thor asks, which is what I was wondering as well.
Pip shakes his head as though to clear it. “McGregor rang no bells. But Kincaid fits the profile.”
“Any known connection?”
“I’m searching.” Duty glares at Honor. “Give me a moment.”
“Kincaid,” Snatcher repeats, as though a brainwave has struck. “And the mark wasn’t black, but Hispanic. Ivan Dengra. It was his daughter. We got her back. Well, you did. It was one of those times Thor and I were visiting the mother chapter.”
“Yeah, that’s him. She’d been taken to make a point.”
“She returned home pregnant.”
I take a breath. “She’d been fuckin’ raped.”
“That’s where it gets complicated.” Pip sifts through some of the paperwork in front of him and finds what he’s looking for. “She was groomed by Kincaid. He, as you suggested, all white.” He slides a photo toward me.
“Christ, she’s a kid.”
“Fifteen. She was ‘in love’.” Snatcher uses air quotes. “She thought she was special and running away, they’d completely fooled her. Ivan Dengra was loaded, started with nothing, ended up with a chain of furniture stores. Kincaid didn’t think an immigrant, legal or not, deserved to have made a success of his life, while he had nothing. Or, no jobs that he wanted to work. He set out to destroy him.”
Pip nods. “So he groomed the daughter, turned her against her father, then encouraged her to run away with him. Her head was turned by attracting the attention of someone who was much older.”
“He asked for a ransom?”
Duty’s tapping his chin. “He did.”
Pip again raises and dips his head. “Snatcher, as he said, was away, so I led the team myself. It was me who shot Kincaid, unfortunately in front of the kid. I really thought I was getting somewhere, talking him down. But suddenly he produced a gun and pointed it at her.” He looks up. “Sure, he’d hate my guts. But he’s dead. He was the only person there at the time. He didn’t need anyone else, as the girl trusted him. I think we’re on the wrong track. All we’ve got is a tremulous link with white supremacy. Keep digging into other cases, Duty.”
Bolt purses his lips, clearly remaining on the Kincaid topic. “Dengra’s kid’s reaction wasn’t what we’d expected. Instead of being pleased at being rescued, we’d killed the love of her young life. She went crazy. Hadn’t calmed down by the time we returned her to her father.”
“Do you know what happened?” I prompt. “Did she continue the pregnancy?”
“Baby born six months later.” Duty nods. “I checked up. Would be getting on for a year old now. Oh, fuckin’ shit.”
“What?” Pip sits forward.
“Kid died a few weeks back—cause of death, heart failure. Looks like he was born with problems. Hang on a minute… Fuck, you’re not going to believe this, Prez. Kincaid had a brother who was one of the mourners at the funeral.” A raft of questions are thrown at Duty, but he holds up his hand, then looks up, shaking his head. “Kincaid’s brother was his twin.”
“Shit. The kid died?” Pip takes a moment to let that sink in, then shakes his head. “And his father’s twin brother was at the funeral? How the fuck did Dengra allow him to get close?” he asks, without expecting an answer. “Something’s off about this. It might be a red herring, but it’s worth getting our net out. Keep digging, Duty, concentrate on Kincaid for now. Honor and Stormy, you sift through everything else.” Abruptly he stands. “I’ve got a fuckin’ phone call to make.”