“Next time. I promise.”

Haynes’s lips curved into a politician’s smile. “I’ll hold you to it,” Haynes said.

Bobby walked the rich man to the door and watched as he drove away, his new purchase stowed safely on a fluffy blanket in the trunk of his Cadillac Seville.

Tanner appeared. “I dislike that man.”

Bobby smiled. “You just dislike politicians and so do I. Haynes is a good customer, and once he’s elected, we’ll have one more powerfully placed… personnel.”

Tanner sighed. “I suppose. Mr. Paul is on your business line.”

“Thanks, Tanner. You can go to bed now. I’ll ring if I need you again.”

Tanner nodded. “I’ll check on our guests before I retire.”

“Thank you, Tanner.” Bobby smiled as the old man made his way up the old stairs. Tanner had a mile-wide streak of southern gentility, despite his rather checkered past. Tanner had been Bobby’s first “personnel acquisition,” at the ripe old age of twelve. Tanner had been old even then, but still young enough not to want to spend the rest of his life behind bars. They’d forged a relationship that had lasted more than half of Bobby’s life. There wasn’t anyone Bobby trusted more. Not even Charles.

Especially not Charles. Charles was a cobra, slithering around in the underbrush, hanging from trees, waiting for the optimal moment to strike.

Shrugging back a shiver, Bobby picked up the phone. “Paul. You’re late.”

“But I got your information, plus a few extras. Take down these names. Luke Papadopoulos is lead agent on the Granville case. He’s reporting to Chase Wharton.”

“That I knew. Who’s the support staff?” Bobby frowned as Paul recited all the names. “I don’t know any of them.”

“Oh, I do,” Paul said smugly. “One of them will fit your needs nicely because one of them has a secret worth hiding. It should have been a major arrest for me, but I figured I’d just bide my time.”

“Smart. This one is more useful to us on the job than in prison.” Bobby recorded the name and the secret. “Now I’ll have a well-placed mole on the GBI team. Fantastic.”

“And if you play your cards right, not just for this case, but for years to come.”

“You did well, Paul. What about the other matter?”

“That you’re going to be less happy about. Rocky met the nurse in the hospital parking lot and they chatted in her car.”

“And you were where?”

“Two rows over. I had to get that close for my mike to pick them up. Turns out your nurse hasn’t done the deed. She had your assistant pretty rattled.”

Bobby’s jaw tightened. “I thought as much. Where is Rocky now?”

“Driving north on I-85. I’m trailing about a half mile behind.”

“Why?”

“That I don’t know because she didn’t say.”

“Did Rocky at least get a description of the girl?”

“All the nurse knew was that her name started with M.”

Fuck. Monica. “I see. So the girl is awake and talking?”

“No. The nurse made it so the girl is paralyzed, gave her something in her IV. She can’t open her eyes, move, or speak.”

Bobby breathed an easier breath. “So at least the nurse isn’t a total failure.”

“Rocky told the nurse to give the girl one more dose, which would keep her paralyzed until about two this afternoon. She said she’d be back with more instructions, then let the nurse out. Rocky waited, then followed a car to one of the local hotels. A woman went into the hotel, the car kept going. Rocky started driving north.”

“What did the woman look like?”

“A doctor. She got out of the car wearing scrubs and carrying a computer bag in one hand and a shopping bag in the other. I can keep following Rocky. Your call.”

“I’ve got her car wired. Just use the GPS. I have other things for you to do tonight.”

“Can’t. Rocky must’ve ditched the transmitter because I’m not picking her up.”

Bobby sighed. “I’ve always known she was bright. I’ll just have to have Tanner hide the transmitter better next time. Follow her. I want to know every move she makes.”

“It’s your dime. Oh, one more thing. Rocky was very interested when the nurse said the woman who found the girl was Susannah Vartanian. She saved the girl’s life.”

Bobby tensed. “What did the doctor look like, the one that went into the hotel?”

“Thirty. Dark hair in a ponytail. Maybe five-three. Real pretty,” he added slyly.

Susannah. “How nice. Call me when Rocky gets to where she’s going.”

Bobby hung up and stared at the photo of Susannah that Charles had left, wondering if he’d known about Susannah finding the girl, then rejected the notion. Charles would have been here, playing chess when the girl escaped. Charles knew a lot, but even he didn’t know everything. Damn the old man, playing with my mind. Susannah Vartanian. The woman had been a festering thorn for years, simply by breathing. Today she’d done a hell of a lot more than breathe. Because of Susannah, the girl had survived. The girl could bring them all down.

For now the girl was neutralized. The nurse would need to be brought into line, that was a given. But Susannah had crossed the line. It was way past time to pull out the thorn. Way past time for Susannah to stop breathing.

But first, Bobby would deal with Rocky. It would not be pretty. Father always told me it was a mistake to go into business with family. I really should have listened.

Ellijay, North Georgia, Saturday, February 3, 2:15 a.m.

Luke, wake up. We’re here.”

Luke blinked his eyes open. Special Agent Talia Scott was slowing the car to a stop at the edge of a tree-lined dirt road, which according to their map should lead to Judge Walter Borenson’s cabin. “I wasn’t asleep,” he said. “I was just resting my eyes.”

“Then you are the loudest eye-rester I’ve ever heard. Your snores could wake the damn dead, Papa. No wonder you can’t keep a girlfriend. So wake up.”

“Maybe I did sleep a little.” That he had was testament to just how much he trusted Talia. They’d been friends for a long time. He glanced in his rearview. Chase was behind them, and two vans brought up the rear.

One van was filled with the SWAT team Chase had assembled, the other held a crime lab team from the local GBI field office. “We got a signed warrant?” Luke asked.

“Yeah,” Talia said. “Chloe grumbled about some early morning meeting and needing her beauty sleep, but she came through.”

Chloe’s morning meeting was with Susannah, Luke knew. He’d almost told Talia about Susannah’s statement before he’d fallen asleep. Talia had been interviewing the surviving victims of Simon and Granville’s rape club for the past two days. At some point she’d know that Susannah had been a victim, too. But he’d held his tongue. Susannah deserved her privacy until she formally signed that statement.

“Chloe usually does come through,” he said and got out of the car. “If Granville’s partner is here, he’s boxed himself in. There isn’t any way out, except this road.”

Talia shined her flashlight across the dirt. “The ground’s too hard to show any tire tracks if a vehicle did come through.” She sniffed the air. “No fire in any woodstove.”

Chase came close, tightening the straps on his Kevlar vest, two pairs of night goggles and two earpieces in his hand. “For you two. Let’s approach through the trees. I’ll go left. Talia, you go right, and Luke, you come around and cover the back. If they are in there, I do not want them to see us coming.”

Luke thought of the bunker, the vacant eyes, the bullet holes centered on their foreheads. No, he didn’t want to give the bastards any advance notice. “Let’s go.”

They organized, splitting the SWAT team into three groups, and set out, creeping through the trees. As they grew closer to the cabin, Luke could tell no one was there. The place was dark and had the feel of abandonment. No one had been here in days.