Luke chuckled, feeling a little better. “I’m sure glad you didn’t get yourself killed.”

“Me, too,” Daniel said. “But I gotta say you look as bad as I feel.”

“Thank you,” Luke said dryly, then sobered. “You may not have heard the news. Kate Davis was killed this afternoon.”

“Suze told me, but it doesn’t make sense. Kate didn’t seem like the type to start shooting people.”

“I agree, but nothing about this case is the way it seems.”

“Alex told me about the bodies you found and the live girls they took with them. She said Mansfield and Granville were into human trafficking.”

“She’s right. Too much has happened in the last twenty-four. I don’t have time to tell you all of it right now, but, Daniel, we found a file on Mansfield’s computer. Very graphic photos of Granville torturing these girls. The file is called Sweetpea, my ass.”

“Sweetpea is Mansfield. Granville gave him the name and he hated it.”

“That’s what I thought. What do you know about Judge Borenson?”

Daniel looked surprised at the question. “He presided over Gary Fulmore’s murder trial. Frank Loomis’s clerk said he retired and became a hermit up in the mountains.”

“That part I know. What do you remember about him? From when you were young?”

“He sometimes had dinner with us, then he and my father would go into his study and talk until the wee hours of the morning. Why?”

“He’s missing. We found his cabin ransacked, blood everywhere. Last I heard Talia was waiting for cadaver dogs to search for his body.”

Daniel winced. “Hell. They’re all gone, then. Randy Mansfield’s father was the prosecutor on Gary Fulmore’s murder case and he’s dead. The coroner who did the autopsy’s dead. Fulmore’s original defense attorney is dead-that was a suspicious death, by the way. He had a car accident on a dry road in the middle of the day.”

“And now Frank Loomis is dead, too,” Luke said, and Daniel looked haunted.

“I know. I keep seeing him die. He tried to warn me at the last minute. He did something horrible, Luke, falsifying evidence. Gary Fulmore’s spent thirteen years in prison for a crime he didn’t do and for the life of me I can’t figure out why Frank did it.”

“Loomis wasn’t a rich man, so there wasn’t any payoff,” Luke said.

Daniel closed his eyes. “He was the only father I really ever had.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Thanks.” His eyes still closed, Daniel frowned. “Fifty-two,” he said, then opened his eyes and Luke saw renewed vitality. “I was seeing the moment Frank died. He’d come to warn me that it was a trap. There was a gunshot and he just slid down my window.”

Luke remembered the bloody streaks on the window. “What’s fifty-two?”

“The boat. I tried to back away, but Mansfield had blocked the road and I crashed and hit my head. For a minute I thought Alex was dead, but she was just stunned. Mansfield made me carry her into the bunker and as we were walking around to the door I saw the boat as it passed. Those numbers were on the bow.”

“There should have been a GA, four numbers, then two letters.”

Daniel closed his eyes, concentrating, then shook his head. “Sorry, I only remember the fifty-two. I only glanced at it. It was moving really fast.”

“And you were seeing stars from the crash. This is the closest we’ve come so far.”

Daniel sagged back against the pillows. “Good.”

“I’ve just got one more and then I’ll go. Does the name Rocky mean anything?”

Daniel pondered, then shook his head again. “I’m sorry, but no. Why?”

“We think that’s the name of Granville’s partner.”

“There are no pictures of the partner in Mansfield’s Sweetpea file?”

“Not that I saw, but there are five hard drives to search, so we might find one.” Luke stood. “Get some rest. That nurse outside looks like she’s going to take off my head.”

“Wait.” Daniel swallowed. “I need you to tell me what’s going on with Susannah.”

“What do you mean?” Luke asked warily.

“Not like that.” His jaw tightened. “Although you make her one of your affairs and we will speak, and not kindly.”

“Relax, Daniel. Susannah’s made it clear she’s not interested.” Crystal clear.

“But you are?”

Luke considered, then decided he’d been friends with Daniel too long to lie. “I was from the moment I saw her at your parents’ funeral, but not in the way you think.”

“So not as a time-passer?” Daniel asked, very seriously.

“No. She’s been through too much.”

Daniel swallowed. “I know. She told me.”

Luke’s eyes widened. “She did? When?”

Daniel lightly touched the brown stain on his hospital gown. “Before you got here. She told me about her friend Darcy and everything else.”

No, my friend, Luke thought sadly. Not everything. Susannah would not tell Daniel that Simon had brutalized her. “She’s strong, Daniel.”

“Nobody’s that strong. But I know there was more. More she didn’t tell me.” His eyes narrowed. “You know.”

“She’s safe. At this point, that’s all I can tell you.”

“Because you don’t know or because you won’t tell me?”

Luke stood up. “Don’t push it, Daniel, please. Just know that I’m watching over her.”

“Thank you.” His eyes moved and a smile bent his lips. “Mama Papa. You came.”

Luke’s mama came in, her arms opened wide. “I just hear from that nurse that you are awake.” She arched an eyebrow at Luke. “Some people tell their mamas nothing.”

Daniel closed his eyes as Mama hugged him, and the look on his face was one of a man finally warm after months of winter. Luke remembered the yearning in Susannah’s voice as she insisted Jane Doe’s mother loved her and his heart hurt.

“Did you drive yourself, Mama?” Daniel asked, teasing reproach in his tone.

“No.” Mama sat in the chair, her huge purse in her lap. “Leo drove me.” She looked up at Luke with a frown. “Your refrigerator was disgusting, Luka.”

Luke’s lips twitched. Obviously Leo had called in the Special Forces to deal with his kitchen. “I know. Did you clean it?”

“I did. And stocked it with food.” Her frown became a sly look. “So if you bring home any visitors, she will not think you a pig.”

Luke’s smile faded. He knew what she insinuated and he knew it was unlikely to ever occur. “Thanks, Mama.” He kissed the top of her head. “I’ll see you later.”

Atlanta, Saturday, February 3, 3:30 p.m.

“I hate that this girl’s parents are going to see her this way,” Felicity said fiercely.

Luke forced himself to look at Kasey Knight’s grotesquely gaunt face. Her cheekbones were razor sharp, nearly protruding through her skin. A bullet hole was centered in her forehead. “They insisted. She’s been missing two years. It’s closure.”

“Then let’s get this over with,” she snapped, but he took no offense because her eyes were bright with unshed tears. “Go get the parents.”

In the lobby both parents sprang to their feet. “We’ve been waiting, dreading this call for two years.” Mr. Knight’s throat worked as he gripped his wife’s hand. “We need to know what happened to our daughter.”

Mrs. Knight was dangerously pale. “Please,” she whispered. “Take us to her.”

“This way.” Luke led them back to the viewing room. It was decorated in warm colors and comfortable furniture, small details aimed at easing the ordeal of grieving relatives. “Does your wife need a doctor?” Luke murmured as Mrs. Knight sank onto the sofa, her body trembling. She looked as though she might pass out any minute.

Mr. Knight shook his head. “No,” he said hoarsely. “We just need this to be over.”

Luke wanted to prepare them, but knew there was no preparation for what they were about to endure. “This girl doesn’t look like the picture of Kasey you gave the police.”

“It’s been two years. Kids change.”

“It’s… more than that. She only weighs about eighty pounds, but her height is five-eight, the same as your daughter was when she disappeared.”