“Yeah, maybe.” He turned back to look out the window.

She gazed at him helplessly.

“Come on. I’ll buy you a soda.” Lynch took her arm and guided her toward the soda machine. “There’s nothing you can say to him right now. He’s feeling guilty as hell.”

“I know. But there’s no reason. He did everything. He was a hero.” She took the Diet Coke he handed her. “It doesn’t make sense.”

“No more than your feeling guilty.”

“That’s different. I was responsible for setting her up for Colby. I even brought Sam into it.”

“Hush.” His fingers touched her lips. “In the end, everyone is responsible for themselves and their choices.”

“And I chose to involve people who got terribly hurt in the process.” She changed the subject. “Has Griffin found any sign of Colby?”

He shook his head. “They’ve scoured the house and the neighborhood, and the only thing they found was the corpse of an old lady on the top floor of the house and Northrup in a closet in the cellar.”

“No sighting of the van?”

Lynch shook his head. “Not yet. Griffin said he’d come and bring us up to date as soon as he knew something.”

“Someone has to have seen him.” She shook her head numbly. “He couldn’t have just done that to Beth and vanished.”

“You know he had it all planned,” Lynch said. “There’s a good chance that’s exactly what he did. Turned on the water, then left the house and probably the area.”

“And we just missed him?”

He nodded. “He wouldn’t have known that we were that close.” He looked at the ER room. “Though he probably does now. The media was all over Griffin when they got wind of what happened at City Heights.”

“Not close enough.” She looked at Eve, who had gone over to stand beside Sam. “She’s been wonderful with Sam. She’s hurting so much herself but she’s been there for him through all of this. She called Joe Quinn when she got to the hospital and told him what was happening, but since then she’s been Sam’s anchor.”

“You weren’t doing a bad job yourself when I walked in.”

She shrugged. “He’s my friend, but Eve is better than I am at that kind of conversation. In case you haven’t noticed, I have a habit of saying the wrong thing.”

“Not when you care about someone.” He turned away. “Of course, I don’t have firsthand proof of that statement. Go sit down. I’ll go call Griffin again, and then I’ll be back with you.”

“You don’t have to sit with me.”

“It’s my pleasure. Well, now that was the wrong phrase. There’s no pleasure connected to this. But it’s definitely my privilege.” He strolled down the hall. “Fifteen minutes, Kendra.”

She watched him leave and felt suddenly alone.

Ridiculous.

She was just very vulnerable at the moment. She glanced at Eve and Sam. They were all vulnerable because of that very special woman in the ER.

And they might as well cling together until they knew what Beth’s fate was to be. If she was awkward and said the wrong thing, so be it.

She moved across the room toward the window where Eve and Sam stood.

*   *   *

LYNCH WASN’T BACK IN FIFTEEN MINUTES, it was closer to an hour when he came back to the waiting room. “Sorry, when I called Griffin, he was in the middle of something and had to call me back. He’s on his way here now.”

“What was happening?” Kendra asked. “Colby?”

“Maybe. He wanted to confirm, then get back to us.”

Her gaze narrowed on his face. “It is Colby. Have they caught him?”

“If they had, I’d be the first to tell you.” He glanced at the ER room. “Beth?”

Kendra shook her head. “No word yet. I don’t like it.” She paused. “Any more than I like you changing the subject. Why aren’t you talking to me?”

“Because I thought Griffin should take the heat. I get enough of it from you. Besides, I hoped he might know more by the time he got here.”

“More about what? Why should—”

“Hello, Kendra.” Griffin was striding down the corridor toward them. “How is Beth Avery? Better, I hope.”

“We don’t know. I’m sure she’d feel better to know that Colby has been caught.” She paused. “Or shot down like the animal he is. I hope that’s what you’re going to tell me.”

“I’m afraid not. I know you’re upset about this, and so am I. But you have to remember that Colby has been evading the law for a long time, and he’s gotten very good at it.”

“I don’t have to remember anything,” she said fiercely. “Except that Beth may be dying or brain-dead before this day is over. I don’t care if you’re upset because the media is roasting you alive. I want Colby found.”

“We’re trying to do that,” Griffin said soothingly. “It’s not a question of Colby’s being on the run, that would make things easier, he’d make mistakes. Every action he’s taken since he turned on that water has been deliberate and well thought-out.”

“What actions?”

“We’ve just got a report that the credit card belonging to Tom Sims, the FBI computer head, who was killed in D.C., was used to purchase groceries and clothes in San Ysidro, just across from the Mexican border.”

“What?”

“Sims’s credit card was missing when his body was found in that alley.”

“You think Colby is on his way back to Mexico?”

“I have to consider the possibility.” He reached into his pocket. “Particularly since he left this charming farewell note for you.”

“Note?”

“Don’t you remember? He pinned it to Beth Avery’s sweater before he left her. It was in a waterproof freezer bag.” He handed her a printed sheet of paper. “I had it copied for you.”

She slowly took the note.

The words were typically Colby.

Kendra

Your little friend was a delight, but you are without peer. I can hardly wait for the day when we’ll come together. But I’m a patient man as you might have noticed. I know you’re getting close. You are so very clever. So it’s time to shift, to do a little dance, and come at you at a different time and place. But be assured, the dance will continue.

Or perhaps you might choose to come at me again. I’ll be on familiar ground, and you’ll be the stranger. That might even be more enjoyable …

Colby

“He said nothing about Mexico,” she said. “He just hinted.”

“We’re checking border-patrol videos, and we’ll continue to do so. But you don’t have to have ID or passport to go into Mexico. It’s returning that you have to have ID and documents. It would be the easiest place for him to go to try to purchase new documents and stage his next attack on you.”

“But if he hears that Beth is still alive, he might decide to come back faster and finish the job.”

“Naturally, we’ll furnish her protection until we’re sure that it’s not necessary.”

“You mean when she dies,” she said baldly.

“I didn’t say that.”

“No, you didn’t,” she said. “And maybe I’m being unfair. It’s hard for me to tell right now. I want to know when you get that photo of Colby crossing the border.”

“I’ll e-mail it to Lynch. You’re a little occupied at the moment.”

“Do that.” She turned and crossed the room to tell Eve and Sam Griffin’s news.

And continue to wait for news of her own.

Wouldn’t the doctors ever come out of that ER?

*   *   *

DOCTOR JORDKOL CAME OUT OF the ER forty-five minutes later. He didn’t come to Kendra but directly to Eve. Kendra didn’t expect anything else. Eve was family, next of kin.

“We believe Ms. Avery is out of danger for the time being,” he said. “It was touch-and-go for a while, but she has a strong heartbeat now.” He added soberly, “However, she’s still unconscious, and we prefer that she stay that way for at least the next few days. We’ll probably put her in a medically induced coma for at least tonight.”

“Why?” Eve asked.

“We prefer to keep the brain activity down so that we can monitor it.”

“You’re checking for brain damage,” Eve said. “Are there indications?”