“I’m sorry to inform you that the woman you hired under the name Rachel Jones is mentally unstable. She is a risk to herself and possibly to others. Not to worry. Now that we’ve located her, it will be a simple matter of removing the fugitive from your property. It would be best for everyone’s safety if you vacated the premises.”

“I’m not at the house now.”

“Wonderful. Perfect.” Mick could hear the satisfaction in the man’s voice. “Hold on a second.” There was the sound of Ellen murmuring something. Kevin answered. Mick couldn’t quite make out the words. He heard a “Great . . . Helpful . . . My thanks.” Then Mick and Sarah could hear Kevin’s voice again, strong and clear. “Ms. Davis has kindly given me your address. I’ll be able to remove the fugitive within the hour. Again, sorry for the inconvenience, and thank you for your cooperation. Please, for your safety, don’t mention anything to your employee, as she might get violent.” Mick glanced at Sarah’s face. Yes, it was drained of color, but she looked furious, too. Like she would kick serious butt if required.

“Lieutenant Hawkins.” Mick kept his voice bored, dry.

“Is there an alarm system I need to know about?”

“There is a state-of-the-art alarm system.”

“Can you disable it remotely?”

“No.” He could.

“Not an issue.” Hawkins rolled right over him. “You can give me the code and password. Do you have an emergency key stashed somewhere? It would be preferable not to have to break open the door—”

“Lieutenant Hawkins,” Mick cut in. “I hate to be the bearer of bad news. This all sounds quite fascinating, almost like the plot of a Hollywood movie. However. First. Rachel Jones no longer works for me. I specifically told the Windham Employment Agency I wanted a man. A man. What did they do? They sent me an incompetent female with a bad attitude and a fucking mouth on her to boot. She didn’t last out the day. I fired her sorry ass and switched to a different employment agency, one that actually listens to a client’s requests. Secondly. With all due respect, unless I am shown a search warrant, I will not be handing the key to my house or my password and code to anybody. If that is all, I’m quite busy right now. Sorry I couldn’t be of more service.” Mick disconnected the call, switched the phone off, then wrapped his other arm around Sarah’s trembling body and held her tight. “I think it’s time to go to New York and meet with your lawyer.”

She nodded. “You’re right. I need to sort this mess out, or I’ll never be free.” Sarah’s voice was subdued, her breath slightly shaky.

“You okay?”

“I’m scared.” She exhaled. “Scared, but I’m going to do it.”