That thought was damn Machiavellian.

“If you want to help, call Andy and find the damn ATV this bastard used.”

“Yes, boss.”

She winked and walked away.

Matt watched Quinn slide into her car and drive away. There was something about her—she was infuriating because she wouldn’t just give him a straight answer, but he didn’t have the time to dig deeper into her. Andy trusted her, and apparently Maddox had mentored her. That should be good enough. He almost went back into the police station to talk to Maddox about her background, but he really had to focus on the case. They were running out of time, and he would do everything in his power to prevent another body from dropping.

If Kara Quinn could find the ATV, then more power to her.

He had a feeling she’d find it out of sheer determination and doggedness—because failure wasn’t an option.

12

Washington DC
11:05 p.m. ET

Catherine was deep in her profile notes when her doorbell rang. She rose, closed her office doors—no sense terrifying one of her neighbors with the crime scene photos that now littered her office—and walked to the door. She looked through the peephole.

Chris.

Her husband had a key, of course. She’d owned this apartment since before they were married. She’d kept it because both she and Chris—a pediatric surgeon—often kept odd hours and needed a place to crash in the city instead of commuting the hour to their house in Stafford, Virginia. They’d bought the house when they first married thirteen years ago—when she had already graduated from the FBI academy, but was spending a year as a resident in a psychiatric facility for the criminally insane. Chris had just completed his residency. They’d known each other since medical school, but Catherine always kept people at arm’s length.

Until Chris.

Stafford was close to Chris’s new practice and his family in Fredericksburg, though as the demand for his expertise grew, he worked out of Georgetown more often than not. When you were the best at your job, you went where you were needed.

She loved this man but feared she would break his heart. They were legally separated because she had insisted, but Chris didn’t want a divorce. He assured her that they would work it out. Matt had told her months ago that she walked out because she wanted to punish herself. She hated him for saying it, but he wasn’t wrong.

She opened the door. “Chris. I wasn’t expecting you.”

“I drove up to check on a patient at GW who’s being released tomorrow. Joshua.”

The little boy who had lost his parents and nearly his own life in a tragic accident on the beltway. He’d had a collapsed lung, multiple broken bones, and extensive internal bleeding. The rapid response on scene coupled with Chris’s talent saved Joshua’s life. He would be living with his grandparents now, in Pennsylvania.

She opened the door wider and Chris walked in. “How are you?”