Page 31 of Reckoning (FBI Thriller 26)

Savich grinned at her. “Ramsey told me Emma said, and I quote, ‘He must have surprised Sherlock or she’d have wiped up the floor with him.’ Ramsey and Molly were scared spitless for you. All in all, we were lucky. I called Ramsey from the hospital. He told me no one at Kennedy Center knows exactly what happened to you, except Molly and Emma and Vincenzo’s family, only that Ramsey called an ambulance for a family friend.”

“Good. If they keep it quiet, maybe there won’t be any press. I wonder how Vincenzo and his family are dealing with it? The stories they’ll tell about the United States when they get back to Italy.”

“As in the capital of America as the wild, wild West? Could be. Ramsey and Molly can tell us what the Rossis had to say when we see them tonight. Ramsey and his family will be coming to our house tonight to talk things over, if you’re up for it. And yes, we’ll be talking with Emma, too.”

“Dillon, this guy, whoever he is, he’s motivated. Like I said, no way he’s a child molester, this is way beyond that. It’s like he’s obsessed, but why? With what?”

“No way to know, but we’ll find out.”

Sherlock leaned her head against the neck rest. “I keep going back to Father Sonny and his kidnapping of Emma when she was just a little kid, and his psycho mom, Charlene. But Dillon, they’re both dead, and Emma had nothing to do with either Father Sonny’s or Charlene’s deaths. If it’s someone after revenge for them, why not come after me? I was the one who shot Charlene.”

“You know people don’t need logic to hate and to act on hate. We could be dealing with a very disturbed person here, Sherlock, whether it’s obsession or revenge.” He paused. “I think we’re dealing with an entirely different motive.”

“Like kidnapping Emma for ransom? But Ramsey isn’t rich.”

“No, but Mason Lord is.”

She huffed out a breath. Of course, Molly’s father again, Emma’s grandfather. “Anyone who thinks they can blackmail him to get Emma back is either stupid or has a death wish. When Mason Lord finds out what’s just happened, I don’t doubt we’ll be dealing with him, too.

“The man who shot me with the dart, Dillon. I just remembered there were little sparkles on the rims of his opaque sunglasses, right next to the lenses, probably CZ’s or just fakes. Why would a man have sparkles on his sunglasses?”

“Okay, two more pieces for Ramsey to pass along to Virginia. If we’re lucky, he’s worn them before.”

“Dillon, don’t take me home. My head’s on straight now. Drop me off at Kennedy Center. I want to check the video footage. He can’t have missed all the cameras. My car’s there, too. I’ll get back to the Hoover, and check the street cams in the area from there. I’ll call Ben Raven at Metro to make sure we’re not overlapping.”

He gave her a long look, saw she was determined. He slowly nodded. “Okay, but only if you promise to get yourself home if you feel dizzy, okay?”

“Of course.”

When she unfastened her seat belt in front of Kennedy Center, Savich gave Sherlock a kiss, saw her eyes were clear, and slowly nodded. “Don’t forget, no overdoing. Let me know if you get a good look at him on the video. And Ben, of course. I’ll ask Shirley to keep an eye on you when you get back to the unit. That means she’ll be checking on you every five minutes.”

She sighed. “Yes, I know. Okay.”

Sherlock stood a moment watching the Porsche glide through the parking lot and merge with traffic. She rubbed her neck, felt only a bit of tenderness. Getting shot with a dart was a first, and an experience she didn’t want to repeat. At least they knew now for certain the man after Emma didn’t want to kill her, only take her.

Sherlock went inside to security. She imagined they’d already reviewed the videos, but she wanted to look at them herself, wanted to speak to everyone who’d worked here that morning. Maybe someone else had seen him.