There. Now he knew, and would despise her.
Only...Seth had circled the table and picked her up as effortlessly as if she were a child. He sat down, Robin on his lap, cradled within the solid strength of his arms. She buried her face against his chest so he couldn’t see it.
“I do not believe your sister hates you.”
He sounded so gentle, Robin felt a tremble deep inside, as if a fault line was shifting.
“We know that Richard has hunted long and hard for you. He has to have spent a fortune paying investigators. Do you think for a minute that he wouldn’t be watching your mother and sister? That if she were to go in for surgery, he wouldn’t know?”
No. She didn’t think that. He wasn’t just abusive. It had become increasingly obvious that beneath the surface he was an obsessive, crazy man.
“Would Allie be happy to have a new kidney if you died giving it to her?”
“But I wouldn’t necessarily—”
“If Winstead had a shot at you, I think you would,” he said. “Is your sister still eligible for a kidney?”
Robin bobbed her head.
“Then there’s time for you to give her one. I’d rather bring that creep down first, but if this drags on, we’ll go to Seattle and I’ll make damn sure nothing goes wrong, for you, your sister or Jacob. Do you hear me?”
It took her a minute to regain enough composure to raise her head. He meant it, every word.
That movement inside, the fault line, cracked wide open. Robin had always known she could love him. She just hadn’t imagined it could happen from one second to the next and be so painful. Remembering what he’d said about his younger self, she thought, He still has that swagger. She believed he’d try to keep his promise, but how would she live with herself if he died?
* * *
HE’D LIKE TO THINK he had gotten good at reading what Robin was thinking, but there’d been the one moment, an expression Seth didn’t understand. Hope, disbelief, fear. Taken together, what did it mean?
He shook the worry off and concentrated on his search, eliminating the Brad or Bradley McCormicks not the right age, who’d never lived in the Seattle area, who didn’t meet the description Robin gave him. Why didn’t anyone of that name appear on the list of Winstead’s former and current employees that Hammond had forwarded to Seth?
An alternative name caught his eye: Braedon McCormick. Seth tugged at the string. This McCormick had been in the army, deployed twice to Iraq, then went to work as a deputy in Lewis County south of Seattle. Didn’t last long there, although Seth couldn’t determine whether he’d been fired or quit. Following his brief stint in law enforcement, he became an investigator with a somewhat sketchy-seeming PI firm. His name popped up a couple more times...and that was it. Seth tried every option he could think of, concluding at last that only two likely reasons for the disappearance existed. Number one, Braedon had moved out of state; it could be tedious trying to pull up a driver’s license or PI license application in another state. Number two, he was dead, albeit with no fanfare. No investigation into his death, no obituary, no funeral.
Seth listened to the clatter from the kitchen where Robin was putting together lunch. Dad would be showing up any minute; one of his buddies from his cop days was giving him a ride home.
Seth stretched as he debated calling Hammond to talk about this McCormick guy. There was a lot he didn’t want to say, but a Seattle PD officer might be able to find something Seth couldn’t.
While he was still waffling, his phone rang. Hammond.
“Renner here,” he answered.
“Thought I’d let you know Winstead is staying put for the moment,” the sergeant said. “Real conspicuously. Went out for a fancy breakfast this morning with a female tech executive, then stopped by city hall where he somehow corralled a journalist to give a statement about a proposed referendum. Last report, he went to Palisade for a waterfront lunch with one of the mayor’s assistants.”
“Pricey?”
“Very,” Hammond said drily. “Gotta wonder what his plans are for dinner.”
“Listen, Ms. Hollis remembers a man who worked for Richard who isn’t on your list. Last name McCormick. He went by Brad, but I think his legal first name is Braedon.” He shared what he’d learned about the man.