"We'll stop him," Kendra said grimly. "Can you think of anything else?"

"I didn't give you much to go on. I can tell there was some problem. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. You did great. There are a few discrepancies, but Lynch will just have to work around it."

"Lynch? Why don't you work around it?"

"I'm not leaving you."

"The h.e.l.l you're not. Now we're back to square one."

"No, we're not. We never got to square one." She frowned. "And why are you so eager to have me going back to working with Lynch? You're not making sense. That's the last thing you wanted."

"I don't want it now." She paused. "But I don't want that man out on the streets and hurting anyone else. It was terrible, and I can still hear myself whimper every time he hit me. I hated being that helpless." She added soberly, "And I won't be that helpless again. When I get well again, I want you to ask one of your law-enforcement contacts to teach me to protect myself. I'll never feel entirely safe again, but that will help."

"I can teach you. I had karate lessons when I was working with Jeff."

"No." Olivia's voice was firm. "You'd be too easy on me. Let me go, Kendra." She added quietly, "And I'll let you go."

"Why? It's not as if you're keeping me from doing something I want to do."

"No, but maybe it's something you should do." She smiled crookedly. "Do you know how much I'd like to hold you back? But I've been lying here remembering how you were right after your operation. You wanted to gobble up the entire world. For a few years, you tried to do it. You were testing yourself, exploring everything you were and could be. I could see you were doing the same thing when you were working with Jeff. You liked it. It stretched your mind and every sense." She said softly, "But you got scared when those children were killed. You didn't quite go down into that same darkness I did, but you were close. So you stopped doing those investigations and drew into yourself. I let you do it. h.e.l.l, I encouraged it so that I wouldn't have to worry about you. But that's a cheat, and I won't do it any longer. You go out and gobble up some more of the world and live life to the max. And if you can put down that son of a b.i.t.c.h who hurt me, that's definitely a plus. I feel very uneasy about his still being out there." She closed her eyes. "Now go away, Kendra. I want to take a nap without you hovering over me."

Kendra got to her feet. "This isn't all about you. It's my decision what I want to do."

"Not if I tell the nurses you're not a welcome visitor. In this hospital room, it is all about me. Just go away and have lunch and think about what I said. Then call Lynch and tell him you're going to give me a going-away present when I leave the hospital." Her lips tightened. "I really would like that b.a.s.t.a.r.d who did this to me thrown into jail for the next hundred years or so."

"I was thinking of something more immediate and lethal."

"That would work, too. One more thing." She didn't open her eyes. "Don't you dare get hurt. I plan on being busy learning karate, and I don't want to bother with sitting around holding your hand as you did mine."

"I'll keep that in mind."

"And I wouldn't object to a phone call now and then."

"It can be arranged." She stood at the door, gazing back at her. Olivia looked incredibly wounded and fragile in the crisp white bed. She might be wounded, but there was nothing fragile about her, Kendra thought. "You're sure you don't want me to hang around a little longer?"

"Go." Olivia turned on her side. "You're very persistent. Next you'll reach for your guitar. And then I'll have to ask them to throw you out."

"No appreciation." She hesitated and turned away. "You'll get your going-home present, Olivia. I promise you."

Olivia smiled. "I'll hold you to that."

Kendra walked out of the hospital room and down the hall. She felt oddly unsettled and uneasy. She had been so determined to stay and see Olivia through her convalescence, and she had been thrown out and told to go about her business.

And should she do it? Olivia's words had struck a chord of truth within her. Olivia, who knew her better than anyone, had said that it was fear that had kept her from working with Jeff after the death of those children. Fear that had caused her to stop exploring life and cling to a career she loved but that was infinitely safer.

She would have to think long and hard about it.

But in the meantime, she had promised Olivia a present.

She took out her phone and called Lynch. "Come and pick me up at the hospital. I want to go back to the condo and look around. And then we have to check out a few things. Olivia just gave me a blow-by-blow description of her attack. What a son of a b.i.t.c.h."

Silence. "Does that mean you're going to stop playing Florence Nightingale and come back on the job?"

"I said so, didn't I?" She paused. "Olivia threw me out."

"Bless her. Any reason?"

"She wants us to give her the man who put her in that hospital. I told her that it would be no problem."

"It may be a problem, but it can be done."

"It will be done."

"I'm not arguing." He hesitated. "Though I do have a few other leads we need to pursue."

"Not until we find the man who attacked Olivia. That has to come first. I've been thinking about her description and a few things are making me d.a.m.ned uneasy. I'll meet you outside in front of the hospital in fifteen minutes." She hung up.

CHAPTER.

14.

LYNCH DREW UP BEFORE THE hospital in his usual dazzling and spectacular manner, attracting the attention of three nurses and a teenager in a yellow nylon jacket.

She had missed that d.a.m.n Ferrari, she realized as she got into the car. And she had missed Lynch. He had become such a part of her life that it left her with a strange feeling of emptiness not to be with him. In a way, he was like his car, bold, high-speed, and totally memorable.

His brows rose. "Why are you smiling?"

"I was thinking that you were as showy as this car."

"No one has ever called me showy," he said dryly. "It's not recommended behavior for FBI agents."

She shrugged. "People remember you, and you wouldn't drive this car if you wanted to be understated." Few people she had met were as memorable as Adam Lynch. Even when he was low-key or silent, you wanted to watch and see what he was thinking, what he was going to do next. "So it's good that you're no longer connected with them, isn't it?"

"That's their viewpoint anyway." He drove out of the hospital parking lot. "Your condo, you said. You think you'll find something there?"

"Maybe, but while I was waiting for you, I changed my mind. I can check out the condo later. It may not be necessary. I want to go see Griffin right away. I want him to double the agents working to find that dermatologist."

"Why?"

"Because that doctor may lead us to the man who killed the dead man from Ocotillo Wells." Her lips tightened grimly. "I think our Tommy sc.u.mbag was the one who attacked Olivia."

"Rusin attacked Olivia."

"So we a.s.sumed. I believe we were wrong."

"Why?"

She briefly described her conversation with Olivia about her attacker. "Black leather jacket, boots, in his twenties. It could be him, Lynch."

He nodded slowly. "Maybe. But Griffin has zeroed in on Rusin. You'll have a tough time shifting him."

"You said the condo photo wasn't very good. May I see it?"

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a photo. "Only a partial profile and blurry as h.e.l.l."

Kendra was disappointed. Lynch was right, the condo security photo was atrocious. She couldn't tell anything, certainly not the age of the man. "I can see the problem. The video on my personal alarm system didn't show anything at all. It's focused on the parking area, and he went directly around the condo and took off toward the back. But we may have another one that's better. Do you have any more of the photos of that motorcycle creep from Ocotillo Wells?"

"In the glove box." He watched as she rummaged through the glove box. "You really think he's the one who beat up Olivia?"

She was closely examining the photo. "This one isn't great, but I think it's recognizable," she muttered. "There's a good chance it might be him. Olivia said her attacker was wearing a leather jacket with zippers, boots, and had a small frame. Both of those check out."

"Not much to go on."

"Enough to start," she said grimly. "Olivia also said his speech might have been slightly changed by a tongue stud. But I can't recall if the man at Ocotillo Wells had any difference in speech. The roar of that motorcycle drowned out any nuances I might have picked up." She added impatiently, "But what are the chances of someone else's wearing boots and a leather jacket going to my condo to attack me? It's just too coincidental. It's not as if I've offended any of the h.e.l.ls Angels ... lately."

"Lately?"

She ignored the question. That was another time, another place. "But this condo photo isn't clear enough to confirm that it wasn't Rusin who was there."

"So what do you want Griffin to do?"

"I told you, I want him to take the heat off Rusin and concentrate on finding that dermatologist. He's our only lead to finding the man who attacked Olivia."

"If he was the man," Lynch added dryly, "Griffin may give you trouble. He's p.r.i.c.kly about having his toes stomped on. He regards the manpower he has going after that dermatologist as entirely adequate."

"But that was before we knew Olivia's description matches the killer we saw at Ocotillo Wells." Her hands clenched on the photo. "We've got to find him and find him fast. What if he leaves town?"

"Do I detect a hint of obsessiveness?"

"He hurt Olivia. He almost killed her. h.e.l.l yes, I'm obsessive."

He smiled. "Then I'll let you go in without me and lay your case before Griffin. He might be resistant to any pressure from my direction. I was a little contentious with him the few last times we had encounters." His smile faded. "Don't worry. If we have to go around Griffin, we'll do it. I'm tempted to do it anyway. But it could be simpler if you could persuade him. At any rate, I admire your determination. Let's hope Griffin will be equally receptive."

GRIFFIN WAS not receptive.

"I've got more than enough agents tracking down the doctor who prescribed those meds for the guy in the morgue. I've set Santini on it, and he's moving smooth and fast. I'm expecting word from him anytime now. And, as far as we know, Leon Sanders's partner took off and may be in Mexico by now." He looked at the McDonald's security photo and tossed it back down on the desk. "Besides, Rusin is the logical suspect. He was the one who attacked you before."

"I tell you, it wasn't Rusin. He didn't fit Olivia's description. By all means, find Rusin, but bring your big guns down on that man from Ocotillo Wells," Kendra said. "I'm almost certain it was he."

"From a description given by a blind woman."

"Yes." She leaned forward and put her hands on his desk. "Dammit, don't you dare be condescending. You got a h.e.l.l of a lot of information from that blind woman. She told you what he was wearing, that he had a small frame, that he might have a tongue stud. A woman who wasn't blind might have had trouble giving you a better description when she was being beaten to the point of death. And besides that description, she scratched him and furnished you with DNA evidence and a way to connect him to the crime."

Griffin was silent a moment. "You're right. I've had eyewitnesses who couldn't remember anything under similar circ.u.mstances. But how do I know she was accurate? She's not you, Kendra."

"And that's your reason for not trusting her? Half the time, you don't believe what I tell you either. I trust her."

"But you say you're almost certain it's the same man. I'm stretched thin in manpower as it is."

"I won't lie. I can't be completely certain, but it's worth a shot."

His brows rose. "You're usually more sure of yourself."

"And you resent me for it."

"Sometimes. I don't like to be shown up." He paused. "Sometimes I've just been glad someone around knew a few answers."

The answer surprised her. But then Griffin had surprised her a few times since she'd come on the case with Lynch. "You could have fooled me."

"What did you expect?" His voice was cool. "You're a wild card. I've climbed the ladder and made a success of this office by operating strictly on logic and keeping to recommended practice. I'm responsible for what goes on under my watch. I've made a success by relying on solid investigative procedure. I don't trust hunches."

"It's not as if I'm trying to convince you that I've had some psychic vision or something. I don't have proof, but I have a witness's description." She put up her hand as she saw him open his lips. "Okay, she's blind, but you've already said that you've had less-credible witnesses."

He smiled slightly. "I admit there have been times when I thought you had a psychic flash. Disconcerting."

"Do it, Griffin." Her voice vibrated with intensity. "Go along with me just this one time. Put more agents on this search. Lesley Dunn was just killed. There could be others going down. You're wrong about Rusin. This son of a b.i.t.c.h may be able to lead us to where we want to go."

He gazed at her without expression. "And you'll get revenge for what happened to your friend?"

"Yes." She met his eyes. "I won't deny that's highest on my list right now. I want to find out what's happened to Jeff, and I want to punish that a.s.shole for what he did to Olivia. But what difference does it make if my motives are personal? We're on the same page as far as ending this as soon as possible."

He looked down at the photo on the desk. "I'll think about it."

"That's not good enough."

His expression hardened. "Don't tell me what to do, Kendra. I said I'll think about it. Now get out of my office. I've got work to do."

She didn't move, her fists knotting in frustration.

"If you're as clever as I think you are, you'll not push me," he said softly. "It would be a mistake."

She whirled on her heel and strode across the office. The next moment, the door was slamming behind her.