Page 88 of No More Lies

“Where’s Megan? Where’s my daughter?” she asked the two women on the sofa.

“Your daughter? The only child I’ve seen is Anya,” Melanie said.

“He sent me a picture. He said he had my daughter. That’s why I came.”

Diane ran up the stairs and banged on the door.

“Where’s Megan? Tell me where she is, you bastard!”

She banged on the door until her fists hurt. No one answered, no one came. Giving up, she crumpled to the floor in tears. What had he done with her baby?

Chapter 21

Steve paced the war room. It had been three hours since Diane had left, and they were no closer to finding her or the sarin. He was about ready to lose his mind.

Mira was over at the FBI office still working on the money trail with Dale’s team. Kelly, Raven and Nyx were all here at the Farm, pouring through cameras, intel, phone records, the dark web, everything. Anything to lead them to Volkov, the sarin, or the target.

Steve was struggling to stay focused. Only last night, Diane had opened up and told him she felt alone. Unseen. A failure. Now she was alone again and believed Megan was in danger.

Despite ten years together, she had not been able to come to him. She’d been dealing with so much by herself. He’d seen the change in her, but assumed it was the pressure of trying to make partner. Assumed. Fuck, he’d been such an idiot. She was right. He’d put his job first. Mission after mission, he had delayed the conversation they should have had months ago. It was easier believing her when she said it was just the pressure of proving herself at work. Even if that was all it had been, he should have encouraged her to talk about it. Supported her. Instead, he’d sat back and let her get on with it, assuming she had it all under control. His angel had been struggling for months. He’d got complacent. He was the failure here. Not her. He was not going to fail her again.

“If he’s taken Diane,” Donnie said, absently tossing the baseball “then he’s definitely not planning on going to the hearing. If we had any doubts about when the attack was going to be, I think we can be sure it’s before Monday.”

“Yeah.” Tyler frowned. “It’s the only explanation after all the trouble he went to, following the family, the photos.” He looked up from his screen. “Yet Diane said, the case wasn't strong.”

Steve looked at Dex. “Do you remember what Diane said before? Volkov told her all he needed her to do was present the case at the hearing, and he would take care of the rest.”

“Yeah, I remember. She said she told him it was doubtful he would get full custody, and he didn’t care.”

“What if he had someone in place that was going to make sure he won?” Steve said folding his arms across his chest. “He has some very influential friends. Maybe a judge or two.”

“You think he might have a judge in his pocket?” Ryan asked.

Before Steve could reply, Kelly spoke. “He is a member of the Havana Club. There are a few judges that are also members.”

“If he had something on one of them,” Steve said, “he could be blackmailing them. And if that leverage disappeared, he isn’t going to risk a hearing he knows he won’t win.”