Love Is Murder (12 page)

LUCY: No, my mother’s only sister died during the journey. She never wanted to return. I don’t think she has any living relatives.

CASSIDY: Would you consider your relationship with your parents good? Poor? Indifferent?

LUCY: Good.

WHITE: Are you close to them? Or is their age a hindrance to a relationship?

LUCY: We’re very close, but my brothers and sister were as involved in my life as my parents. Maybe more so.

CASSIDY: You have two sisters, not one, correct?

LUCY: Yes, but Nelia and I …

CASSIDY: Go on.

LUCY: It’s not important.

CASSIDY: She’s much older than you.

LUCY: Twenty-two years. I came as a surprise to my mother—she was forty-five when she had me.

CASSIDY: You didn’t list an occupation for her.

LUCY: I don’t know what she’s doing. She remarried a few years ago and lives in Idaho. We’re not close.

CASSIDY: Is Nelia the mother of your nephew who was murdered? Justin Stanton, correct?

LUCY: Yes.

CASSIDY: Did you know him? You were seven then?

LUCY: Both Justin and I were seven. He was born two months before me. We always thought that was funny.

CASSIDY: So you were close to Justin.

LUCY: He was my best friend.

WHITE: How was he killed?

LUCY: I don’t know.

WHITE: You don’t know?

LUCY: My family never told me, and they never discussed specifics. All I know is that he was kidnapped from his bedroom while he was sleeping. They found him two days later. My parents wouldn’t let me go to the funeral. I kept hearing how he didn’t suffer, that it was quick, in the fake hushed tones that people use when they don’t want anyone to think that they’re talking about a tragedy. Eventually, my sister moved away. We don’t talk.

CASSIDY: Was there a conviction?

LUCY: No. They never even had a viable suspect. For a brief time the police thought my sister or her husband might have killed him because there was no sexual assault, but that didn’t go anywhere. Andrew is now the District Attorney.

WHITE: I thought you said you didn’t know how he died.

LUCY: I don’t—but I heard he wasn’t sexually assaulted. It’s one of those things I picked up when my family thought I wasn’t in the room.

WHITE: How did Justin’s murder make you feel? Then and now?

LUCY: How do you think? He was my best friend. I missed him and resented that my family wouldn’t tell me what happened. I knew enough to be scared, but not enough to make sense of it. And now? I don’t want another family to suffer what we did.

CASSIDY: It’s clear from your earlier answers and your application that you have a strong sense of justice. You live with your brother Doctor Dillon Kincaid and his wife, Kate Donovan. Your brother works for the Bureau of Prisons?

LUCY: No, he does work
with
the Bureau of Prisons, but he’s a private consultant. A forensic psychiatrist. He most recently convinced a killer on death row to reveal where the remains of his victims were so that their families could have closure.

MARTINEZ: I heard about that case. Charles Bledsoe was convicted of killing six children in Richmond, Virginia, and was suspected of killing several more he never confessed to.

LUCY: Correct. Dillon spent a week with Bledsoe. It was a difficult assignment, but in the end three families had remains to bury.

WHITE: And Kate Donovan is an FBI special agent.

LUCY: Yes.

WHITE: She’s assigned to Quantico.

LUCY: She’s the lead instructor for cybercrime. Has been for six years now.

WHITE: Because of her disciplinary hearing.

LUCY: Is that a question?

WHITE: Agent Donovan was wanted for questioning in investigating the onduty death of her partner, but hid from the FBI for five years. Her reinstatement was contingent on a two-year probationary period at Quantico, I’m sure you are aware of this.

LUCY: Yes, but that has nothing to do with my application.

WHITE: My point is Agent Donovan has had multiple reprimands in her file—

LUCY: That is her file, and I don’t see how it’s relevant to my application.

CASSIDY: I think the point Agent White is trying to make is how much influence your family has over you, and whether by living with Agent Donovan if you would be predisposed to disobedience.

LUCY: Kate is my sister-in-law. I have great respect for her. But I can’t answer hypothetical questions or tell you whether I would have made the same decisions under the same circumstances.

CASSIDY: Fair enough. You brother Jack—he’s the same age as Dillon. Twins?

LUCY: Yes, fraternal.

CASSIDY: He’s also married to an FBI agent. SSA Megan Elliott. How long?

LUCY: A little over three years.

CASSIDY: I worked in the Sacramento office with Megan for years. She’s an outstanding agent.

LUCY: I admire her as much as I admire Kate.

WHITE: You indicated that Jack is a principle in Rogan-Caruso-Kincaid. Are you familiar with their business?

LUCY: Of course. I have two brothers who work there.

WHITE: And your boyfriend, correct?

LUCY: Yes.

WHITE: You didn’t indicate that you were in a relationship on the application. There’s a space asking—

LUCY: Sean and I haven’t been seeing each other for long. I filled out the initial application a year ago.

WHITE: So your boyfriend and two of your brothers are principles in a private security company. Can you honestly tell us that their business won’t interfere with your work for the FBI?

LUCY: It won’t.

MARTINEZ: The reason we’re a bit concerned is that Rogan-Caruso-Kincaid has some clients who, because of the nature of their business, come under scrutiny by the federal government. There could be a conflict of interest.

LUCY: I don’t work for RCK. And it’s my understanding that RCK has high government clearance.

MARTINEZ: Individuals may, I don’t have that information.

LUCY: And they have government contracts as well.

CASSIDY: You understand that in the course of your work with the FBI, if anyone you know comes under investigation—RCK or any of the principals or employees—that you would need to keep any such investigation confidential, or risk prosecution?

LUCY: I understand confidentially requirements.

CASSIDY: I’m sure you do, I just wanted to make it clear. Now–your brother Connor is a private investigator in San Diego, correct?

LUCY: Yes. His partner is my brother-in-law, Nick Thomas.

CASSIDY: Department? Connor used to be a police officer with the San Diego Police

LUCY: Yes.

CASSIDY: And his wife is a deputy district attorney?

LUCY: Yes, Julia.

WHITE: So she would be working with your former brother-in-law, Andrew Stanton?

LUCY: Yes.

WHITE: You have a lot of connections with law enforcement.

LUCY: I do. My other sister, Carina, is a detective with the San Diego PD.

WHITE: And other than your oldest sister, you still talk to your family?

LUCY: Of course. I live with Dillon, and Patrick lives a few blocks away.

CASSIDY: Patrick—right. He works in Washington with your boyfriend, Sean.

LUCY: Yes.

CASSIDY: He had some medical issues—can you explain?

LUCY: I don’t see the relevance.

WHITE: We have your file, Ms. Kincaid. We know what happened on your high school graduation, and that Patrick was severely injured while trying to find you. What happened then goes to character.

LUCY: Patrick was in a coma for two years.

MARTINEZ: I didn’t hear you, I’m sorry.

LUCY: Patrick was injured in an explosion. He was in a coma for nearly two years. But he is doing great now. This really doesn’t have anything to do with whether I would make a good FBI agent.

CASSIDY: Ms. Kincaid, we have sympathy for what happened back then, and according to your statement, Patrick was in critical condition when Adam Scott, the man who kidnapped you, held your brother Dillon hostage. You were eighteen and I can only imagine the stress and pain you were suffering when you shot and killed Mr. Scott.

LUCY: The FBI ruled the shooting justified and in self-defense.

WHITE: Even though Mr. Scott didn’t have a weapon.

LUCY: I didn’t know that at the time. He was going to kill my brother.

WHITE: You stated then that you don’t remember anything from when you left your house until after you shot Mr. Scott six times at point blank range.

LUCY: Yes.

WHITE: This goes to stress. Your job in the FBI will very likely be stressful. Do you think you’d be prone to blacking out when you are under extreme stress?

LUCY: I—

CASSIDY: Meredith, I think—

WHITE: It goes to character and mental competence, Nolan.

LUCY: I went through every psychological evaluation the FBI threw at me. I passed. I’m not the same person I was seven years ago.

MARTINEZ: Why do you want to join the FBI?

LUCY: I wrote on my application—

MARTINEZ: We know what you wrote on your application. A very generic comment, considering your background. Why do you
really
want to be an FBI agent? What do you hope to gain from the Bureau?

LUCY: I understand people. I understand criminals and how they think, and I understand victims. Too many people stand back and do nothing when others need help. Did I want to be in the FBI ten years ago? No—I spent my time with friends, in the pool, training for my swim team, and my dream was to go to Georgetown and study international relations, or be a diplomat or linguist. My brothers and sisters, they were the ones who cared. They were the people who did what I was too selfish to consider. And now? There’s nothing I want to do except put predators behind bars. Whether the criminals are stealing the retirement money of the elderly or killing children or raping women, I want to be part of the solution, not just one more person ignoring violence. I couldn’t ignore it if I wanted to.
If you tell me I’m not fit to be an FBI agent, so be it. But everything I have done in the last seven years has put me before you. I interned with the Senate Judiciary Committee because I wanted to better understand how the decisions in congress affected national law enforcement. I worked a year with the Arlington Sheriff’s department because I wanted to understand the nuts and bolts of local law enforcement. I’m still on their volunteer water rescue team because I’m a certified diver. And I just finished my year-long internship at the D.C. Medical Examiners Office because I wanted to understand what happens on the back end, so to speak. I even obtained a certificate as an assistant pathologist so I could assist in autopsies.
Everything I’ve done was to be a better FBI Agent. And what do I want to gain? Nothing—except the satisfaction of being a part of the solution.

Catch up on all of Allison Brennan’s books and characters!

L
UCY
K
INCAID SERIES

Love Me to Death

Lucy Kincaid’s past comes back to haunt her when she realizes someone is using her to target paroled sex offenders.
Setting: Washington D.C
.

Love Is Murder

In this exclusive electronic novella that takes place a year before the events in
Love Me to Death
, Lucy Kincaid and her brother Patrick take a much-needed vacation at a remote lodge outside Lake Tahoe. But their fun is cut short when a snowstorm and dead newlywed turn their retreat into a danger zone.
Setting: Sierra Nevada Mountains
Kiss Me, Kill Me

Lucy Kincaid and Sean Rogan search for a missing teenager in New York City and find themselves in the middle of the FBI manhunt for the Cinderella Strangler, a serial killer targeting young women at rave parties.
Setting: Virginia and New York City
FBI Trilogy (2009)

Sudden Death:
By-the-book FBI special agent Megan Elliott is forced to team with burn-the-book mercenary Jack Kincaid to stop a pair of brutal killers targeting decorated soldiers.
Setting: California and Texas
Jack Kincaid
, mercenary/former Special Forces Megan Kincaid, FBI agent, supervisor

Fatal Secrets:
Fiery ICE agent Sonia Knight battles cool-headed FBI agent Dean Hooper when his operation threatens her undercover investigation into a major human trafficking ring in Sacramento, California.
Setting: Sacramento, California
Dean Hooper, FBI agent (assistant director) Sonia Knight, ICE agent

Cutting Edge:
Domestic terrorism expert, FBI agent Nora English, calls in computer security expert Duke Rogan to help her stop a group of animal rights activists who’ve turned from civil disobedience to murder.
Setting: Northern California
Duke Rogan, private security