CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
Within ten minutes of leaving Vicki Freemont’s house, Rachel could tell that Jack was heading in the direction of her house. When he turned onto Broad Street and headed in the direction of downtown rather than the interstate and the direction of the field office, it was quite clear. She supposed she really couldn’t argue. After a certain point, she really became nothing more than a hindrance to him. He was having to be careful about certain things he said on the phone and it wasn’t like he could just roll up to the field office with her in tow.
As she thought through all of this, Jack spoke up, admitting something that Rachel had also been thinking about but didn’t want to face. “With Lucas not fitting the bill and now with no new leads of any kind, we’re going to have to go the police custody route for every single person remaining on that wait list.”
“Anderson will have an aneurysm,” she said.
“Likely. But I think he’ll also understand. I mean, it’s sort of a godsend that we even have a list of people that could be potential victims. It’s a hell of a lot easier than having the entire city wide open as a pool of potential victims.”
Rachel thought back to a case from earlier in her career where she’d had to orchestrate a similar task. For that case, it had only been seven people who needed protecting and it had been like pulling teeth. With more than twenty people needing police protection, it was going to be a nightmare for manpower and scheduling.
“There’s no way that’s going to be possible by the end of the day,” Rachel said. “And all it’s going to do is make the killer harder to find anyway. If he’s out on the hunt and notices that police presence…”
“I thought of that, too, but we can’t just keep those people out there unprotected, using them as bait,” Jack said. “I wonder if there’s anything Life Fulfilled can do—maybe something Wes Dalton can do. Make calls to each person and have them or their loved ones keep an eye out. That and maybe just a heightened police presence in their communities rather than full-blown protective custody and stakeouts.”
As he said this, an idea came to Rachel. It was a long shot, but one she thought they were desperate enough to try. “Yesterday, didn’t the receptionist at Life Fulfilled say Dalton should be back today?”
“She did,” Jack confirmed.
“When you were charming her socks off, did you happen to get his number?”
“I did, actually.” As they came to a stoplight, he reached into the breast pocket of his coat. “You think it’s even worth calling him?”
“Can’t hurt. He knows we’re in the middle of an investigation that has his foundation in its center and he’s not bothered calling. Sure, he could just be busy. But it also feels like he’s trying to dodge or hide. And coming from a man who willingly and knowingly hired a doctor that had his medical license revoked makes it seem even fishier.”
She reached out for the business card. As Jack handed it over, he looked at her skeptically. “This wouldn’t just be a brilliant ploy to try to get me to keep you on this case for a bit longer, would it?”
Rather than answer, she simply shrugged as she typed Wes Dalton’s number into her phone. She placed the call on speaker mode and set it on the armrest between the driver and passenger seats. After the third ring, Rachel was fully expecting it to go to voicemail, so she was surprised when it was answered midway through the fourth.
“Hello?” Wes Dalton said on the other end. He wasn’t necessarily speaking in a whisper, but his voice was very low and almost raspy.
“Is this Wes Daltron, chairman of Life Fulfilled?” Rachel asked.
“Yes, it is. And who is this?”
“This is Special Agent Rachel Gift. My partner, Jack Rivers, is also on the line.”
“Yes, I was told there were FBI agents in our offices asking questions. And I do want to help but as I’m sure you were told I’m in New York.”
“We were also told that you’d be back today,” Rachel said.
“That was the plan, yes. But things changed a bit and now I don’t fly out until tomorrow morning.”
“You didn’t find it pressing to come in to represent your foundation when you know there are people on your waiting list that are being killed?”
“Coming in tomorrow is the best I can do under the circumstances,” he said. “If there was anything I could do to be there sooner, I would.”
“And you’re at a conference, correct?”
“Yes, I am.”
“What conference is it?”
“It’s a seminar on end of life practices. Best approaches and practices to assist those in their final days.”
“Are you speaking?”
“No, just visiting and taking in some of the curriculums. Listen, I need to get back. There’s a round table I’m supposed to be a part of. But you have my word. As soon as I get back tomorrow, I’ll get in touch. Is this the number I should all?”