“We can cover a lot of ground in a half hour.”
“If the last three minutes are any indication, you’re right.”
“Talk to me, Evie.”
“All right.” She sighed, her moment of soft vulnerability gone. Once again her face was etched with mistrust and fear. “Why did you bring us here? What are you doing?”
“I want to help however I can.”
“But you know I’m wanted for kidnapping, right? That I’ve committed a federal felony and broken the heart of a doting father.”
“If you say so.”
She laughed bitterly. “Everything’s right out there for you and the whole world to see. All my friends, my patients, blog readers . . .” She stopped, then imitated the deep and serious tone of a news anchor. “‘Neighbors and coworkers of this otherwise law-abiding sports therapist and blogger called her ‘quiet’ and ‘disciplined.’”
“Yeah. It did have a serial killer ring to it.”
“And this doesn’t bother you?”
“Of course it does, Evie! I look at you. Then I see the FBI bulletins and TV reports and I know something doesn’t fit. You’re in a seriously shitty situation, but I believe there’s got to be a good reason you took Christina and ran. And now’s your chance to tell me what it is.”
Evie breathed deeply, then rubbed her hands over her face. When she looked up at Clancy again, there was intense grief in her expression. “I was living and working in Augusta when my father called to tell me Amanda had come home unexpectedly and refused to tell him why. Within a few weeks, she admitted she was pregnant. She told us the identity of the father wasn’t important and she would give us that information when—and if—she thought it was necessary. She asked my dad and me to drop the subject, so we did. We just assumed the father was some young professional she met on the job, another overworked, ambitious, too-smart-for-their-own-good twentysomething who wanted to be at the center of it all. We thought maybe he was married.”
Clancy reached out for her hand. “You’re doing great. Go on.”
“Well, one day, when Christina was about a year old, Amanda and I went out to the main road to get the mail like we sometimes did, and on our walk back to the house, she just pulled me to the stone wall, set me down, and it all came spilling out.
“She was twenty-five when she started working as Wahlman’s personal assistant in DC. She described how she had admired him, saw him as eloquent and sexy and larger than life. Everything started out as innocent flirting, she said, but Wahlman began slipping in an innuendo or two whenever they were alone for more than a few seconds. He seemed to really enjoy how smart she was and how she could go toe-to-toe with him in conversation. Soon they were sharing ideas and confidences. My sister said Wahlman treated her more like a colleague than a scheduling assistant.”
“I’m sure that wasn’t the first time he’d done something like that,” Clancy said.
Evie nodded sadly. “Amanda said there were rumors, you know, that he had a thing for much younger women, but she told herself that she was different. She convinced herself that they shared something real and she wasn’t just another diversion.”
“Ugh, poor kid.”
Evie laughed a little. “She said he told her he loved her and would leave his wife for her.”
“Oh, God. What a bastard.”
“She really beat herself up for being so naive.”
“I’m sorry she went through all that, but how does that justify you running away with Christina?”