Free And Then There Was One by Patricia Gussin

asked.
    “He sent one ugly letter. I destroyed it, but he used obscene language that was racist in nature.”
    “Katie, why —” Scott started to speak, then dropped his head into his hands. “I never knew —”
    Katie lifted his head in her hands. Facing him she said, “You’ve always known that I had a long-term boyfriend and that we’d gone our separate ways. I was just too ashamed to tell you the whole story.”
    “Secrets — our pledge — Katie, I just don’t know.”
    “Baby, after meeting you, it was like my life with Keith had never existed.”
    “And now, he’s back. He wants you so bad that he’d take our little girls.
My
daughters, Katie, does he have
my
daughters?”
    “I don’t know — I don’t think so.” Katie said. “And Scott, they’re
our
daughters.”
    “We have him in custody now,” Streeter said. “He served nine of those fifteen years. And, we know that he attended Monica’s concert Saturday night. Stalking you, Dr. Monroe? Maybe. He went alone, didn’t bring his wife.”
    Katie couldn’t help but feel a sliver of relief. If Keith had taken Sammie and Alex in an attempt to get her back, he would keep them safe, wouldn’t he? So many atrocities had been circling through her head that she almost wished that Keith
had
abducted them.
    “Katie, I just don’t know.” Scott lowered his head. “I’m so confused, I just don’t know.”
    “Let’s take a break,” Streeter said. “Go find Jackie. Get something to eat. Meantime, I’ll check out what we’re learning from Franklin.”
    Streeter left the conference room. Katie and Scott made no move to leave.
    Fifteen minutes later Streeter returned with Camry, Jackie between them. He hoped that Katie and Scott had used that time alone to mendany rift in their relationship that Katie’s story might have triggered. It wasn’t so much about what had happened between Katie and Franklin, Streeter knew, but that Katie had never shared that episode in her life with Scott. He and Marianne had gone through something similar. His pregnant wife had gone ballistic when she found out that he’d shared a room at a posh Chicago hotel with an old girlfriend during a surveillance assignment. Not wanting to upset Marianne, he hadn’t told her. Then she read about it in a newspaper story. He blamed her overreaction on hormones, but he worried that she could never really trust him after that. With the intensity of emotions enveloping the Monroes, who could know whether Scott would harbor a grudge?
    “Mom?” Jackie headed toward Katie, who was slumped head down on the conference table. “Are you okay?”
    Katie raised her head, brushed strands of hair from her face and held her arms out to Jackie. “I’m okay, sweetie. “What about you?” “Agent Camry got me some paper and more crayons,” she said. “And we had a Sprite and cheese crackers. The yellow ones that come in a package.”
    “Thanks.” Katie wiped tears from her eyes before lifting Jackie onto her lap.
    “Shouldn’t there be a ransom?” Scott’s abrupt query took Streeter by surprise. “Is this normal, I mean, no ransom?”
    “So far, nothing,” Streeter said. “We’re monitoring your phone at home, your two offices, your parents’ homes.”
    “Whoever took them must know that Katie and I could get the money. Everybody knows that Monica is my sister, and that she’s a multimillionaire. She could have a billion, for all I know. She’d part with all of it to get Sammie and Alex back.”
    “She wants to put out a reward, but we’ve asked her to hold back for now,” Streeter said.
    “This is about me,” Katie said, squeezing Jackie so tight that the little girl started to squirm. “Even after talking about Keith, I think it’s Maxwell Cutty. He’d do anything to stay out of jail. With me sidelined —”
    “Then arrest him,” Scott said, pounding a fist on the table, glaringat Streeter. “If there’s even the slightest chance that he knows where my