Free Hand of Fate by Lis Wiehl Page B

database searches, activities so routine they took some of the edge off the events earlier in the day.
    Now her father said, "You're drooping, sweetheart. Do you want to sleep here tonight?"
    "Thanks, Daddy, but I'm going to go on home. I've got to get an early start in the morning. I'll bring over some clothes for Makayla on the way in to the office."
    "Please, can't I come with you, and then you can bring me back in the morning?" her daughter begged. "I want to get some books and my Game Boy."
    "You can just give me a list."
    "But I won't remember everything I need. Please?"
    Nic was too tired to argue. "Okay, baby. But you can't complain if I wake you up really early."
    She helped her mother carry the serving dishes into the kitchen. It would all be packaged into Tupperware, which Daddy might tuck into late at night. Nic envied her father's ability to eat whatever he wanted in huge quantities and not gain an ounce. Spending her lunch hours in the gym and her weekends with a Thai boxing instructor was the only reason Nic's butt wasn't as big as the planet.
    She was turning to go back to the dining room when Mama laid a hand on her arm. "There's something you need to know. Makayla was asking questions about her father today."
    An icy finger slowly traced her spine. "What did you tell her?" "That we don't have contact with him. And that she has you an d m e and your father and brothers, and that should be enough." "It will have to be enough," Nic said. "Won't it?"
    "I'll be praying for you to have wisdom," Mama said.
    Nic bit her lip to stifle a retort. Ten years ago she had pleaded in desperation for God to help her, and what had He done? Nothing.
    Hoping that Makayla would realize this was no time for asking difficult questions, Nic took her daughter and drove the two miles home.
    The first thing she did after locking the front door was to unbuckle her holster and put her Glock in the gun safe. As an FBI agent, Nic carried her Glock to dinner, to the grocery store, and to her kid's third-grade play. The FBI required that agents be ready for duty at all times.
    When Makayla was younger, the gun had fascinated her. Nic had told her that she could ask to see the gun as often as she wanted, but only in the house and only when the two of them were alone. And she was never, ever to touch it. Now Makayla took the gun for granted, no more remarkable than her mother's car keys.
    In a daze of exhaustion, Nic helped Makayla pack up her things (including a stuffed bear named Fred that Makayla pretended she didn't really care if she brought with her or not), and then got ready for bed. Nic would have to get up at five to have time to drop Makayla off and still drive down to Clackamas County to observe the autopsy.
    Two hours later, she was still turning restlessly. Questions ran through her mind. Why had Jim Fate been killed? How would she react if Makayla started questioning her? What would have become of he r so d aughter if Nic had died in the stairwell? And Leif--what was Nic going to do about him?
    For some reason, Nic thought of Mrs. Lofland, the way her lips had moved in silent prayer for others, and she felt herself calm a fraction.

    Chapter 14 Pierce Residence
    Wednesday, February 8
    Allison woke, but didn't open her eyes. She didn't feel rested at all. Why were her shoulders and hips so achy? Was she sick? And that faint breathing next to her--had Marshall gotten up and the cat sneaked in to steal his place?
    Then she remembered. Remembered walking miles and miles with a toddler in her arms, trying to escape the terror of downtown. Her eyes flew open. And there was Estella, lying on her side facing Allison, watching her with huge, dark eyes.
    When Allison opened her eyes, the little girl smiled.
    As Allison reached out to hug her, she hesitated. This was not her child. Her own child was growing in her belly. This girl had her own mother someplace, a mother who must be frantic to find her. So Allison contented herself with