Cut and Run

Book 16: Lucy Kincaid Novels

by Allison Brennan

Genres: Police Procedurals; Private Investigators

Synopsis

New York Times bestseller Brennan's latest novel featuring FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid finds her searching for a missing child in Cut and Run.

FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid is dead-set on solving a cold case—even if the original investigators stonewall her every step of the way. A violent storm has uncovered the remains of a family that authorities assumed fled the country years ago to avoid prosecution. But the body of the youngest Albright son never turned up. If the child is dead, why wasn't his body found with his parents? If he's alive, where has he been…and what does he know? Now Lucy and her partner Nate must reconstruct an old crime to find a missing child in the present day.

Meanwhile, investigative reporter Maxine Revere is called to San Antonio. A confessed killer of a young woman named Victoria has recanted his statement, which opens the door to a whole new world of secrets and betrayal. Max hires Sean Rogan, Lucy's husband and a seasoned PI, to help. The discovery that Victoria might be connected to the Albright family leads Max, Sean, and Lucy to the darkest corridors of corporate crime. But how can they untangle this complex web to find justice for the victims…and the killer in their midst?

A Macmillan Audio production from Minotaur Books

Release date: March 31, 2020

Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

Print pages: 1

Sample

Chapter One


MONDAY


FBI Agent Lucy Kincaid signed the file on a multi-jurisdictional case she’d just finished and routed it to the US Attorney who would be handling the prosecution. Done. While Lucy loved being in the field, she relished completing an investigation and handing a solid case over to the courts. She certainly had no complaints about the mundane paperwork involved. After back-to-back complex and dangerous investigations, she was happy to be home before seven every night and had settled into a comfortable routine with her husband and stepson, Jesse. She’d even taken a three-day weekend to fly to Colorado with Sean to celebrate their one-year wedding anniversary. Their friend, and Lucy’s colleague, Nate Dunning had stayed with Jesse so Sean and Lucy could have some alone time.

Now, if only she could get her family to confirm who was coming over Thanksgiving, she’d be able to relax. Months ago, she’d asked if everyone would come to San Antonio for Thanksgiving to avoid traveling with Jesse. He’d been through so much this last year that she wanted a relaxing family meal at home. But no one wanted to commit. Carina and Nick she understood—her sister was pregnant and traveling with a toddler would be difficult and exhausting, but at least they said they would think about it. If Carina was feeling up to it, she wanted to come. But they would be deciding last minute. No one else had a good excuse.

She tried not to be down about it, but she missed her brothers and sisters. She sent one last email out to her clan and said she wanted answers by the weekend. Harsh, maybe, but necessary when Thanksgiving was only ten days away. Almost as soon as she hit send, her cell phone rang.

“Patrick!” she exclaimed. She hadn’t talked to her brother—the youngest of the clan until she came along ten years after him—in weeks and hadn’t seen him since she went through a hostage rescue training program in DC back in May.

“You sound good,” he said.

“I am. Sean and I were able to get away for our anniversary.”

“So I heard. Terrific. And Jesse’s doing well?”

“Adjusting better than I could have hoped.”

“Well, he’s Sean’s kid, I wouldn’t expect anything less.”

“You got my email and you’re coming for Thanksgiving. You and Elle, of course.” She winced that she’d almost forgotten to mention Patrick’s longtime girlfriend. They’d been living together for nearly two years, but Lucy and Elle butted heads when they were in the same room. Maybe because they didn’t always agree on criminal justice issues, and maybe because Patrick was her brother and she didn’t think that Elle was quite good enough. Sean had pointed out more than once that Patrick hadn’t liked the idea of Sean—his business partner and friend—getting involved with his sister and yet Patrick had come around.

Lucy tried to explain that this was different, but she knew that it wasn’t. Patrick loved Elle, and Lucy had to find a way to like her. They’d both tried when Lucy was in DC in May, even going out for coffee a few times. It had been awkward, but she didn’t want anything to come between her and her brother.

“Actually…,” Patrick said.

And she knew.

“Elle’s in the middle of a big case,” he continued, “and we don’t know if she’ll be done before Thanksgiving. She can’t just walk out in the middle of it. There are three kids at stake. Their dad is nowhere to be found, their drug addict mother is in jail for possession with intent, and CPS split them up because the oldest has been in trouble. We’re going to try, Luce, I promise, but I can’t guarantee.”

“I understand,” she said, but she really didn’t. Yes, she understood why Elle couldn’t leave. The one thing she admired about Patrick’s girlfriend was that the lawyer fought for those who couldn’t fight for themselves. But couldn’t Patrick come out for one night? Would it kill them to be apart for a day?

“Luce, you don’t sound like you understand.”

“Let me know. I won’t force you to give me an answer, okay? I just want to see you. I miss you.”

“I miss you, too, Sis. I promise, we’ll really try. How’s work? Sean told me about the flooding and the prison escape.”

“All good,” she said, though knew this was just small talk. Sean and Patrick worked together remotely on many projects, and Patrick talked to Sean more than he talked to her.

Lucy heard her name and looked up to see her boss, Rachel Vaughn, motioning for her to come to her office.

“I have to go, my boss just called me in for a meeting.”

“I mean what I said, Lucy. I will do everything possible to come out.”

“I know you will. Love you.” She hung up.

Maybe Rachel had a meaty case for her that would keep her mind off her family this week.

Rachel had called in Nate as well, and he closed the door behind them. Rachel said, “We have a break in the flood case.”

Lucy had been assisting the Bexar and Kerr County Sheriff’s Offices over the last two months in the case of four unidentified skeletons unearthed during the flash flooding over Labor Day weekend.

“IDs?” Lucy asked.

“Yes. It’s more complicated than we thought, which is why I want you to partner with Nate. We’re taking lead, the sheriff here is fine with it. I just got off the phone with his office, but Kerr might have some issues.”

Until now, Lucy’s role in the investigation had been more logistical, as the Bexar County crime lab was working closely with the FBI lab at Quantico. All they knew at this point was that the victims were four Caucasians, a male in his forties, a female in her forties, and two teenage females. The San Antonio ME brought in a forensic anthropologist from the university who said they’d been dead slightly over three years. All four had been shot twice in the back of the head and evidence indicated they’d been killed where they were found, but with the contamination of the burial site, they couldn’t confirm.

“And?” Lucy pressed. “A family, right?” That had been the logical assumption, but DNA testing couldn’t be done overnight.

Rachel nodded. “The Albrights. They disappeared just over three years ago, last seen on Friday, September 21. Denise Albright was an accountant suspected of embezzling three million dollars from a construction company, which had just landed a federal contract for a major public works project. Because federal funds were missing, the AUSA opened an investigation, but it was put on hold when they believed she fled to avoid being questioned. While the theft wasn’t discovered until after she disappeared, the owner of the company had scheduled an independent audit the day she was last seen. It isn’t a stretch to believe that she thought she would be caught.”

“No one knew she’d been killed?”

“Her vehicle was tagged crossing the border in Brownsville the night they disappeared. She and her husband both withdrew the maximum they could from their ATMs that afternoon, used his credit card to fill up with gas in Brownsville and buy supplies at a camping-goods store.”

“So this wasn’t planned—they were running on the fly,” Nate said.

Rachel nodded. “So it appears.”

“Were they suspicious of her?” Lucy asked. “Is that why the owner wanted the audit?”

“I don’t know. His contact information is in the file, so you can reach out.”

Rachel shifted through papers and handed Lucy a business card. “AUSA Shelley Adair handled the case from the beginning, hopefully she has more info about the particulars of the crime. All I know from our database is that it was on hold pending locating Denise Albright. However, we have another issue to deal with—the Albrights also had a son, and his remains weren’t found with his family.”

“How old?” Nate asked.

“He was nine at the time his family disappeared. He would be twelve if he’s still alive, but it’s likely that he was buried elsewhere.”

“Could his remains have been washed away in the flood?” Nate asked.

Lucy shook her head. “Not based on the photos I’ve seen. The four bodies recovered were in the same grave, and even if his smaller skeleton was removed, some of the bones would have remained.”

Rachel said, “Ash Dominguez at the crime lab said basically the same thing. He received the same email I did Friday afternoon from the lab at Quantico and we discussed it then. He called in cadaver dogs to search the area because the most likely reason is that the boy was buried somewhere nearby. Or maybe the family left the kid in Mexico for some reason when they returned.”

“They came back with their teenage daughters and not their young son?” Lucy said. “That seems unlikely.”

“We don’t know what they were thinking. But someone murdered this family within weeks of their initial disappearance.” Rachel handed Lucy a thin file. “That’s the report from the lab, I’ll also forward you the email so you have the technicians’ contact information if you have questions. They can’t give us TOD down to the day, but they narrowed the window and put TOD mid-September to end of October, three years ago. The Albrights were seen crossing the border on Friday, September 21. That’s the last sighting of their vehicle. They haven’t attempted to access their bank accounts since that Friday, which have been monitored as part of the investigation into the embezzlement. If you need help with the white collar crime angle, you can tap Laura Williams, who’s been assisting the AUSA, but this week she’s wrapped up in a major trial. Keep her in the loop, but she might not respond immediately.”

Rachel looked from Nate to Lucy, her expression stern.

“Find out who killed this family and if Denise Albright was responsible for the missing money. If she’s guilty, she had a partner—someone who is capable of killing children. But mostly, find out what happened to Ricky Albright and if there is any chance that he’s still alive.”


Copyright © 2020 by Allison Brennan