Stolen. Part 1

Stolen.

Allison Brennan.

A round man cannot be expected to fit in a square hole right away.

He must have time to modify his shape.

-Mark Twain.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

Many people have helped me with the Lucy Kincaid series, and I greatly appreciate their time and effort in providing information, details, and support.

First and foremost, I couldn't write this series without the support and editorial guidance of my amazing editor, Kelley Ragland, and her team, especially her fabulous a.s.sistant, Elizabeth Lacks. Special thanks go to Andy Martin and Matthew Shear, who warmly welcomed me into the Minotaur and St. Martin's Press family. And thanks to my calm, reasoned agent, Dan Conaway from Writer's House, who took me by the hand in the middle of my career and made the transition easy.

The Lucy Kincaid series has been greatly enhanced by the continuing input from the good men and women of the Sacramento FBI office, in particular Special Agent Steve Dupre and Special Agent Jim Abbott. Jim, who graduated from the FBI Academy in 2009, helped make Lucy's experience as real as possible in both Stalked and Stolen. And when I told Steve that I'd written myself into a hole in a previous book by giving my character Sean Rogan a crime with a ten-year statute of limitations, he immediately said, "Bank fraud." Steve, you saved my b.u.t.t. A thousand thank-yous! Thanks also to media representative Kurt Crawford at Quantico, who not only gave me a tour and answered a myriad of questions (some of which I'm sure would have gotten me into trouble had I not been a writer), but has made himself available by e-mail. And a very special thanks to SWAT Team Leader Brian Jones, who always made sure to include me in training scenarios and introduced me to more men with guns than I dreamed possible. If there are any errors or omissions, it's solely my fault.

Dr. Doug Lyle has always been a wealth of information and has helped me with medical details in all of my books, and former cop Robin Burcell has helped with numerous, practical details (like how and when to shoot from the hip in Lucy's novella Reckless). That both of these generous professionals are also authors tells you how wonderful the writing community is.

My family has always supported my writing career, and without their support I wouldn't be able to do what I love. My husband Dan has been a rock. My kids have provided me with inspiration and laughs. And my mom has always been my first reader. Love you all!.

PROLOGUE.

Three weeks ago.

Sean Rogan's brother Duke had always known exactly how to twist the knife to make Sean feel like s.h.i.+t, but this time Sean stood firm. It wasn't like he had a choice.

"You haven't changed," Duke said, breaking a long, awkward silence. "You're still the arrogant, irresponsible hacker you were in college."

Sean's jaw tightened so painfully that when he opened his mouth to speak, he heard it pop. "You don't sound surprised."

Duke glared at him. "I'm not."

Sean wasn't above lying when it was necessary, but he hated lying to people he cared about. This time, he didn't have a choice. He couldn't tell his brother the truth. If Sean had any hope of saving his future life with Lucy, he had to let Duke believe Sean had willingly broken the law.

He just hadn't realized that, for years, Duke had been waiting for this. Waiting for Sean to fail.

Duke ran both hands through his hair. "I'll find a way to fix this. But dammit, you went too far this time."

"No."

"You don't think hacking into a pharmaceutical company and stealing files is going too far? You owe me an explanation!"

Sean hated disappointing his brother, but what could he do? "I need you to trust me. Please, Duke."

"You violated my trust."

"No, I didn't. You never trusted me to begin with."

Duke stared at Sean, the vein in his temple visibly pulsing. "Maybe," he said through clenched teeth, "because you've done nothing to earn my trust."

Sean's stomach sank. It didn't matter that Duke had said it in the heat of an argument; he meant it. He'd never trusted Sean.

"I quit," Sean said.

He knew it would come to this, that he'd have to quit RCK, but that didn't make this conversation any easier. Purposely destroying his relations.h.i.+p with his brother, regardless of the reasons why, physically pained him.

"I'm not accepting this! You will make this right."

Sean said, "If you trusted me, you would give me the benefit of the doubt."

Duke's fists were balled, and Sean didn't know if his brother wanted to hit the wall or him. Probably him.

"You really believe that?" Duke said. "That I would let you destroy RCK because you have a misguided sense of loyalty to a criminal like Colton Thayer?" He shook his head. "I never knew you."

Duke was right: He'd never known Sean. Never tried to understand why Sean sometimes couldn't resist crossing the line. To Duke, it was about the act, not the reasons. For Sean, it was always about motive. And his motives had always been solid.

And this time, his motive was to clean his slate so he could have a future with Lucy.

"You're right," Sean said. "You don't know me."

The sound of the front door closing startled Sean. No one had the front door code except his partner, Patrick Kincaid, who was upstairs avoiding the fight, and Lucy. He glanced at his watch. It was already six thirty? Where had the afternoon gone?

"Sean?" Lucy walked into the living room and looked from him to Duke and back again.

"Lucy-" Sean went to her side. He whispered, "I need to talk to Duke. Can you wait for me in my office?"

Concern clouded her dark eyes, but she said, "Of course."

"No," Duke said from behind Sean. "If you won't listen to me, maybe you'll listen to your girlfriend. You're not only destroying your life by going down this path, you're taking her with you."

Lucy put her hand on Sean's forearm. "Why don't you meet me at Dillon's when you're done?"

Sean was relieved. He didn't want to lie to Lucy, and having this conversation with Duke in front of her was going to make everything worse. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

"You don't get it," Duke said.

He turned and faced his brother, furious that he was dragging Lucy into this. "I do get it. I've changed my mind. I don't want Lucy to leave. I want you to go."

"You've put our entire company at risk. I can't ignore it this time."

"I've never asked you for favors."

"Don't do this, Sean." Duke's voice cracked. He had finally realized that Sean was serious. Now Sean had to hammer in the final nail.

"I've never lived up to your expectations, because I can't be your clone."

"I've never wanted you to be me, Sean. You just have this knack for finding trouble, and you've never grown out of it."

Sean's fists clenched and unclenched. "We're done."

"No-"

"I'm done. The business, the job, everything. I'm through."

Duke slapped his hands down on the dining table. "You always try to justify your mistakes!"

"Therein lies the problem," Sean said. "I didn't make a mistake. But you won't have to worry about my business decisions anymore. I no longer work for you."

Sean needed to get away. Seeing his brother glare at him with such contempt hurt more than he'd thought. He turned to Lucy and the love and trust he saw in her face helped, but he hated not being able to tell her the truth either. She took his hand, her eyes asking questions, but her actions showing that she was on his side.

He wouldn't have been able to do this without Lucy. She'd told him time and again that he was her rock; what she never understood was that she was his foundation. Without her, he would never have had the courage to do the right thing when doing the right thing was going to be dangerous to his reputation and freedom. Risking his life had never been a problem; risking jail time had him nearly in a panic.

But he reminded himself that all this, the fight with Duke, quitting RCK, was for a greater good. He had to focus on that.

"Let's go," he said to Lucy.

Duke grabbed his arm and turned him around. "Don't walk out on me. You're part of RCK, you can't just leave."

Sean shrugged Duke's hand off. "Good-bye, Duke." He took Lucy's hand and started down the hall to the front door. He had to get out now. He'd come back later for his things.

He had expected a confrontation with Duke, but not in person. Not like this.

Sean and Lucy went outside. Duke's rental car was blocking his Mustang. He swore, angry and frustrated. Driving always calmed him down.

"I drove home with Kate after cla.s.ses and walked here from their house." Dillon and Kate lived three blocks away.

It was just now dark, a beautiful autumn evening, but Sean couldn't enjoy any of it. He squeezed Lucy's hand hard as they walked down the block.

"Sean-"

"Tell me you trust me, Luce."

"You know I trust you."

"I'm taking a security job in New York."

"Is that why Duke's so mad?"

"No. He believes something that isn't true, and I'm not going to waste any more breath explaining." The irony was that Sean had wanted Duke to know he was working with his old hacker buddy Colton Thayer. It was all staged, at least on Sean's part.

Duke, though, hadn't been acting. His brother had flown three thousand miles to confront Sean in person. And that made everything much, much harder. Because the lack of trust, the blatant disapproval, couldn't be faked face-to-face. Sean would never forget the contempt Duke showed for him. "He's never trusted me."

"That's not true."

"I wish I were wrong."

"Is this job-permanent?" Lucy's voice hitched, and Sean realized he'd laid this all on her abruptly, nothing like he'd wanted. He'd planned to tell Lucy tonight over a romantic dinner. Patrick was leaving on a late flight to Chicago for an a.s.signment and wouldn't be back until Sunday; they'd have the house all to themselves.

He shook his head. "A few weeks. A month, maybe." He stopped at the corner and touched her face. "I'll be done long before you graduate."

"Who are you working for?"

This was where it was going to get sticky. He'd promised never to lie to her, and he wasn't going to start now. "I can't share any details. It's a strict confidentiality agreement. But," he said quickly, "when I'm done, I'll tell you about it, okay?" He breathed a bit easier. None of that was a lie. He would tell her. He hoped she'd forgive him for keeping her in the dark.

She smiled, but it was unsteady. "We've never seriously talked about what's going to happen when I graduate-"

"That's still a couple months away." He wanted to tell her he'd follow her wherever she went, but right now he couldn't. He didn't know if he'd survive the coming weeks. He didn't know what would happen with RCK, or Duke, or his life. The future was uncertain, and he just needed to get through the next month. "Let me finish this job, Lucy, then we'll make plans."

She nodded, but Sean wished he knew what she was really thinking. She trusted him, and that trust and love were going to help him more than she'd ever know.

He kissed her, as if it would be the last time, though they had all night. "G.o.d, I love you, Princess."

"I love you, too." She smiled, but concern clouded her expression. She was trying hard not to show it, but Lucy was an open book, at least to him. "Happy birthday."

"Didn't we go camping last weekend for my birthday?"

She sighed dramatically. "We're never going to be able to go on vacation, are we?"

Their camping trip in the Shenandoahs had been a complete bust because they'd ended up being drawn into the search for a missing child, only to discover a major criminal enterprise set up in the middle of nowhere.

"We've tried to plan a trip, and that ended up with you discovering a dead body," Sean said. "Then we tried for spontaneity, and again ... you discovered a dead body." He kissed her on the nose. "Next time, we'll lock ourselves in a hotel room and order out for room service."

"You'd get bored with me." But she smiled.

"Never." Sean needed Lucy now more than ever. "Good thing I don't leave for New York until Monday." He frowned. "I might not be very good company right now."

He desperately needed to get out of this depression after his fight with Duke. Sean had to keep this night light and fun. Force himself to put the future aside. Lucy was perceptive, and he didn't want her picking up on more than what he'd already told her.

"Dillon and Kate are out with friends," Lucy said. "Instead of a restaurant, why don't we go to their house? I'll cook."

His eyes widened in shock. "You cook?"

She hit him on the arm. "Don't ever let my mother hear you say that." She kissed him. "Tonight's for you. No other people, no conversation. Trust me, Sean. Tonight is just for us."