Deadline (Sandra Brown)

the ocean, and on the news they were talking about the burglary at the church. The policeman died. He was only twenty-seven. He had a two-month-old baby girl. Hearing that kinda made me sick to my stomach, so I used that as an excuse to come below and get away from Carl, who’s in a mean mood.
I think because the news people quoted that FBI agent Gary Headly, who’s been after us for years. Carl hates him with a passion. I think on account of he’s a little afraid that one of these days Agent Headly is going to capture us like he’s pledged to do.
Also Carl hates him because he was at Golden Branch, and he never fails to mention that whenever he’s interviewed about us. Carl hates being reminded of that day. So do I. Even if Carl doesn’t admit it, I think deep down he was awfully scared that day, too. Scared of being killed or of getting caught. I also think he feels guilty over doing what he did and leaving like that when everybody else was dead or dying.
Anyhow, he blames everything that happened that day on the feds and, in his mind, Headly sorta represents all of them. Carl won’t be happy till Agent Headly is dead.
     

Chapter 21
    H eadly’s bad news had to wait.
    Just as he was about to impart it, Hunter and Grant came into the kitchen asking for a snack. Since breakfast had amounted to an overdose of sugar, Amelia offered them milk or nothing. They took the milk, but dawdled over it as though aware of the adults’ impatience for them to finish. When they were finally done, she wrangled them back into the living area to continue their movie.
    The moment she reentered the kitchen, Headly picked up where he’d left off. “For all the reasons we’ve discussed, Tucker isn’t convinced that Stephanie DeMarco’s murder is related to Amelia beyond the fact that Amelia was her employer.”
    “Stubborn jerk,” Dawson said. “Wills?”
    “Leaning toward Knutz and me. But, you know, we’re the big, bad, buttinsky FBI, and he’s loyal. Sheriff is backing his man, too. Tucker shared the Jeremy-is-alive theory with him. No fool, he recognizes that it will be hard to live down if we’re wrong. He’s asked for further analysis on the fingerprint. Now, about Bernie. The sheriff was quick to point out that he hasn’t been charged with a crime.”
    “Not as Bernie, no.”
    “Well, he thinks the Carl-Bernie connection is thin and is demanding more concrete evidence of that before launching a full-scale manhunt for a fugitive that nobody’s heard from in seventeen years.”
    “The Bureau doesn’t need his authorization.”
    “No…” Headly said with marked hesitancy.
    “But what? What’s the upshot?”
    “Keeping guards on Amelia and the children isn’t warranted. They plan to withdraw them.”
    “They can’t.”
    “I asked for forty-eight hours.”
    “That’s not enough time to—”
    “They gave me twenty-four.” Headly glanced at the wall clock. “Now twenty-three and thirteen minutes.”
    Dawson swore under his breath.
    Headly said, “The Bureau will pursue Bernie Clarkson, if only to rule out that he’s Carl.”
    “Fine. Good. But that still leaves Amelia and the boys vulnerable.”
    “Knutz made a suggestion.” Headly looked at Amelia. “But I doubt you’re going to like it.”
    Speaking for the first time in several minutes, she asked, “What is it?”
    “You could call a press conference and announce that you have good reason to believe that your ex-husband wasn’t murdered, that he’s still alive and stalking you, that possibly he killed your nanny mistakenly, and that he represents a threat to you and your children.”
    No one said anything for a moment, then Dawson asked, “What purpose would that serve?”
    “Public opinion would likely favor her. Press would be all over it. That could jostle the local authorities into taking some action.”
    “I won’t do it,” she said, brooking no argument. She looked toward the living area where Hunter and Grant could be heard laughing. “Can you imagine the effect it’s going to have on our lives when it’s disclosed that Jeremy is alive?”
    “That’s an inevitability,” Headly gently reminded her. “Whenever and however it comes about, it’s going to have a dramatic impact.”
    “Of course I know that. But I don’t want to be the ringmaster of the media circus when it happens. Eventually my sons will be identified as the children of a murderer, grandchildren of domestic terrorists. I can’t protect them from