A Deeper Fear (Lucy Kincaid #17.5) - Allison Brennan Page 0,3
her brother approaching, beer in hand.
“Showing my face and getting out of here as fast as I can,” Jack said.
“You must really love Megan.”
“She definitely owes me one.” Jack looked around the room with eagle eyes. Then he did a double take. “I have to introduce you to someone.”
Lucy followed Jack to the edge of the room where a woman dressed in black, her long blond hair braided down her back, was wearing a name badge that read ELLEN.
“Ellen Dupre.”
She grinned widely. “Jack! You’re the last person I expected to see at a law enforcement conference.”
“My wife.” He jerked his finger over to the opposite corner, where Megan and Dean were still talking in a group.
“Right, she’s the SSA of violent crime. Damn, I totally forgot, we met last year during a tactical training drill. Um . . . Megan, right?”
“That’s it. And this is my sister, Special Agent Lucy Kincaid, out of the San Antonio office.”
Ellen shook Lucy’s hand. “Sean’s wife! I’m so happy to meet you.”
Jack explained, “Ellen and I did basic training together.”
“Shush, she’ll know how old I am.”
“Older than me,” Jack laughed.
“One fucking year,” she said. Ellen turned to Lucy and said, “I’m here with Pride Tactical. A vendor.”
“With Pride Tactical?” Jack shook his head. “You own the company.”
“Fifty–fifty, with my ex.”
“Ouch.”
Ellen laughed. “Marc and I are still friends. In fact, we’re better business partners than marriage partners.”
“I’m just glad to see a friendly face that doesn’t have a badge. No offense, sis,” he said to Lucy.
“Doesn’t RCK have a contract with Pride?” Lucy asked. “I see your logo on a lot of Sean’s gear.”
“Only the best for our company,” Jack said.
“I appreciate it,” Ellen said. “We mostly service law enforcement, but of course high-end security companies use our gear. I’m demoing the drone software tomorrow. I asked Sean to do it because we hired him to test it and work out the bugs, he probably knows it better than Marc and me, but he said no.”
Lucy glanced at Jack, but he didn’t comment about Sean. He said to Ellen, “I look forward to it. Morning?”
“Oh eight hundred, right here. We’re doing the drill outside, I have Sac sheriff’s all-in. We’ll be livestreaming it so everyone can get the full effect—I tested the AV equipment before they set up for this. It’s going to be totally awesome.” She glanced at her watch. “In fact, I should go. I’m recording a night drill so everyone can see our awesome night-vision camera and the amazing quality of the images. Good to meet you, Lucy. Later, Jack.” She left.
“Sean didn’t tell me he was asked to participate.”
“He does a lot of work for Pride, which is why we get such a great discount on their equipment,” Jack said. “And they pay him, so it’s a win–win for us.”
“Dean said something earlier—that Sean probably didn’t want to be here because of all the cops. After what he went through, I should have realized. I shouldn’t have made him come at all.”
Jack squeezed her elbow. “He’s working through it, Lucy. I’ll keep an eye on him, and he’s planning on being here in the morning for the demo.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t push him, Jack.”
“Sometimes we all need a kick in the ass, Luce. But I’ll appeal to his geek side. This drone software project was his baby, so to speak. He’s proud of it—should be proud. He needs to be here, if only to make sure everything is functioning the way it’s supposed to.”
“I feel like Dillon and me and you we’ve been, I don’t know, pressuring him. Talk, don’t talk, go back to normal, nothing will be normal again. It’s not only conflicting messaging, but I think it’s constantly reminding him of what he suffered.”
“Sean went through hell and he won’t talk about it. That’s fine, to a point. But I think you’re coddling him.”
She frowned, shook her head. “I’m not coddling him.”
“He knows you’re not going to push him, and neither is Dillon—which is why Dillon wanted me to talk to him. But I can’t—I tried. It’s not who I am. I can, however, get him to work. I can piss him off, make him angry, and maybe he’ll finally talk about what’s really bothering him. Or maybe he won’t. But RCK is a business, and I can use that to push him out of his head.”
Lucy didn’t know the right answer, but she didn’t have a better idea.
“I trust you.”
“Just be there when he falls.”
When, Jack said. Lucy thought