"Bright doesn't know you confronted his father, does he?"
Gil had wanted to ask her that back at Jessica's but refrained. Now hadn't been the time to delve into the subject. Now, though? There was nothing to stop him from asking.
"No," came Sorcha's quiet reply. "He doesn't."
It was the exact response he expected to receive so he wasn't shocked. On one hand, he applauded Sorcha her daring and desire to protect the kid from the person who continually hurt him the most.
On the other, he worried that this would strain the relationship between the two. Bright and trust issues went together like strawberries and whip cream. Learning she went to his father and then didn't tell him about it would likely upset the kid. Which was why she hadn't told him made no sense.
"Why didn't you tell him you confronted Dr. Whitly?"
Sorcha shifted in her seat for the tenth time since they left the precinct, a bundle of energy despite not having slept a wink in the last twenty-four hours. Like Bright would be if he was the one sitting next to me, he mused as he stomped on the accelerator.
"It would only have upset him at the time," she said finally. "He was clear on wanting me to never meet his father so I decided to omit I had done so after his breakdown to save us from another. As to why I still haven't told him?" She blew out a breath. "Cowardice, partially. And there never seemed an appropriate time to discuss it."
"Dr. Whitly chose to keep it quiet, too." Gil guided the LeMan's around some cars going to slow for his liking. "My question is why. That's not typical of a man like him." He slanted a quick glance at her. "Did you threaten him with anything if he told Bright about your visit?"
"You mean like great physical harm if he told him about our talk?" Sorcha harrumphed. "No, I threatened that after whatever he did to cause Malcolm's breakdown. Along with promising that he'd never see Malcolm again if I had anything to say about it."
So, she doesn't know what caused Bright's breakdown, Gil mused as a car pulled up alongside him. Of anyone he figured the kid would tell about what happened, it was her.
Unless he doesn't remember what triggered his breakdown.
Which was likely given how much of the kid's memories had been blocked out from the combination of the chloroform Martin Whitly used, the trauma he suffered, and Bright's own mind trying to protect him from whatever happened.
"Why didn't he reveal your visit to Bright?" One brow quirked as he tried to puzzle that out for himself. "Can't see your threat to keep Bright from him as enough of a reason for him to keep silent."
"Storing it up to use at a more advantageous moment."
"That sounds like Dr. Whitly."
More than like him, in fact, he realized, jaw clenching.
"Martin Whitly is an opportunist," Sorcha said as she again shifted in her seat. "He takes advantage of weaknesses. Exploits vulnerabilities. That's how he gains control over people."
Especially his son, Gil thought, fingers tightening on the wheel.
There was nothing Martin Whitly liked more than having control over Bright. Which raised an interesting question in Gil's mind.
"Why do you think he has held this particular ace in the hole for so long?"
"Because it's the only card he has to play against me."
"Why wait to play it then?" Gil had to tamp down his frustration when he found himself stuck between two slow moving vehicles. He'd change lanes but a Greyhound on his other side had him effectively trapped in slowpoke hell. To stop himself from flipping on the siren he asked, "What does he hope to gain from using this against you?"
"Breaking me and Malcolm up." Sorcha laughed but it lacked any real amusement. "He doesn't view me as suitable for his son. Not that I care what the narcissistic bastard thinks."
"Bright doesn't care what he thinks." Gil caught her looking at him inquisitively from the corner of his eye. "If it came between picking you or him, Martin Whitly knows he'd lose."
"That's why he wants to get rid of me. And you," she added, tone hard as tempered steel. "We pose the largest threat to him and his hold over Malcolm. Getting rid of us is his only way of getting complete control over him. He will use any means he has too to make that happen."
Even kill one of us, Gil realized, stomach clenching. Martin Whitly would have absolutely no problem with murdering either of them to get total control over Bright.
"I brought Bright back into contact with him." Guilt weighed heavily on his heart and soul for his role in reconnecting the kid with his father. "If I hadn't..."
"If it hadn't been the copycat Quartet case it would have been another."
"You really believe Dr. Whitly has been manipulating things from his cell at Claremont?"
Not that Gil wouldn't put it past him. Martin Whitly was cunning, clever, and coy. He thrived on control. Lived for manipulation. Which is why he doesn't like either of us, he realized as an opening between the Greyhound and the van in front of him became available. He can't control us. Manipulate us as he does his family and the staff at Claremont.
"I believe Dr. Whitly staged the Quartet case for the purpose of getting Malcolm brought in on it."
"Knowing he'd have to go and visit him at some point to get information from him."
"Yes."
That fit the manipulative nature of Martin Whitly. Much of what the man had done as of late had been done with the purpose of forcing Bright to see him.
"Do you think he had Watkins kidnap Malcolm?"
That thought had lurked in the back of his mind since he found out the kid had been kidnapped. It wasn't something he foresaw Martin Whitly doing because he believed the man did love Bright in his own twisted fashion. However, he couldn't stop wondering if maybe, just maybe, the kid had been taken because of a much larger plan concocted by his father.
"I initially thought there was a possibility Watkins was working with Dr. Whitly," Sorcha said as Claremont Psychiatric loomed in front of them. "It explained why he let Malcolm go when he had him in that tunnel." She breathed out a sigh. "It's still a possibility, I suppose... Dr. Whitly is not above having his son kidnapped if it means getting him under his control."
"But you don't think so."
"No," she said as he pulled into the parking lot. "I still believe that this is about revenge. Something happened on that camping trip between Martin Whitly and John Watkins. Something that broke their partnership apart."
"Only Dr. Whitly can answer what."
"If he will."
Gil pulled into a parking spot and cut the ignition. "You don't think he will?"
"Not if you don't catch him off guard as soon as you enter his cell, no."Sorcha shifted to face him. "You have to take control as soon as you enter that cell. Claim the power position before he can."
Gil could only think of one way to do that.
"You think I need to open with Watkins having kidnapped Bright."
"His reaction will tell us if he's involved or if I'm right and this is about revenge."
Gil stared at the hospital, his thoughts a jumbled mass, and his nerves fraying even more at the seams. Talking to Martin Whitly was at the bottom of his list of things he had no desire to do again. For Bright, though, he'd do it.
Because it's the only way to get the kid back.
"Gil?" Sorcha must have sensed his disquiet because she set a hand on his arm. "Why don't you let me talk to Dr. Whitly? He won't expect it. It could give us the edge we need."
"No." Gil reached for the door handle. "I'll do it." I have to do it, he corrected silently. I have to face Martin Whitly and get the answers we need from him. Before he opened the door and stepped from the car he added, tone firm, "And don't you even think of pulling a Bright and following me in."
Sorcha harrumphed as she climbed from the car.
"Fine."
Yeah, exactly what Bright would say before completely ignoring me and following me in there, Gil thought, hiding a small smile.
Unlike with the kid, though, he was prepared to stop Sorcha before she even set one foot in the hallway that led to Martin Whitly's cell.
...
Dani could tell before she stepped from the SUV that the cabin would be empty. And it has been for a long time from the looks of it. She tamped down her growing frustration and rising fears as she, JT and Colette Swanson made a sweep of the basement before turning their focus to inside the cabin itself.
A thick coating of dust and grime covered the windows, the floor, and the few pieces of furniture left to slowly rot. Dani lowered her gun as she turned to look at JT.
"Bright is definitely not here."
JT grunted as he holstered his gun. "Bright-lite warned us Watkins wouldn't pick this place because it was too obvious."
"It was the only lead we had." Dani holstered her gun. "We had to check it out."
"Hopefully, they'll get something out of Bright's crazy ass father that will tell us where Watkins took Captain Dumbass."
"She was right about this," Dani said with a wave. "Pretty sure she'll have something figured out by the time they get to Claremont."
"Miss Corbin got lucky this time." Agent Swanson's lips curled with contempt as she gazed about the room. "If she was half as good as she thinks..."
"She is that good." JT's tone was curt. A sure sign his patience with the surly-tempered agent was wearing thin. Not that Dani could blame him. Hers started wearing out hours ago but she kept from biting Swanson's head off by remembering Bright's life was the one in jeopardy. "She's figured out stuff you haven't even considered."
Swanson sent JT a fulminating glare before biting out, "She's gotten lucky is all, Detective Tarmel."
"Luck or not," Dani said with a frown, "Sorcha is doing her best to help Bright."
Which is more than I can say for you, she added silently. Not that Dani could claim she was all that surprised by the agent's attitude. Colette Swanson made it clear from the moment she took over this case that she was there to help Bright into a pair of handcuffs and a cell next to his father's at Claremont Psychiatric Hospital.
"Miss Corbin refuses to accept Bright is working with Watkins."
"You're the one who can't accept things." JT glowered at the agent. "You want to see Bright as a killer despite all of us telling you he isn't."
"That is the only way to see Bright."
"I should have let Bright-lite hit you back at the precinct." JT turned away but not before getting one more parting shot. "Might let her do it when we get back."
"You're out of line, Detective."
"No, Agent Swanson," Dani said before she turned to follow him outside. "You are, actually."
"I tried to warn you about Bright, Detective Powell. Don't be shocked when you find out I was right about him all along."
"Is that what you'll be?" Dani paused to look back. "When you find out you've been wrong this entire time?"
She left Swanson to stew then, needing to let Gil know they turned up a dead-end, and find out what he wanted them to do next.
A/N: Hello, all! Hope this finds you well!
I just want to send a special thank you to Rookblonkorules and my guest for their lovely reviews!