Mary sighed. 'Who knew what fate had in store for him? Who ever knows?'
Suddenly, Joe turned serious. 'So, Will, tell us what's in store for you. I hear there's some funny business going on. I'm concerned for you, certainly, but as a father, I'm very concerned for my daughter.'
'Will can't talk about an ongoing investigation, Dad.'
'No, listen, I hear you, Joe. I've got some things I've got to do but I don't want Nancy getting caught up in this. She's got a brilliant career ahead of her.'
'I'd rather she was doing something less dangerous than the FBI,' her mother said, chiming what sounded like a constant refrain.
Nancy made a face and Joe dismissed his wife's worry with a wave. 'I understand you were close to making an arrest but both of you were yanked off the investigation. How does something like this happen in the United States of America? When my parents were in Poland, these things happened all the time. But here?'
'I want to find that out. Nancy and I put a lot of time into this case, and there are victims who don't have a voice.'
'Well, you do what you have to do. You seem like a nice fellow. And Nancy is quite fond of you. That means you're going to be in my prayers.'
The opera was over and the station was doing a news summary. None of them would have paid any attention if Will's name weren't mentioned:
'And in other news, the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation has filed an arrest warrant for one of their own. Special Agent Will Piper is wanted for questioning for irregularities and possible criminal wrongdoing related to the investigation of the Doomsday serial killer. Piper, a nearly twenty-year veteran of law enforcement, is best known for being the public face of the still-unsolved Doomsday case. His whereabouts are unknown and he is considered armed and potentially dangerous. If a member of the public has any information, please contact local police authorities or the
FBI.'
Will grimly stood up and put his jacket back on. He fingered the rosebud in the lapel. 'Joe and Mary, thank you for dinner and thank you for your hospitality. I've got to be going.'
There wasn't much city-bound traffic this time of day. They had stopped first at a convenience store on Rosedale Avenue, where Nancy hopped out to buy provisions while Will fidgeted in her car. Two bags of groceries were on the backseat, but no, she had said emphatically, she would not buy him booze.
Now they were cruising on the Hutch and the Whitestone Bridge was coming up. He reminded her to call his daughter, then fell silent and watched the sun turn the Long Island Sound burnt orange.
Nancy's grandparents' house was on a quiet street of postage-stamp-sized homes in Forest Hills. Her grandfather was in a nursing home with Alzheimer's. Her grandmother was visiting a niece in Florida for a respite. Granddad's old Ford Taurus was in the one-car lock-up garage behind the house; in case they found a cure, Nancy joked darkly. They arrived at dusk and parked out front. The garage keys were under a brick, the car keys in the garage under a paint can. The rest was up to him.
He leaned over and kissed her and they held each other for a long while, like a couple at a drive-in.
'Maybe we should go inside,' Will exhaled.
She playfully rapped his forehead with her knuckles. 'I'm not sneaking into my grandma's house to have sex!'
'Bad idea?'
'Very bad. Besides, you'll get sleepy.'
'That wouldn't be good.'
'No it wouldn't. Call me every step of the way, okay?'
'Okay.'
'Will you be safe?'
'I'll be safe.'
'Promise?'
'I promise.'
'There's something I didn't tell you about work today,' she said, kissing him one last time. 'John Mueller was back in for a few hours. Sue's putting us together to work on the Brooklyn bank robberies. I talked to him for a while, and do you know what?'
'What?'
'I think he's an asshole.'
He laughed, gave her a thumbs-up, and opened his door. 'Then my work here is done.'
Mark fretted. Why had he agreed to come in off his vacation?
He wasn't quick enough on his feet or strong enough to stand up for himself-he was always a lapdog for parents, teachers, bosses-always too eager to please, too scared to disappoint. He didn't want to leave the hotel and burst the delicious bubble he and Kerry were inhabiting.
She was in the bathroom, getting ready. They had a superior night planned: dinner at Rubochon's at the MGM Mansion, a little blackjack, then drinks back in the Venetian at the Tao Beach Club. He'd have to leave early and go straight to the airport, and he probably wouldn't feel too brilliant come dawn, but what was he going to do now? If he was a no-show he'd raise all sorts of alarms.
He was already dressed for the night and restless, so he logged onto the Net via the hotel's high-speed service. He shook his head: another e-mail from Elder. The man was sucking him dry, but a deal was a deal. Maybe he'd priced himself too low at $5 million. Maybe he'd just have to hit him up for another five in a few months. What was the guy going to do? Say no?
As Mark was working through Elder's new list, Malcolm Frazier's group was on Alpha Alert: shifts on cots and cold food. Moody sorts to begin with, they were in a despicable state over the prospect of a night away from wives and girlfriends. Frazier had even forced Rebecca Rosenberg to stay overnight, a first. She was beside herself over the whole situation, completely in tatters.
Frazier pointed at his monitor with irritation. 'Look. He's on that encrypted portal again. Why the Christ can't you break that? I mean how long is it going to take you to break that? We don't even know who's on the other end.'
Rosenberg shot daggers at him. She was following the identical traffic on her screen. 'He's one of the best computer security scientists in the country!'
'Well, you're his boss, so break the goddamned code, will you? How's it going to look if we have to farm this out to the NSA? You're supposed to be the best, remember?'
She shrieked with frustration, making the men in the room jump. 'Mark Shackleton is the best! I sign his time cards! Just shut up and let me work!'
Mark was almost done with his e-mail when the bathroom door opened a crack and he heard a muffled, 'I'll be ready soon!' in her lilting twang.
'I wish I didn't have to go back to work tomorrow,' he said over the sound of the TV.
'Me too.'
He hit the mute button; she liked to talk from inside the bathroom. 'Maybe we can rebook for next weekend.'
'That would be great.' The faucet ran for a second then stopped. 'You know what would also be great?'
He logged off and slipped the computer back in its case. 'What would also be great?'
'To go to L.A. next weekend, you and me. I mean, we both want to live there. Now that you've come into all this money, you can quit your stupid UFO job and be a movie writer full-time and I can quit my stupid escort job and my stupid vasectomy job and be an actress, maybe a real one. We can go house hunting next weekend. Whaddya say? I think it'd be fun.'
Will Piper's face was plastered all over the plasma screen. Christ, Mark thought, second time in two days! He unmuted the set.
