Jade ran to the kitchen desk and yanked the drawers out, emptying them on the floor. He sank to his knees and dug through the papers, finally pulling out a map of San Francisco. He returned to the kitchen table and cleared it with a sweep of his arm. His glass shattered on the floor, and the salt and pepper shakers rolled in arcs on the linoleum.
Travers closed her eyes and bit her lip. Wotan had come down on her hard for bailing out of the movie theater operation. He had made it clear that she was to provide support for all of Jade's plans, no matter how much she disagreed with them. She breathed deeply as she surveyed the mess in the kitchen, and forced herself not to comment.
Jade unfolded the map on the table, spreading it out before him. He walked back over and grabbed a thick black marker from the pile he'd left on the floor.
'Okay. We're here.' He circled the location of McGuire's house. 'Fifteen minutes by car could put him anywhere from…' His voice trailed off as he sketched an approximate circle on the map with the black marker.
The circle stretched down to San Francisco State and out to Van Ness in the east. He didn't want to push the perimeter too far downtown because the traffic would have slowed Allander. The top of the circle ran up to Presidio Heights, and to the west it covered the ocean coast.
'I want a full listing of all incidents in this area in the last week. Break-ins, homicides, stolen cars, anything,' he said.
'That's a big circle, Jade,' Travers said skeptically.
'It's a start. Put a couple of your desk jockeys on it pronto. Call it in now.'
As he headed out, he heard Travers pick up the phone.
Spring was giving way to summer, and the late-morning heat was fierce and steady. Jade pulled into his garage. He wiped the sweat from his cheek as he got out of his car, immediately stumbling over something in the garage.
He looked down and saw a growing pool of black paint spreading at his feet. As the familiar smell rose to his nostrils, he swore loudly. After touching up his bookshelves the other night, he'd forgotten to put the paint away.
He bent over to pick up the bucket and felt a burn in his throat. He backed up, coughing. The shit they put in this stuff, he thought. Not exactly meant for breathing.
He snapped his fingers twice, ran into the house, and grabbed the phone. 'Forensics. Yeah, yeah. This is Marlow. I need someone on the McGuire house from this afternoon.'
He waited, his knee jackhammering up and down. Finally one of the agents got on the line.
'Yeah. Marlow here. I have a question for you about the lead particles you picked up at McGuire's. Were they pigmented?'
The forensics agent sounded surprised. 'Why yes. They were dark green. How'd you know?'
'They're paint scrapings, probably from a house being remodeled. Dark green-must be exterior paint. If someone sanded it off, the lead would probably settle separately since it's heavier.'
'But they haven't used lead in paint for over twenty years.'
'Twenty, huh?' Jade said, scribbling down the number on a piece of paper. 'I figured it was somewhere around there. Thanks.'
He hung up and called Tony.
'Whaddya want, kid? Always calling me for something.'
'Tony. I need you.'
'Well, I never would have thought-'
'Not now. I need you to use your force for some legwork.' Jade paused. 'It's kind of shit work.'
'Well, I appreciate your thinking of me.'
'I got Atlasia nailed down to an area of San Francisco. I think he's in a house that's undergoing a major remodel. The house is at least twenty years old, and it used to be painted dark green.' He told Tony the rough bearings of the circle he'd drawn around the map he'd taken from McGuire's house.
'Well, kid, you know I got the men and the time, but there's no fucking way we can search an area of SF that big just based on a remodel and a house color. What the fuck?'
'Okay, okay. Hang on.' Jade was quiet for a moment while he thought. 'He's in a secluded house with a lot of privacy, no common walls with other houses. He needs privacy to plan and he doesn't want to be seen. That means it's gotta be in a rich neighborhood. It's probably elevated. That should cut out a lot of neighborhoods in that circle. Call around Pacific Heights and rich communities like that, find out which companies do major remodels. It'll be a pain in the ass, but it should be do-able.'
'All right. I can put a couple men on it, but obviously only when things are slow. I don't know how long it'll take.'
'Great. Just move it along as quick as you can.'
He had barely placed the phone back on the cradle when it rang again. He picked it up. 'Yup.'
'Marlow. Travers. Ever heard of call waiting?'
'Call who?'
'Forget it. I got a list of incidents in that area, wanted to run them by you.'
'Shoot.'
'Only three stolen cars reported in the last week; amazingly, all have been recovered. There's a long list of muggings. I'll start with A.'
'Skip 'em. He's not a mugger. What do you have on homicides?'
'We have three. One's a drive-by shooting off Haight. Then we have another restaurant hit, but we're pretty sure it's mob. And a random shooting at the edge of Sutro Heights.'
'Sutro Heights, huh?'
'Yeah. Let's see. Steven Lloyd Francis. Nineteen. Left in a parking lot. No motive. Two bullets to the head. Early this morning.'
'Gun?'
'Let's see.' There was a pause and Jade heard Travers flip a sheet of paper. 'Looks like a forty. Both bullets made a clean exit, so that's all we got from ballistics right now.'
Jade swallowed hard. His Glock was a. 40. His head felt numb, as if he were walking through a dream. He cleared his throat harshly and tried to focus. 'Are you at headquarters?' he asked.
'Yes.'
'Call the family. I want to interview them. I'll be by to pick you up in a half hour.'
Jade hung up and went to wash his face. He let hot water fill the sink, then he leaned over it, inhaling the steam. He splashed the water over his face, drawing his hands firmly down his forehead, over his eyes, and around his cheeks. When he shook his head and raised his eyes to the mirror, he realized the phone was ringing again.
'What am I, the fucking operator?' he said angrily, heading back to the living room. He picked up the phone. 'What.'
'Well, Mr. Marlow, I was very disappointed in your performance at the bar last night. I must confess, I had expected a little more from you.'
Even though Jade had heard it hundreds of times, Allander's voice still took his breath away. So close, so fucking close. And directed right at him. He struggled to keep his voice even. 'No shit, huh?' he said. 'Guess we'll have to do the dance again sometime soon.'
'Oh, we most assuredly will. There will be time for that later. And more. You know-the real test. I can't wait to get my little hands on them.' Allander said 'little hands' with a German accent-like it was 'little hanz.'
The real test, Jade thought. A nonchalant way to refer to killing his parents. After the movie theater fiasco, it was in the open between him and Allander. He knew where Allander was going, and Allander knew he knew it. That just made it all the more enticing.
Allander sighed. 'So many loose ends to tie up.'
'Look, this whole prank-call thing is getting a little old. So unless you wanna chat for, say, sixty-one seconds, I don't really have the time.'
'Oh. What a disappointment. And I thought you were going to undo me at last with your sharp questioning.'
