"No, a.s.shole. I came because you need help. John just provided the plane."

"How did you find me?"

"I didn"t. I found him." She jerked a thumb at Quinn.

"You"re the girl from the Exchange," Quinn said. "And the thing with Bryan Vasquez."

"And you"re Cooper"s playmate." She pulled out a stool and took a seat. "So. What are we doing, boys?"

Cooper said, "Bringing down the head of Equitable Services and the president of the United States."

"Oh good. I was afraid this was going to be dull."

"I try to keep life interesting."

"Any train rides planned?"

"If I tell you, it"ll spoil the surprise."

"Don"t do that. I love surprises."

"Time out." Quinn looked back and forth, forth and back. "Would you two quit flirting long enough to tell me what the h.e.l.l is going on?"

"Bobby, meet Shannon Azzi. The Girl Who Walks Through Walls."

"Hiya," she said, and stuck out a hand.

Looking baffled, Quinn took it.

Cooper laughed. For the first time since he"d heard d.i.c.kinson"s voice on the phone, he felt something like hope.

CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT.

"Jimmy"s Mattresses."

"This is account number three two zero nine one seven. I need to talk to Alpha."

"Hold, please."

The speaker of the disposable cell phone was tinny, but it would serve. They"d picked up a couple of them at a mini-mart en route to Quinn"s apartment, a single in a Mount Vernon Square low-rise. Cooper had been there more times than he could remember, knew the furniture and the layout, had crashed on the couch. Quinn stared out the floor-to-ceiling windows at the night sky; Shannon splayed in a chair, one lithe leg up on the arm.

"h.e.l.lo, Nick." Drew Peters sounded the same as ever. Calm, in control. The same as he"d sounded in the video, proposing the murder of innocent civilians. "Are you on your way in?"

"No."

"I see."

"I found the drive, Drew. Taped to the back of Teddy Eaton"s coffin. And I"ve watched it. A nasty little snuff film."

"Omelets and eggs, Agent Cooper."

"Just Cooper. I don"t work for you anymore."

"As you like. You understand the situation, though, yes? Roger was clear in his explanation?"

"Very clear. But we"re not going to do it that way."

"What do you have in mind?"

"An exchange. The drive for my family."

"I don"t think so. The drive is worthless. You"ll have made copies by now."

"No. I haven"t, and I won"t."

A pause. "Why would I believe that?"

"Because you know that I know that even if this video got out, you could make sure that my family died. I mean even after you let them go. This would ruin you, but you"d still be able to act. Not all of your resources work for the DAR."

Another pause. "That"s true."

"So here"s the deal. We meet somewhere we both feel safe. You bring my family; I bring this. We all walk out. You get to go on running your evil empire. And my children get to grow up."

"I"m not sure you"re in a position to negotiate. For now, your children are perfectly safe, as is your ex-wife. But d.i.c.kinson is a true believer. If I give the order, he won"t hesitate to visit a host of violations on them."

Fire licked his belly and his knuckles went white, but Cooper kept his voice under control. "You"d suffer quite a few in prison, Drew, while your daughters grew up alone. And this posturing is pointless. We both know that you"ll do anything to get the video back. And I"ll do anything to know my family is safe. So let"s cut the bulls.h.i.t."

"All right. How about we meet at the Washington Monument? A public place."

Cooper laughed. "Yeah. And I"ll never hear the shot from the airship. I don"t think so. No, let"s meet at the L"Enfant Plaza Metro station."

"Where you can have a news crew at the ready to film everything. I"m afraid not."

"Okay. We don"t trust one another. So we set it up so that neither of us has time to prepare a surprise. You name a major street downtown. I"ll pick an address. We"ll meet in twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes? No."

"I"m not going to give you time to get set up, Drew."

"I understand that. But I"m busy cleaning up your mess right now. There was a firefight in a cemetery in broad daylight. It will take time to make sure there"s no connection to the agency."

"No connection to you, you mean."

"Those are the same thing. Let"s meet in two hours."

"Fine. But we don"t pick a location until the last minute. I"ll call you. Have a street in mind, and don"t mess with me. And if anyone in my family has so much as a bruise, deal"s off and I burn you down."

"If you call this off, your family will suffer more than bruises."

"So we both better behave. I"ll call in two hours. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

"One last thing."

"What"s that?"

Cooper said, "How the f.u.c.k do you sleep at night, Drew?"

"With a prescription. Grow up. This is the way the world works." The director hung up the phone.

"Two hours." Quinn shook his head. "Just like you predicted."

"Peters is the head of Equitable Services and thinks like it. That makes him easy to antic.i.p.ate. He wants enough time that he can use his resources, see if he can track me down without the ha.s.sle of meeting. There"s always the chance that I screwed up, that someone caught my face on a camera, or that I was calling from a known phone number. A long shot, but worth checking, especially for a man with his own security force. But at the same time, he can"t risk giving me enough time that I start to second-guess myself, decide to go to the media with the video. One hour isn"t enough time, three is too long."

"What"s to keep him from showing up at the meet with an army?"

"He knows I would spot them. He can"t risk spooking me. And since he won"t know the location in advance, he can"t get snipers set up or teams in place."

"Still. He"s got to know he"s walking into a trap," Shannon said.

Cooper shook his head. "That"s what we"ve got going for us. He thinks I"m working alone. He knows my capabilities, what advantages my gift offers. He can plan for that. Counter it."

"So because he thinks you"re alone, he"ll bring a small force, just enough not to scare you. And because you"re not alone, you think we can take them."

"That"s the idea."

"Gee," Quinn said. "It"s a good thing you"ve got two other a.s.sholes wrapped up in this."

"Yeah," Cooper said. He locked eyes with his partner, his friend. He knew what it was Quinn was risking, the same as the rest of them. But while Cooper had no choice, and Shannon had her own reasons, Quinn was doing this because it was the right thing to do. And because he"s your friend. Cooper fiddled with the edge of a cushion. Looked out the window. "Look, I want you to know-"

"Stow it," Quinn said. "Just make sure you pick up the check from now on."

"Beer"s on me. Forever."

"You boys are adorable," Shannon said. "But this is stupid. If Peters picks a street and you pick an address, we won"t be able to plan either. We"ll be walking in blind."

"No, Ms. Mysterio," Quinn said. "That"s where I come in." He glanced at his watch. "Speaking of. I better go to headquarters and gear up. Gimme that burner, I"ll toss it in the river on the way."

"Be careful, Bobby. They don"t know you"re in this, but Peters will be on high alert. No wrong moves."

"I"ll be in and out. h.e.l.l," Quinn smiled. "I"ll channel her."

Two hours.

A hundred and twenty endless minutes to pace.

He"d been moving ever since he left the mall bathroom, and that motion had given him something to think about. Now, though, there was nothing to do but wait. And in that stillness, his imagination kept painting pictures of his children. Of how scared they must be.

d.i.c.kinson won"t have hurt them. He"s dangerous, but he"s not a psycho. He probably explained the situation to Natalie, let her manage the children. No point dealing with extra drama.

Even if that was true, it meant Natalie would be the one suffering all of it. No idea what was going on, what deals were being made, maybe even why they"d been taken.

Natalie was strong and smart. If things went the way he planned, she and the kids would be free in a couple of hours. She would be able to handle it.

But his daughter would know something was wrong. Kate was only four, but her gift was powerful. She would know that her mother was scared, would know that d.i.c.kinson was not a friend.

How will a four-year-old girl deal with that?

He couldn"t think of an answer he liked.

"You should get some sleep," Shannon said from the kitchen, where she was rifling through Quinn"s fridge. "Big night ahead."

"You too."

"I think your boyfriend is twelve. All he has in his fridge is chocolate milk, mustard, and beer."

"Yes, please."

She pulled out two bottles, twisted the caps off, and tossed them toward the trash. The kitchen had a pa.s.s-through to the living room, and she set his on the counter. They faced each other, the counter between them. Something always between them, it seemed like.

Shannon took a sip, tipping the bottle up and then wiping her lips with the back of her hand. She looked at him, and he could see her trying to decide what to say.

"I"m sorry," he said. "For leaving like that. It was stupid."

"Yeah. Why did you?"

"I don"t know." He gestured with the beer. "I was confused."

"And now you"re not?"

"No, I still am. I just don"t care as much. I"m glad you"re here."

"Because I can help you."

"Not only for that." Cooper paused. "While we"re on the subject, though. Why are you doing this? Helping me?"

"Same reason I"ve given you every time you"ve asked. I"m more than willing to fight for my right to exist."

"Is that the only reason?"