Джеймс Паттерсон - Blindside

Before I could give these four the hugs they deserved, Mary Catherine appeared out of the crowd. She started to cry as she kissed me on the lips and wrapped her arms around my neck.

I was enveloped by a giant hug from all of them. Shawna started to cry. That was unusual.

I picked her up, which was not as easy as I remembered. I brushed a tear off her beautiful face. “What’s wrong, sweetheart? It’s okay. I’m home now.”

She sniffled. “I’m sorry, Dad. I had dreams, bad dreams, about what you were doing in Estonia. I’m just so glad to see you.” She hugged me around the neck and kissed me on the cheek.

I had to wipe a tear away from my cheek after such a touching admission. All I wanted now was to get home.

Thankfully the NYPD told me I could hold off on a debriefing until I got back in the office. They knew the story. The FBI would’ve already produced a detailed report. No doubt the mayor had told everyone not to bother me too much. I could live with that.

I spent the ride from the airport to our apartment catching up on all the kids’ adventures and achievements while I was gone.

Bridget had started an arts and crafts club at Holy Name. She was very excited that she already had four members besides herself. Five if you counted her twin, Fiona.

Jane had absolutely killed an AP world history exam. There had even been an announcement at the school about how well she’d done.

Juliana had won a lead role in the latest school play. It was a retro musical based on the works of Neil Diamond. They were still working out the copyright issues and realized they might have to change the names of some of the songs. I couldn’t imagine what “Sweet Karen” or “I Am, I Declared” might sound like.

Once we were home, I couldn’t believe how relieved I was to embrace my grandfather. He, of course, had talked to Father Marty Zlatic and knew the whole story. He looked me right in the eye and said, “I know I don’t say it often, but you make me very proud every day.”

“Often? You’ve never told me that.”

“In words.”

“In any form of communication, verbal or nonverbal, written or in any other form. How’s that for being specific?”

“It just makes me more proud.”

Damn, I do love that old man.

CHAPTER 95

LATER IN THEevening, after I tried to spend a little time with each of the kids, we waited for a special phone call from Brian. Everyone circled around the phone and it rang right on time.

Trent snatched it off the cradle and immediately said, “Hey, Brian.” Then he put it on speaker and placed the receiver back in the cradle. It was just his little way of trying to get some personal contact with his brother. I got it.

Brian was upbeat and filled us in on passing more of his certifications to be an air-conditioning repair mechanic. He also had started his first college courses. He said, “In case I want to earn my degree, I thought it was a good idea to get the basics out of the way now. I’m taking English and US history.”

Chrissy said, “I’m great at history. I can help you with anything you don’t understand.”

I liked how everyone in the room over the age of fourteen effectively concealed a smile at the little girl’s offer of help.

Brian asked me about the trip to Estonia, but I didn’t go into any detail. I was often vague about work around my family. Some people said it wasn’t right to keep them sealed off from my professional life, but it was a choice I made to save them the details that no one else had to hear.

We ended the call like we always did, with tears and good-byes. But I felt pretty good about the progress Brian had made. Like I had told Natalie in Estonia, people make mistakes. Brian had made his and was doing his best to overcome them. I was proud of him, and I told him that. Frequently. Sometimes in front of my grandfather, just to make a point.

After the call, I sat down next to Eddie at the computer. He was working on some sort of programming problem they’d given him in the special class at Columbia he and Trent were enrolled in.

He turned to me and said, “I have to say, Dad, that I’ve been looking at a number of the hacker forums I like to read and some of them are talking about you.”

“Me?”

“Not by name. But they make you sound like Bruce Willis. How you stormed into Estonia and took down the biggest, baddest cybercriminal in the world.”

“You mean the biggest, baddest cybercriminal under five feet six inches, named Henry. That’s the best I’ll give that little twerp.”

Eddie laughed out loud.

“Although,” I corrected, “we haven’t quite brought him down yet, just have him on the run.”

“It’s amazing you did everything you did without knowing computers very well. You didn’t have to clone any phones or crack the security on any systems. The things cybercriminals do every day.”

“I just did what I do every day. Simple police work. You know about cloning phones?”

“Only in theory. I’ve never tried it.”

“Relax. This isn’t an interrogation.”

I listened as he explained several complicated high-tech processes. I had to wonder where this kid got his brains.

Finally I said, “Thanks for the insight. It would’ve helped me in Estonia. And I appreciate the compliments, but I did what any good cop would do.”

“Either way, I’ve seen more than one person talk about the American cop who dismantled a major hacker. I guess it was even on the news in Estonia.”

“I don’t think it takes much to get on the local news in Tallinn. It’s just a nice town with nice people. Mostly nice people.”

Eddie turned from the computer and gave me a hug. That was somewhat un-Eddie-like. He was more reserved than most of the kids.

He said, “I’m just glad you’re back. I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.”

“And from what I’ve read, you were lucky. That guy from Estonia, Henry, sounds like a really bad guy.”

“I don’t want to give him that much credit. I’m just glad to be home and with you guys.”

And that was the God’s honest truth.

CHAPTER 96

THE NEXT DAYI went to my office on the sixth floor of an unmarked building on the Upper West Side. I wasn’t built to sit around my apartment and wait for things to happen. The kids were in school, and Mary Catherine was busy, so I decided to go in and get back to my real life.

I hadn’t gotten official approval to return to my normal job, and I hoped no one would shout at me as I walked through the door. But everyone welcomed me back, even my lieutenant, Harry Grissom. If someone was going to tell me to get lost and take more time off, it was going to be Harry. His first concern was how well the squad operated. I’d trust him with my life, but if he thought I was going to be a detriment in any way, he’d send me home in a heartbeat.

Detective Terri Hernandez was in the building, checking whether any information had developed on the suspect in her homicide, Tight. She surprised me with a hug.

I stepped back and looked at her. “You could pass for a college student.”

“That’s the idea, Slick.”

I laughed and we caught up on what had happened since I left. The long and the short of her investigation was that she had no other leads except for the guy I’d met, Tight. The media had kept up a pretty good pace of coverage for three or four days after the murders. A young nurse and her daughter being killed in their own apartment captured people’s attention for a little longer than most stories. But now interest had ebbed in what was quickly becoming a cold homicide.

Terri looked down. She was one of the most dedicated detectives I’d ever met. She checked in on a victim’s family for months after a homicide, filling them in on progress. She looked at every murder as a personal quest to be solved, and she excelled in public service because she really cared.