Jeffery Deaver - Edge

“That house behind you, kitty-corner, to the left? Are the residents home today, as far as you know?”

Ryan looked where I pointed. “Yeah, I saw Teddy this morning on his way to Starbucks.” Then he glanced at the doorway to see if his wife was out of earshot. “You know, Corte, this world… what you and I do? Joanne can’t handle it well. Things freak her out, things we don’t even think about. Sometimes she even leaves the room when the news comes on. I’d appreciate it if you’d keep that in mind.”

“Sorry. I’ll make sure of it.”

“Thanks.” Ryan smiled and went upstairs to pack.

In fact, I’d been much more blunt with sensitive Joanne than I needed to be-so that Ryan would do what he just had: asked for that very favor, which I’d agreed to. Solely for the purpose of getting him more on my side.

My phone buzzed and my audible caller ID said through my earbud, “Fredericks.”

I hit ANSWER. “Freddy.”

“I’m pulling in the driveway, Corte. Don’t shoot me.”

I NEVER UNDERSTOOD the FBI agent’s compulsive joking. Perhaps it was to protect himself, the way not joking is some kind of shield for me. I found it irritating but I didn’t have to live with him, the way his wife and five children did, so I tried not to let it bother me.

I told him, “Come in the front,” and disconnected.

At the door I greeted the tall, white-haired agent. Claire duBois, whose quirky mind had a habit of prodding her to make odd but accurate observations, once said of Freddy, “Did you ever notice that the best FBI agents look like TV Mafia dons and the best Mafia dons look like TV agents?” I hadn’t but it was true. Solid and columnar, ever in low gear, the fifty-five-year-old Paul Anthony Xavier Fredericks was a long-timer in the Bureau; he’d worked nowhere else after his graduation from college. He stepped into the house, accompanied by a younger agent. Both followed me into the kitchen.

Special Agent Rudy Garcia was in his late twenties. Scrubbed and reserved, he’d clearly been military before the Bureau. Quick eyes, unsmiling and married, he wasn’t, I judged, the sort to have a good time going out for a beer with. But, then, I’ve heard the same about me.

“The Kesslers’re packing. Any word from West Virginia?”

A shrug said it all. I hadn’t expected much. An unidentified vehicle, an unknown route. Loving was invisible.

“What do you think, Freddy, about his ETA?”

“At least two hours plus till he gets to Fairfax, at the earliest,” the agent said, reading the framed news story about Ryan the hero. “I remember that. Sure.”

Garcia was walking around the ground floor, glancing out the windows. He was good, careful not to give anything away to anybody outside.

And not presenting any target himself.

Joanne and Ryan came down the stairs, two suitcases in the cop’s beefy hands. They stopped in the hallway and he set them down. They joined us in the kitchen and I introduced them to the agents.

“Messing up your weekend,” Freddy said. “Sorry about that.”

I asked, “Is Maree up? We have to go.”

“She’ll be down in a minute.”

I suggested, “Amanda might feel more comfortable if her aunt goes with her to your friend’s place in Loudoun.”

For some reason Ryan replied, after a hesitation, “Probably not.” Joanne agreed.

Freddy’s radio clattered. “SUV approaching. Registered to William Carter.”

I told him, “The friend. The Kesslers’ daughter’s staying with him.”

A moment later Bill Carter was at the door. He entered without knocking and joined us, hugging Joanne hard, then he shook Ryan’s hand warmly. The white-haired man was in his early sixties, tanned and fit, six-two or so. His face grave and gray eyes sharp, he looked me over through large, clear aviator glasses as he gripped my hand. He greeted Freddy and Garcia too, carefully examining all the IDs. I caught the crown of a holster and shiny butt of a pistol under his jacket.

“This is for real, then,” he muttered.

“It’s terrible, Bill,” Joanne said. “One day everything’s fine and then… this.”

I handed Carter another of the cold phones and explained it to him.

“Who’s after you?” he asked Ryan.

“The devil incarnate” was the dry response.

I replied to Carter’s very nonrhetorical question-the former cop would want details: “His name’s Henry Loving. He’s white, midforties, about two hundred pounds, dark hair. Had a scar, his temple. Probably doesn’t anymore.” I typed on the computer. “Here’s an old picture. He’s good at changing appearances but it’ll give you a rough idea.” My principals and Carter had fallen silent, looking at the benign face of Henry Loving. Put a white band of collar on him and he could have been a minister. A navy blue suit, an accountant or salesman at Macy’s. His face was as placid as mine, merely a little fuller. He didn’t look like a killer, torturer and kidnapper. Which worked to his advantage.

I said to Carter, “I think we’re on top of things and he doesn’t know about you. But be alert. You have wireless in your house in Loudoun?”

“Yessir.”

“Can you disable it?”

“Sure.”

I added, “And make sure Amanda doesn’t configure your computer for dial-up.”

“She’d know how to do that?”

“She’s a teenager,” I said. “She could build a computer out of kitchen appliances.”

“Suppose you’re right about that.” He looked at the Kesslers. “How much did you tell her?”

Ryan said, “Pretty much everything. But I didn’t overdo it.”

“She’s got some grit, your daughter. It’d take a lot to get her rattled. But I’ll keep her distracted.”

“Thanks, Bill.”

“And when you leave,” I told him, “keep her down. Have her look for something you lost under the front seat. Just for a block or two.”

Maybe Carter thought this was excessive but he agreed.

Amanda bounded down the stairs, clutching a pillow in a red-and-white gingham case. It seemed teenagers couldn’t travel without pillows, girls at least. Security blankets maybe.

“Uncle Bill, hi!” She hugged the man and sized up Freddy and Garcia, the new arrivals.

“Hey, this’s some weird adventure, honey,” Carter said.

“Yeah.”

“We better hit the road,” the former cop said.

I was amused; the solidly built teenage athlete had around her shoulder a purse in the shape of a plush bear, with a goofy smile and a zipper down its back.

Joanne grabbed the girl and hugged hard, to her stepdaughter’s embarrassment.

Then her father did the same. He too was treated to a stiff return embrace. “Come on, humor your old man,” Ryan said affectionately.

“Dad… okay.” She stepped back, though her father kept his hands on her shoulders.

“You call us anytime. About anything.”

“Yeah, okay.”

“It’s going to be fine, honey.” Then the bulky detective released his grip, apparently worried that his coddling might give his daughter more cause to worry. He smiled.

“Like, bye.” Lugging her pillow, backpack and bear purse, Amanda ran to Carter’s SUV.

Again the former cop hugged Joanne and then gripped Ryan’s hand with both of his. “I’ll take really good care of her. Don’t worry. God bless.”

Then he was gone.

Ryan returned to the den and came out with his briefcase and another backpack. It was heavy and I assumed it contained ammunition and possibly another weapon.

Freddy called his men outside on the radio. We heard one of them respond, “Carter’s gone. Nobody following. The girl wasn’t visible.”

Then I heard footsteps on the stairs, and a woman, quite attractive, appeared in the kitchen doorway. She was blinking, as if she’d just awakened, though she was dressed in a nice outfit and her face was made up. She bore a faint resemblance to Joanne and was six, eight years younger. She was taller but willowy, not as solid.