David Morrell - The Covenant Of The Flame

'Unfortunately.' Madden frowned.

'What's wrong?'

'We may have a security breach,' Madden said.

Despite his tan, Gerrard paled. 'What kind? How serious? Why didn't you tell me before? We might have to postpone - '

'I don't think that'll be necessary. Not yet, although if we have to, we will postpone next week's plan, of course. I didn't want to trouble you until now, because I thought the matter had been taken care of. However, it wasn't. You need to be informed in case you can use your authority to help us.'

'What kind of security breach?' Gerrard insisted.

'I told you last week that our search team had finally found the defector.'

'I remember,' Gerrard said impatiently. 'And I also remember that you assured me he'd been eliminated in the appropriate manner.'

'He was.'

'Then - ?'

'The defector met a woman,' Madden said. 'The friendship was brief and recent, to all appearance casual. Our search team didn't consider it important until the woman showed unusual interest in the defector after his death. She went to the police and somehow managed to identify the charred body. With information she supplied, an NYPD Missing Persons detective was able to locate the defector's apartment and take the woman there. As soon as she left the apartment, she delivered photographs to a shop that specializes in quick development. Naturally the surveillance team wondered what was in the photos. They attempted but weren't able to obtain them. Curious, they decided to search the defector's apartment.'

'You mean they hadn't already?' Gerrard flinched.

'They admit the mistake. In their defense, the defector had assumed such deep cover that it didn't seem likely he'd risk keeping anything from his former life.'

'You're saying he did?

'In his bedroom.' Madden's jaw hardened. The surveillance team found an altar.'

Gerrard gasped.

'They destroyed it,' Madden said. 'More important, they took the statue.'

'But that still leaves the woman and the photographs.'

'Correct. Last night, a team tried to solve that problem.'

'Tried?'

They failed. In the meantime, she'd spoken with Brian Hamilton and…'

' Hamilton ? What's he got to do with - ? He died in a freeway accident last night!'

'His connection with the woman? I haven't told you the worst part. The woman's name. Theresa Drake.'

'Tess? Not - '

'Remington Drake's daughter. She went to Alexandria last evening to use her late father's influence with the government in an effort to learn about the defector. At her request, Brian Hamilton was on his way to the FBI director. But our team managed to stop him.'

' We killed Brian Hamilton?' Gerrard jerked his head back.

'And the team did its best to kill the woman as well. The fire at her mother's house. Perhaps you heard about it. Tess Drake escaped. We don't know where she is, but there's no doubt that she threatens us. We're using every resource to find and stop her. That's why I'm briefing you. Granted, you have plenty to be concerned about as it is, but you did know her father.'

'Yes. In fact, I knew him well.'

Then it's possible she'll try to contact you and ask for help.'

'Ah,' Gerrard said. 'Now I understand.'

'It might not come to that. We have a plan that we think might lead us to the woman.'

'How?'

'It involves the detective she went to for help. There isn't time to explain.' Madden looked around, noticing a team of players waiting to take their turn on the court. 'We've been here too long. We need to leave before we attract attention. Assuming an emergency doesn't prevent it, I'll see you here next week.'

'God bless.'

'And God bless you. By all means, let me know at once if the woman…'

Gerrard nodded somberly.

So did Madden. They left the court, assumed their public personalities, made a few pleasant comments to the waiting players, and entered the back of the clubhouse.

'Your eye looks worse,' Madden said.

'Yes, I'd better do something about it.' Gerrard stepped into the shower area, relieved to find that the room was empty. He approached a mirror, studied his bloodshot eye, and tenderly removed a contact lens, preparing to rinse the eye with water. To all appearance, his irises were a photogenic blue, but without the contact lens – which he needed not to correct his vision but because the lens's blue provided a disguise – the color of Gerrard's right iris now was gray.

' A woman phoned for me, but you didn't get her number ?' Craig glared at Tony in the Missing Persons office at One Police Plaza. He was out of breath from having rushed into the building. 'I told you…!'

'Hey, she hung up before I could ask. I couldn't even get her name. For all you know, she might not be Tess Drake.'

'”Might not" isn't good enough! I have to know!'

'Do me a favor, will you? Stop shouting. It gives me a headache. And why don't you just tell me what's going on?'

A gravelly voice interrupted, 'Good idea. That's what I'd like to know.'

They swung toward the open door to a private office where Captain Mallory, a bulky man in his forties, peered angrily over glasses pushed low on his nose. He had his jacket off, his shirtsleeves rolled up. The last I heard, you worked in this department.' He stalked toward Craig. 'So I'd appreciate it, and I'm sure the chief, the mayor, and the taxpayers would appreciate it, if you showed up on time.' Mallory's voice became more crusty. 'In fact if you showed up at all. For a couple of days this week, I haven't had the faintest idea in hell what you've been doing or where you've been! What's this about the Alexandria police department? Their Homicide division called to find out if someone was impersonating a New York City detective. You! Last night, they had several murders down there. Rich. A high-society district. What do you know about them ?'

Craig swallowed, stared, and slowly sank toward a chair. Despite his cough, he murmured, 'I wish I hadn't given up smoking.'

'It wouldn't matter. You can't smoke here anyhow. I'm waiting, Craig. What's going on ?'

Craig hesitated. 'On Tuesday…" He struggled to order his thoughts. 'A woman came to see me…'

For the next ten minutes, Craig explained: about the morgue, Carl Schurz Park, Joseph Martin's apartment. He concluded with Tess's sudden trip to Alexandria and the news he'd heard on the radio.

Captain Mallory made a sour face. 'Correct me if I'm wrong. The sign on the door says Missing Persons, right? As soon as the corpse was identified, it wasn't our responsibility anymore. The job belonged to Homicide. So why the hell were you still involved?'

'I did turn it over to Homicide,' Craig said. 'I kept them informed.'

'You haven't answered my question! Why were you still- ?

'Because of the woman.' Craig felt his cheeks turn red. His voice dropped.

'What about her?' Mallory insisted.

'She got to me.'

'What are you saying?'

'It's personal.'

'Not anymore! As far as I'm concerned, this is official!'

'I didn't want to stop seeing her.'

'You're telling me you fell in love with her?'

'I… Yeah, I guess that's what happened. That's right. Yeah, I fell in love with her.'

'And all this happened since Tuesday? Jesus, she sure must be good-looking.' Mallory raised his hands in exasperation. 'Craig, when you were at the police academy, do you remember one of the rules your instructors kept pounding into your brain? Don't get involved with the customers! It always leads to a foul-up! It causes mistakes! It gets very messy!'

'Hey, you think I had a choice? It's not like I told myself, Why don't I do something stupid and fall in love with this woman? It happened all of a sudden! I couldn't help what I was feeling!'