The Tower

"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."

"I don't have to. With how you are, you'll reveal yourself."

"I see. And how's that, Marlow? Oh yes-I'll stumble into Dr. Yung's office with a severe onset of psychosomatic blindness."

Always moving, always mocking.

"Hey, Atlasia," Jade said softly.

"Yes?"

"I had lunch with Darby yesterday. She's a… charming woman."

Jade heard an immediate click and then the dial tone. Allander was too smart to get upset on the phone, but Jade had managed to get in a solid shot. And more important, he had known just where to punch.

Chapter 50

T R A V E R S turned in the passenger seat to face Jade. "Well, we got an interesting complaint from a bartender today. Filtered to us through the local police. Said some maniac yanked him through a shattered window and dribbled his head on the pavement."

"I find 'dribbled' excessive," Jade said.

"What gives?"

Jade looked at his hand, on top of the steering wheel. "I had an off night," he said.

"Well, it was pretty bad form, Marlow."

"I am well aware of my form, Travers. Much more than you think. Let it go, all right?"

She was surprised that he seemed upset about it, so she backed off. "Well, you don't have to worry. Someone up high is giving you all the room you need for this case. Charges were mysteriously dropped."

"You wouldn't have had anything to do with that, would you?"

She looked out the window. "No. Why would you ask that?"