London Bridges

couple of doormen out front. It helped that he was tall, blond, bearded, and wore a long cashmere coat. All according to the plan he’d been given.
    Then he took a leisurely stroll along M Street, checking out restaurant menus in the windows and the latest fashions of Georgetown.
    He found it somewhat comical that he could actually see police cruisers and the FBI as they sped toward the Four Seasons from several directions.
    Finally the man stepped into a white Chevy van that was waiting for him at the corner of M and Thomas Jefferson.
    The van sped away in the direction of the airport. In addition to the driver, there was a second man. He sat in back beside the one who’d made the phone calls from the Four Seasons.
    “It went well?” the driver asked once they were a few miles from M Street and the commotion going on there.
    The bearded man shrugged. “Of course it did. They have an accurate description. Something to go on, a little hope, whatever they want to call it. It went perfectly. I did what was asked of me.”
    “Excellent,” said the second man. He then pulled out a Beretta and shot the blond man in the right temple. He was brain-dead before he even heard the explosion.
    Now the police and FBI had a physical description of the Wolf—but no one alive matched it.

Chapter 37
    THERE WAS MORE INTRIGUE, or at least confusion, that afternoon. According to our telecommunications people, the Wolf had called us from the Four Seasons Hotel in D.C., and he had been spotted there. The description we had of him was already being sent around the world. It was possible that he’d slipped up, but I didn’t know if I could believe it. He’d always called on cell phones before, but this time he used a hotel phone. Why?
    I got a surprise when I arrived home a little before 9:30 that night. Dr. Kayla Coles was in the living room with Nana. The two of them were huddled together on the sofa, conspiring about God only knew what. I was a little concerned that Nana’s doctor was there so late in the evening.
    “Everything okay?” I asked. “What’s going on?”
    “Kayla was in the neighborhood. She just stopped by,” Nana answered. “Isn’t that right, Dr. Coles? No problems that I know of. Except you missed supper.”
    “Well, actually,” Kayla spoke up, “Nana was feeling a little faint again. So I stopped by as a precaution.”
    “Now, Kayla, don’t exaggerate, please. Let’s not get carried away,” Nana scolded in her usual way. “I’m just fine. Fainting’s just a part of my life now.”
    Kayla nodded and smiled pleasantly. Then she sighed out loud and leaned back on the couch. “I’m sorry. You tell it, Nana.”
    “I felt a little faint a few days
last
week. As you know, Alex. No big thing. If we still had Alex Junior around to take care of, then maybe I would be more concerned.”
    “Well, I’m concerned,” I said.
    Kayla smiled and shook her head. “Right. Like Nana said, I was in the neighborhood and I just stopped by, Alex. Strictly social. I did take her blood pressure. Everything seems to be in working order. I would like her to go for a few blood tests.”
    “Fine, I’ll go for tests,” said Nana. “Let’s talk about the weather now.”
    I shook my head. At both of them. “
You
still working too hard?” I asked Kayla.
    “Look who’s talking,” she said, then smiled brightly. Kayla had tremendous spirit and could always light up a room. “Unfortunately, there’s too much work to do around here. Don’t get me started about the number of people in the capital of this wealthy nation of ours who can’t begin to afford to see a good doctor, or wait for hours and hours at St. Anthony’s and several other hospitals I could name around this town.”
    I had always liked Kayla, and maybe, to be honest, I was even a little intimidated by her.
Why is that?
I wondered as we talked. I noticed that she’d lost some weight, what with all her running around and do-gooding in the neighborhood and elsewhere. The truth was, she looked better than ever. I almost felt embarrassed to have noticed.
    “What are you standing there gawking at?” Nana asked. “Sit down and join us.”
    “I have to go,” Kayla said, and stood up from the couch. “It is late, even for me.”
    “Don’t let me break up the party,” I protested. Suddenly I didn’t want Kayla to leave. I wanted to talk about something other than the Wolf and the terror attacks that had been threatened.
    “You’re not