New York to Dallas

now?”
    “They’re going to listen to you because unless they’re idiots they’ve figured out by now you’re better and faster than anybody they’ve got. And because I’m going to tell them to.”
    “She’s a team player,” Roarke said in an aside to Mira, and got the beady eye from his wife.
    “We’re going to take down his security, disable his elevator, and lock down the whole damn building without alerting him,” Eve pointed out. “And we’re going to need to do it slick, fast, and at exactly the right time. That’s for you. I know you can do it. I don’t know if Ricchio’s men can.”
    “You can do that?” Mira asked Roarke. “Isolate McQueen’s apartment, and shut down the entire building?”
    “Just a hobby of mine.”
    “I want Mira to start it off,” Eve continued, giving Roarke another, beadier eye, “updating the profile. I want everybody on this op to know what they’re going after. Take your time, punch it in. The last op went to hell, so some of them are going to be edgy, some overeager.”
    “Understood.”
    “Then let’s do it.”
    She headed straight to Ricchio. “I need a minute, Lieutenant.”
    “Sure.” He nodded at the detective beside him. “Have them picked up. We identified and located the two people McQueen told the partner to contact for security and soundproofing. I’m having them brought in for questioning.”
    “Excellent.”
    “We’ve also interviewed the clerk at the wine store where McQueen purchased the champagne, wine, caviar, and we have the security discs showing him in the store and making the purchase. The clerk carried the stuff out to the car, and confirms McQueen was driving the Orion.”
    “Also excellent, and adds to the time line.”
    “We also ran down the knife and sheath, purchased that same day.”
    “Busy boy. Lieutenant, I’ve brought my profiler. I’d like her to brief everyone on the changes in McQueen’s pattern and profile. It’s important they understand the target and his current state of mind.”
    “Agreed.”
    “My consultant is setting up the data.” She paused as the feds came in, turned to include them. “We have the building blueprints, the layout of McQueen’s apartment, the security. He’ll need some good men,” she said to Ricchio, “to work with him. Disabling the security—McQueen’s apartment as well as building security—shutting down his elevator, and the timing of it, will be key.”
    “We have men for that,” Nikos put in.
    “Good, send them to Roarke. He’ll coordinate.”
    “He—”
    “He’s the best there is,” Eve interrupted.
    “I’m going to agree with that,” Ricchio put in. “Stevenson isn’t easily impressed, and he’d draft Roarke into his division if he could.”
    Not an idiot, Eve thought. “Roarke’s already familiar with the layout, knows the security system as it’s one of his makes. McQueen’s personal security will be trickier, which also goes to timing and the skill of the tech. We wouldn’t be having this briefing right now without the data accessed by my tech.”
    “Agreed,” Laurence said before Nikos could speak. “He’ll have whatever he needs from us.”
    “Good.” Eve waited a beat. “We’ll need to establish whether or not McQueen’s inside before we disable and lock down.”
    “It sounds like you assume you’re heading this op, Dallas. The last one you headed ended up with a high-speed chase, a dead cop, and a dead suspect. Which brings up the matter of Detective Price.” Nikos glanced toward him. “And the decision to include him on this operation.”
    “My detective’s actions saved a child from serious injury, possibly death. Don’t you begin to question his actions or my judgment, Agent.”
    “You want to hang the failure of that operation on someone, you hang it on me,” Eve snapped out. “Or maybe you’d have just let that kid end up roadkill.”
    “I do hang it on you, and also suggest Detective Price may not be mentally prepared to—”
    “Oh give it a rest, Nikos. Seriously.” Laurence rubbed his forehead. “If you’ve got to blame somebody, blame the goddamn dog. But the fact is, we did everything right, and it went south. We need to catch up on this second location. Dallas has the data.”
    Nikos set her jaw. “We have to analyze the data and confirm we’ve got McQueen’s location in the first damn place.”
    “It is confirmed,” Eve tossed back. “You want chapter and verse?”
    “I want facts.