Secret Prey

Lucas said.
    And Sherrill said, ‘‘It is aimed at you.’’ To Allport: ‘‘You know Lucas’s former fiance
    ´e was firebombed last
    Allport nodded: ‘‘I read about it. You had guys running all over town, kicking ass.’’
    Lucas looked around at the duckwalking crime scene cops: ‘‘You finding anything?’’
    Allport shook his head. ‘‘Nope. Not a thing. We’re walking around the neighborhood, looking for the weapon—a ball bat, or a big stick—but we haven’t found it yet.’’
    ‘‘Goddamnit . . .’’ A thought flew through Lucas’s head, quick as a scalded moth; he grasped at it, missed. He shook his head, turned to Sherrill: ‘‘Nothing to do here. I’m going back to the hospital.’’
    ‘‘I’m coming.’’
    ‘‘You don’t have to.’’
    ‘‘I’m coming.’’ Allport, arms akimbo, said, ‘‘I hate this shit. If the assholes want to beat each other up, or even us, that’s one thing. A nun and a kid?’’
    In the car, Lucas said, ‘‘Something’s happening, and we don’t know what it is.’’
    ‘‘I knew that a long time ago,’’ Sherrill said.
    Lucas shook his head: ‘‘I don’t mean that somebody is trying to get at me, or even get at Weather or Elle. There’s some kind of apparatus here. Somebody’s set up a machine, and it’s not some simpleminded revenge. It’s doing something . . .’’

TWENTY-THREE

    ELLE KRUGER CAME OUT OF THE OPERATING ROOM just after four A.M. and the doctor, yawning, came to see Lucas, Sherrill, and Weather: ‘‘I’d say the prognosis is good—she’s gonna have a few days in the ICU, but there wasn’t any direct mechanical damage that I could see. We’ve got swelling, but we’re controlling it. We’re going to keep her sedated, keep her quiet, so she won’t be talking for a couple of days.’’
    ‘‘She’s gonna make it,’’ Lucas said.
    ‘‘Unless we missed something—or if there’s just a further natural complication. But it’s about as good as you could have hoped for, given the circumstances.’’
    ‘‘How about the other girl?’’ Weather asked.
    The doc shook his head: ‘‘She did have some mechanical damage. I think she’s gonna live, we’re just gonna have to wait and see. She might be fine, she might be . . . not so fine.’’
    Lucas turned away, suddenly exhausted. ‘‘Man.’’
    ‘‘Let’s go home,’’ Sherrill said.
    Weather said, ‘‘I’ll be back tomorrow—every day until she wakes up.’’
    ‘‘You got a ride?’’ Lucas asked. Andi Manettte, who’d brought Weather over, had left earlier.
    ‘‘I’ll get a cab. They can have one here in a minute.’’
    ‘‘We came in the Porsche,’’ Lucas said. Two seats: Weather smiled; she understood the math.
    Out the door, walking to the car, Sherrill asked, ‘‘Did Weather and Elle have some kind of relationship?’’
    ‘‘Yeah, they liked each other a lot,’’ Lucas said.
    ‘‘Think Elle will like me?’’ Sherrill asked.
    Lucas nodded. ‘‘She likes almost everybody. You two’ll get along fine.’’
    ROSE MARIE ROUX TALKEDTOTHE ST. PAUL CHIEF, AND St. Paul put together a group of four detectives to work with two Violent Crimes detectives from Minneapolis.
    ‘‘You can do what you want, personally, but I want you to stay clear of these guys,’’ Roux told Lucas. ‘‘You’ve set up this paradigm: you think these attacks on Sister Mary Joseph and Weather are aimed at you. Maybe they are, but I want to keep these guys outside the paradigm. I want them to take a cold look at it.’’
    Lucas agreed. ‘‘That’s smart. But I’m putting Del on the street, looking into a few things; and I’ll be looking around. Sherrill, Sloan, and Black are going back to Homicide now that we’re done with McDonald.’’
    DEL AND LUCAS SPENT THE DAY CRUISING THE STREET, talking to druggies, thieves, bikers, gamblers—anyone smart enough to take revenge on Lucas by attacking his friends; and checking in every hour with the hospital. No change on Elle Kruger.
    At the end of the day, they sat in Lucas’s office, Del with his feet on the edge of Lucas’s desk, Lucas with his feet on an open desk drawer, looking for new ideas.
    ‘‘All day, absolutely nothing. I’ve never seen it this dry. Usually there’s rumors, even if the rumors are bullshit.’’
    ‘‘Nobody wants to get involved with a run at a cop,’’ Lucas said.
    ‘‘Tell you the truth, I’ve been thinking of terminating our friendship,