The Devils Teardrop

said. “That’s what we’ve acronymed it. He killed twenty-three people. Wounded thirty-seven. Six children were badly injured. There was a—”
    “What is it you want?” he interrupted, worried that his own children might hear this.
    Lukas responded, “This’s important. We need your help.”
    “What on earth could you possibly want from me? I’m retired.”
    Cage said, “Uh-huh. Sure. Retired.”
    Lukas frowned, looked from one to the other.
    Was this rehearsed? A good cop/confused cop thing? It didn’t seem to be. Still, another important rule in his invisible parental Handbook was: “ Get used to being double-teamed. ” He was on his guard now.
    “You still do document examination. You’re in the Yellow Pages. And you’ve got a Web site. It’s good. I like the blue wallpaper.”
    He said firmly, “I’m a civilian document examiner.”
    Lukas said, “Cage tells me you were head of the Document Division for six years. He says you’re the best document examiner in the country.”
    What weary eyes she has, Parker thought. She’s probably only thirty-six or thirty-seven. Great figure, trim, athletic, beautiful face. Yet what she’s seen . . . Look at those eyes. Like blue-gray stones. Parker knew about eyes like that.
    Daddy, tell me about the Boatman.
    “I only do commercial work. I don’t do any criminal forensics.”
    “He was also candidate for SAC Eastern District. Yeah, yeah, I’m not kidding.” Cage said this as if he hadn’t heard Parker. “Except he turned it down.”
    Lukas lifted her pale eyebrows.
    “And that was years ago,” Parker responded.
    “Sure it was,” Cage said. “But you’re not rusty, are you, Parker?”
    “Cage, get to the point.”
    “I’m trying to wear you down,” the graying agent said.
    “Can’t be done.”
    “Ah, I’m the miracle worker. Remember?” To Lukas he said, “See, Parker didn’t just find forgeries; he used to track people down because of what they wrote, where they buy writing paper, pens, things like that. Best in the business.”
    “She already said you said that,” Parker said acerbically.
    “Déjà vu all over again,” Cage observed.
    Parker was shivering—but not from the cold. From the trouble these two people represented. He thought of the Whos. He thought of their party tonight. Thought of his ex-wife. He opened his mouth to tell lanky Cage and deadeye Lukas to get the hell out of his life. But she was there first. Bluntly she said, “Just listen. The unsub—”
    Parker remembered: unknown subject. An unidentified perp.
    “—and his partner, the shooter, have this extortion scheme. The shooter lights up a crowd of people with an automatic weapon every four hours starting at four this afternoon unless the city pays. Mayor’s willing to and we drop the money. But the unsub never shows up. Why? He’s dead.”
    “You believe the luck?” Cage said. “On his way to collecttwenty million and he gets nailed by a delivery truck.”
    Parker asked, “Why didn’t the shooter pick up the money?”
    “ ’Cause the shooter’s only instructions’re to kill,” Lukas said. “He doesn’t have anything to do with the money. Classic left-hand/right-hand setup.” Lukas seemed surprised he hadn’t figured it out. “The unsub turns the shooter loose with instructions to keep going if he doesn’t get a call to stop. That way we’ll hesitate to cap the perp in a tac operation. And if we collar the unsub he’s got leverage to work out a plea bargain in exchange for stopping the shooter.”
    “So,” Cage said. “We’ve gotta find him. The shooter.”
    The door behind him started to open.
    Parker quickly said to Lukas, “Button your jacket.”
    “What?” she asked.
    As Robby stepped outside Parker quickly reached forward and tugged her jacket closed, hiding the large pistol on her belt. She frowned at this but he whispered, “I don’t want him to see your weapon.”
    He put his arm around his son’s shoulders. “Hey, Who. How you doing?”
    “Stephie hid the controller.”
    “I did not,” she called. “Didn’t, didn’t!”
    “I was winning and she hid it.”
    Parker said, frowning, “Wait, isn’t it connected with a cord?”
    “She unplugged it.”
    “Stephie-effie. Is that controller going to appear in five seconds? Four, three, two . . .”
    “I found it!” she called.
    “My turn!” Robby cried and charged up the stairs again.
    Once more Parker noticed Lukas’s eyes follow Robby as he