The Night Crew

first.’’
    ‘‘So you said it’d take a couple of hours; so do it. We’ll go look at him tonight.’’
    ‘‘What about going out with Coughlin?’’
    ‘‘I’m thinking about putting him off. He’s a good guy, but I don’t think it’s gonna work . . .’’
    ‘‘Wyatt seems to . . .’’
    ‘‘Maybe Wyatt’s not thinking about him as much as I am,’’ Anna said. ‘‘If you put yourself in his shoes, why would he follow me on the job? There’re cops everywhere I go. There are two guys with me, everywhere I go. I’d more expect him to try my place, or your place. Follow us when we’re alone, like at the driving range.’’
    ‘‘Or at the beach, this morning.’’
    ‘‘Except that we’ve got escorts,’’ she said. ‘‘Unless . . .’’
    ‘‘Unless what?’’
    ‘‘Unless he’s lost interest. I just can’t understand this thing, why he’d be so interested in me.’’
    Harper looked at her. ‘‘You don’t understand because your mind isn’t fucked, and his is. Maybe he’s still got enough control to lay back, just long enough to loosen you up, and get you thinking that you can go out on your own again. And when you do, he’ll be there.’’
    ‘‘Yeah?’’ The thought scared her, but the fear wasn’t blinding.
    Because when he found her—she’d have found him.

twenty-four

    Anna called Wyatt to tell him that she wouldn’t be going out with Coughlin that night. Wyatt wasn’t in, but she left a voice-mail, and added that she’d be at the hospital visiting Creek. Pam Glass was already at the hospital, and Anna called to ask her about an FBI check on Clark.
    ‘‘I could do it in a few minutes, from here; I’d need his full name and date of birth,’’ she said.
    Anna gave her the information. ‘‘Get it as quick as you can. I’m coming down to see Creek.’’
    ‘‘I’ll have it by the time you get here,’’ Glass said. ‘‘We have a new room, by the way.’’
    Anna took the new room number, and when she got off the line, Harper asked, ‘‘Do you think you’ll be okay on your own? You’ve got the escort out there.’’
    ‘‘I’ll be fine,’’ she said. ‘‘Where’re you going?’’
    ‘‘I’ve gotta make it down to the office, sign some paychecks. Make some calls back to Boston.’’
    ‘‘Remember . . .’’
    ‘‘Yeah. I’ll go easy.’’ Anna never saw her shadow on the way to the hospital. She knew they were there, because she’d called to tell them she was leaving. Which car they were, or van or truck, she could never decide. Inside the hospital ramp, she saw no one: but she kept her hand on the pistol in her jacket pocket as she walked to the entrance.
    ‘‘Paranoid,’’ she thought, as she went through the doors.
    Creek was just outside the new room, walking down the corridor in a flimsy white hospital gown. Anna caught him just outside his room and put her hand through the slit in the back of the gown and squeezed his butt. Creek jumped, then limped into the hospital room, while Anna followed, laughing.
    ‘‘Goddamn sexual harassment from the boss,’’ Creek told Glass, who was reading the style section of the L.A. Times . ‘‘And I’m hurt.’’
    ‘‘Be brave,’’ Glass said.
    ‘‘Like he’d never grabbed a butt,’’ Anna said.
    ‘‘I do it in a spirit of tenderness and multiculturalism,’’ Creek said indignantly.
    Anna, watching him in amusement, suspected that he was actually offended. She momentarily considered an apology, then decided that he’d have to live with it. No apologies.
    Creek sputtered, ‘‘I’d never just sneak up on . . .’’ and then his eyes went past Anna, and she turned.
    Wyatt, wearing his raincoat, stepped into the room. ‘‘Hello.’’
    ‘‘Hey . . .’’
    ‘‘I came to see if I can change your mind,’’ he said to Anna. His eyes drifted toward Glass, who was sitting on a chair next to Creek’s bed, her bare feet curled beneath her, looking frankly domestic.
    ‘‘I don’t think so.’’
    Wyatt brought his eyes back to Anna, and they squared off.
    ‘‘I can’t order you to go, because you’re a civilian,’’ Wyatt-said, grimly patient. ‘‘But the shit is gonna hit the fan pretty soon, when the media gets this. When the word about China Lake gets out, they’re liable to drive this guy out of sight. We’ve gotta work everything we can, while we can.’’
    ‘‘It’s not working,’’ Anna said flatly. ‘‘If he comes after me, it