The call ended. Seconds later, Luke couldnt recall how he had signed off. He might have just hung up. He stood in the hallway for a few moments, the phone still pressed to his ear. Then he floated back into the office. He didnt seem to be in control of his legs. His feet were far away.

Trudy was there. She stared at him.

What did Don say?

A war of emotions raged inside him, and he needed to get it under control. He didnt want to be that person. Jealous. Angry. Hurt. But it was him. He was that person. He was a married man, and yet he felt burned by this woman. He had thought there was something between them. The idea that she was just maneuvering… The idea that she was also with Don, maybe even at the same time… Who else was she with? Where was she passing agency secrets? He needed time to digest all of this.

Luke faked a smile, and the smile, all by itself, rallied him a little. It almost felt real. Don said to hang in there and keep plugging. They want to suspend me, but hes decided to fight it. You know Don. Hes a tough old bird.

He did? she said. He decided to fight your suspension?

Reading her face was almost too easy. She didnt believe a word of it.

Yeah, Luke said. He changed his mind about the whole thing while we were talking. He knows its wrong. Don and I go way back, and hes not just going to let that history drop. So Im still in the game, at least for now. What do you have for me?

She hesitated. Well…

Luke snapped his fingers. Trudy, our backs are against the wall. We need to stay sharp. Vans, trucks, what happened with all that?

She picked up her smartpad. Theres been movement. The local cops tossed the hot dog truck. You were right. The Russian was operating a full-service restaurant for pimps and prostitutes. Hot dogs, Italian sausages, potato chips, Red Bull, Pepsi, Mountain Dew. Also oxycontin, methamphetamine, ecstasy, tranquilizers, diazepam… you name it. They found him in the back of the truck on a mattress with two prostitutes. Dont get too excited. All three of them were asleep with their clothes on.

What else?

The stolen ambulance turned up in the parking lot of a meat warehouse in Newark, New Jersey. The Newark police went in. Ghastly. The warehouse doubled as a storage facility for human organs, mostly livers and kidneys. In a room at the back, they found two sets of lungs being kept alive inside sealed plastic domes. An apparatus forced oxygenated air into the lungs and the lungs were breathing. One cop described it asshe glanced at her padlike giant pink meat wings.

What about the laundry truck?