“Agent Siegel,” he answered, with a smile in his voice, though not on his face.

“This is Jamieson, over in Communications. We just got a homicide report from MPD. Looks like there’s been another sniper attack. Up in the Woodley Park area this time.”

Kyle didn’t hesitate. He stood up and shrugged on his jacket. “Where am I going?” he said. “Exactly where?”

A few minutes later, he was pulling out of the parking garage and driving on Mass Avenue at around sixty. The sooner he got up there, the sooner he could head off Metro Police, who were no doubt fouling up his crime scene at that very moment.

And more important — Ladies and Gentlemen, start your engines — this was the moment he’d been waiting for. With any luck, it was time for Alex Cross and Max Siegel to meet.

Chapter 23

I WAS AT home when I got the call about the latest sniper murder near Woodley Park.

“Detective Cross? It’s Sergeant Ed Fleischman from Two D. We’ve got a nasty homicide up here, very possible sniper fire.”

“Who’s the deceased?” I asked.

“Mel Dlouhy, sir. That’s why I called you. He fits right into the mold on your case.”

Dlouhy was currently out on bail but still at the center of what looked to be one of the biggest insider tax scandals in U.S. history. The allegations were that he’d used his position in the District’s IRS office to funnel tens of millions in taxpayer dollars to himself, his family, and his friends, usually through nonprofit children’s charities that didn’t actually exist.

Another sniper incident, and another bad guy right out of the headlines — we had a pattern.

The case had just jumped to a new level, too. I was determined we’d get this right from the very start. If it had to be a circus, I could at least try to make sure it was my circus.

“Where are you?” I asked the sergeant.

“Thirty-second, just off of Cleveland Avenue, sir. You know the area?”

“I do.”

Second District was the only one in the city with zero homicides in the last calendar year. So much for that statistic. I could already feel the neighborhood panic going up.

“Did the fire board get there?”

“Yes, sir. The victim’s confirmed dead.”

“And the house is clear?” I asked.

“We ran a protective sweep, and Mrs. Dlouhy’s with us now. I can ask for consent to search if you want.”

“No. If anyone’s inside, I want them out. Call DC Mobile Crime. They can start photographing, but nobody touches anything until I get there,” I told Sergeant Fleischman. “Do you have any idea where the shots came from yet?”

“Either the backyard, or the neighbor’s place behind that. Nobody’s home over there,” Fleischman told me.