“First, it’s a suppressor. You can’t silence a gun. Ignoring that, a real distance shooter wouldn’t use one unless absolutely necessary. Most times, you’re taking the shot from far enough away that a suppressor isn’t necessary, and using one means you run the risk of throwing off your MOA.”

“Minutes of angle,” the red-haired man said with a smile. “She’s right. I’ve told you that before, but you never listen.”

I continued. “If you have to use a suppressed rifle, you’d be better off with a McMillan M89 or Steyr SSG. Their suppressors work okay, but personally I prefer—”

“All right, all right.” He extended his hand. “Quinn.”

“Dee.”

The red-haired man took my hand with a smile. “Felix.”

Quinn turned back to Jack. “So what the hell was that fuckup at the hospital?”

“Following a lead. Same as you.”

“Well, that shit wouldn’t have happened if you’d listened to me and we actually tried a little teamwork on this job.”

Jack glanced my way, as if expecting a “told you so.” I looked away before I gave him one. As I scanned the rest stop, I slid between Jack and Quinn again.

“We have an audience,” I said.

Quinn followed my gaze. Next to the building a middle-aged couple stood beside their car, watching us.

“May I make a suggestion?” I asked.

Quinn nodded.

“How about we sit down, I’ll grab some cans of pop and we’ll have a picnic.”

“Good idea,” Felix said. “You stay here, Dee, and I’ll get the sodas.” A wry smile my way. “You make a better referee.”

Quinn waited until Jack was halfway seated, then picked up the argument where he’d left off. “I’m getting sick of this, Jack. I might not have the career you and Felix have, but on something like this, I’m the expert. You don’t handle a criminal investigation by having all the teams chasing whatever lead catches their fancy. It’s a cooperative effort, not a competition.”

Jack’s gaze slid my way. “Yeah. You’re right. Time to team up. On strategy. Investigate separately. But plan together.”

I expected Quinn to find a way to argue, but instead he smiled and relaxed.

“Thank God,” he said. “And thank you. Now maybe we can make some progress, because Felix and I are just spinning our wheels. What about Sid and Shadow? I tried calling them yesterday, but they aren’t answering the page.”

“Same here.”

Felix was approaching the table and overheard. “So either they’ve been arrested or they’ve changed their mind about doing this. Either is equally likely, I’m afraid, and little we can do about it, whichever it is. We’ll continue trying to contact them, but for now we’ll have to presume our investigation is down to four.”

“Five,” Jack said. “Evelyn’s in.”