They had scoured every bit of land within sight of the house, and found no trace of Wilkes. Quinn thought he’d given up. Felix thought he hadn’t been able to follow Dubois. Jack thought he’d hadn’t fallen for the trap in the first place. Evelyn told us all to pipe down and be patient. So we waited.

While Quinn and Jack took a breather, Evelyn and Felix went on patrol, in the hope that if the guys had missed a nook or a cranny, fresh pairs of eyes would find it. An hour later, they got back with nothing to add. Even Evelyn now suspected our trap had failed. We’d hold on until morning, then come up with something new.

“You need sleep,” Jack said as I yawned into the radio for the umpteenth time.

I laughed.

“I’m serious.”

“One, I’m waiting for a professional killer who wants me dead. Falling asleep tops the list of stupid things I could do. Two, it’s not even ten.”

“You’re tired. Three nights, almost no sleep. Wilkes waited this long? He’s waiting until late.”

“Jack’s right,” Quinn cut in on the other radio. “He’ll be waiting for as many people in that house as possible to fall asleep, and be deeply asleep. My guess is you won’t see him before two. And if you’re tired now, you’ll be beat by then. Can you catnap?”

“Sure, but—”

“Then we’ll give you a half hour. Leave your radio on, and we’ll wake you up at ten thirty.”

I hesitated.

“You’re okay, Dee. Everything’s covered. Jack has your front, and I have your back.” A pause, then he sang. “For a fee, I’m happy to be your backdoor man.”

I sputtered a laugh.

“That didn’t sound right, did it?”

“I think that’s a whole different kind of pro.”

Jack came on. “Suppose you want a story.”

“Oh, I’ve got one,” Quinn cut in. “You’ll like it. A little tale about Martin Dubois. This isn’t the first fix he’s gotten himself into, but the last time he was lucky, managed to wriggle out…”

Dubois

Dubois

Dubois looked across the room at the girl. Unbelievable. It wasn’t even ten thirty and she was asleep, as if she was home in bed after a long day’s work. And this was the same girl who’d lured a killer into an alley? Planned to take him on all by herself? Spent two hours poised in the downstairs bathroom like a pointer holding position on a duck? But, hey, night comes and the killer hasn’t shown up yet? Yawn, I’m getting sleepy…and this bed looks so comfy. He was surprised she hadn’t ordered pizza and a video.