I nodded. "Right, he keeps his promises. But now he's on the loose, and he's established his own crime network—and a whole lot more."

Cahill took a bite of his coffee cake, then talked with his mouth full. "Apparently, that's exactly what he did. Of course, we had no idea that he would go bad. Neither did the Brits. Maybe Tom Weir did. I don't know."

I needed some air. I got up and walked to the open doors. A couple of horses were hugging a white wooden fence under the shade of oak trees. I turned to face Joe Cahill.

"Okay, so you can't help me with the Wolf. What can you help me with, Joe?"

Cahill frowned and looked confused. "I'm sorry, Alex, not much. I'm an old plow horse, not good for much of anything anymore. Coffee cake's good, right?"

I shook my head. "Not really, Joe. Trust me, store-bought's never the same."

Cahill's face sagged, then he grinned but his eyes weren't smiling. "So now we're gonna be honest, I guess. Why the hell are you here? What's this about? Talk to Uncle Joe. What's going on? I'm kind of lost. You're playing way over my head."

I stepped back into the room. "Oh, it's all about the Wolf, Joe. See, I think you and your old partner can help us a lot—even if you never met him in person, and I'm not so sure that you didn't."

Cahill finally threw up his hands in frustration. "Alex, this is a little crazy, you know. I feel like we're running around in circles. I'm too old and ornery for this shit."

"Yeah, well, it's been a tough couple of weeks for everybody. A lot of craziness going around. You don't know the half of it." But I'd had enough of "Uncle" Joe Cahill's crap. I showed him a photograph.

"Take a good look. This is the woman who murdered CIA Director Weir at the Hoover Building."

Cahill shook his head. "Okay. So?"

"Her name is Nikki Williams and she's former army. She operated as a mercenary for a while. A sniper, a good one. Lots of private contracts on her résumé. I know what you're going to say, Joe— so?"

"Yeah. So?"

"Once upon a time, she worked for you and your partner, Hancock. Your agency shared your files with us, Joe. New era of cooperation. Here's the real twist— I think you hired her to kill Weir.

"Maybe you did it through Geoffrey Shafer, but you were involved. I think you work for the Wolf. Maybe you always have—maybe that was part of his deal, too."

"You're crazy, and you're dead wrong!" Joe Cahill stood up and brushed crumbs from his trousers. "You know what else, I think you'd better leave now. I'm sorry as hell I invited you into my house. This little talk of ours is over."

"No, Joe," I said, "actually, it's just getting started."

Chapter 94