"I think we should let the prisoner go," I told Burns.

"So you believe him?"

I shook my head. "I think he was given information, for whatever reason. I don't know if the information is accurate. Neither does he. I think that either we charge him or we set him free."

"Alex, was the Wolf in Saudi Arabia? Is it possible the Wolf is a woman?"

I repeated myself. "I think he told us what he was told. Let the schoolteacher go home to Newark."

And Burns snapped at me, "I heard you the first time."

He let out a long sigh. "I was with the president today, his advisers. They don't see how we can make a deal with these bastards. It's their position that we won't." Burns stared at me. "Somehow, we have to find the Wolf. In the next two days."

Chapter 44

It's extraordinarily bad to be waiting for something devastating to happen and not be able to do a damn thing to prevent it. I was up at five the next morning and I had breakfast with Nana. "We have to talk about you and the kids," I said as I sat at the kitchen table with coffee and a slice of unbuttered cinnamon toast. "You awake for this?"

"I'm fully awake, Alex. How about you?" she said. "You ready to match wits with me?"

I nodded, and bit my tongue. Nana had something to say to me, and I was supposed to listen. I've learned that no matter how old you get, to some extent you always remain a child in the eyes of your parents and grandparents. That was certainly true with Nana Mama.

"Go ahead, I'm listening," I said.

"You better be. The reason that I'm not going to move out of Washington," Nana began, "is twofold. Are you with me so far? Good.

"First of all, this has been my home for eighty-three years. This is where Regina Hope was born, and where I plan to die. That may be a little foolish, I know, but it is what it is. I love the city of Washington, love our neighborhood, and I especially love this old house where so much has happened to me. It goes, I go with it. It's sad, really sad, but the situation here in Washington is a part of life now. This is the way of the world now, Alex."

I had to smile a little at my grandmother. "You know, you just jumped right back into your old schoolteacher tone of voice. You realize that?"

"Maybe I did, and if so, then so what? It's a serious subject," Nana said. "I didn't sleep most of the night. I was lying there in the dark, thinking about what I wanted to say to you. Now, what do you have to say on the subject? You want us to move, don't you?"

"Nana, if the kids got hurt, I'd never be able to forgive myself."

"Neither would I," she said. "Goes without saying." Her eyes remained steely. God, she is tough.