His head was throbbing, his heart was pounding, and he was sweating profusely even though it was cold and, in his rush, he hadn’t bothered with a jacket or coat. He continued holding Tyler’s clammy hand, hoping that his own body heat would warm the kid up. With his free hand, Decker wiped tears from his eyes.

Bumblefuck, USA.

He had been bored with the job, had longed for the excitement he had left behind.

Now his overzealous wishes were coming back to bite him in the ass.

Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

THE STORY BECAME rote after repeated recitations. Decker was trashed in body and in mind. He sat on a hard plastic chair in the hospital, waiting to hear any news from the surgeon. Rina was next to him, curled up in a ball, dozing on and off. A half-dozen officers had been at the hospital when the ambulance had arrived. Mike had reassigned them to hunt down the Hyundai silver van after a reported sighting about four miles from Decker’s house. The quiet streets of Greenbury now crawled with black-and-whites. Unfortunately the silver van remained illusive.

Mike Radar had stayed on at the hospital. “So you have the codebook on you?”

“It’s in the kid’s safe. The code is his father’s birthday, which I don’t know.” Decker had already explained this all to the captain but Radar was talking from nerves. Every time there was a protracted silence, the captain asked another question. Decker checked his watch against the wall clock. Both timepieces said 4:45. It was Tuesday morning. “Even if it had been stolen from his safe, it wouldn’t have mattered. Summer Village has the original.”

“Maybe the thief wanted to see what was inside?”

“Yeah, of course. Did you get hold of Mulrooney?”

“About twenty minutes ago. I told him what happened and he thanked me. Don’t think he’ll be falling back asleep. He has the original codebook under lock and key.” Radar was still pacing, bleeding off adrenaline. “No news on the silver van, dammit. How could such a conspicuous car just vanish?”

“We’ll find it,” Decker said.

“That’s just wishful thinking.” When Decker didn’t answer, Mike said, “How did this happen? This is Greenbury, for God’s sake.”

“Bumblefuck, USA,” Decker said.

“Excuse me?”

“It’s what kids say when they’re talking about a place that no one has ever heard of. They call it Bumblefuck. McAdams asked the same question: How was this happening? I told him he should walk away from the case.” A sigh. “Actually told him he could walk away if he wanted to. And he didn’t want to. But it doesn’t matter now. We’re both in too deep.”

Rina inhaled and woke up with a start. She stretched. “Anything?”

“He’s still in surgery.”

“What time is it?”

“Almost five.”

“So he’s been in for two hours.”

“Yes.”