With that done, he had decided to work on the forms for a little while. This after first tackling them at home the night before, sitting at his kitchen table, and scarfing down a frozen pizza while Mack the turtle chomped on some fruit salad in his bowl by the sink.

He’d figured the best way to deal with it was in shifts. Go for an hour or two checking boxes and answering questions. Then take a fifteen-or twenty-minute break before getting back to it till he reached his upper limit.

The first two pages mostly concerned his intentions and he got all that out of the way pretty fast. Next came his personal information. Basic stuff.

The third page was a speed bump. They wanted his full medical history and physical condition and whatever medications he was on, and they wanted the names, addresses and phone numbers of his doctors. Leo had looked everything up and written it down and then paused to take a hot shower.

The next section mostly asked for information about Rachel, including his written assessments of her personality and mental health. What is the child’s understanding of why she has separated/moved from the parent(s)? Explain. Do you observe the child to be well-adjusted? Explain. What would make the child feel most at home? Does the child have favorite toys, naps, habits, etc.? Explain. What is the child’s religious background, and what will it require?

Explain, explain, explain.

Leo had sat thinking a while. He’d known Rachel since she was born. By then, he and Charlotte had been fast friends for over a decade, going back to the first investigation they’d worked together. She had nicknamed him her Double Mitzvah Man—mitzvah meaning good deed in Yiddish—after that one.

The Dr. Midnight child-porn ring was a collection of rich, politically connected sickos, and Leo had busted it up like a balloon filled with ooze. Mitzvah One, Charlotte had called it. When reflecting back, he always felt it was the biggest and most rewarding accomplishment of his FBI career. Besides saving the president, of course. But that came later.

At the time of the arrests, he was with the Internet Crimes against Children Task Force, and Charlotte was a first-year US attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Cool, sharp and tough-minded, she had leaned on him heavily throughout the courtroom proceedings. If she’d felt any pressure as a newbie going up against a high-powered legal defense team—and she must have—he never saw it. She was with him every step of the way, matching his determination to get max sentences for the creeps. It had spurred Leo to keep looking for additional evidence to shore up the case against them.