“We’ll do it,” Bell says, just as Emma is opening her mouth to fire back at Raymond. She whips her eyes in Bell’s direction.

“Good.” Raymond waves them away. “Well, go on then, time’s a-wasting.”

Bell practically hauls her out of the room, closes the door behind them both.

“What the—let go of my arm!” As Bell steers her toward the elevators, she tugs her elbow back. “Why the hell did you say yes? We could’ve asked for more information, delayed things somehow—”

Bell steps into the elevator car, forcing her to match him. When the door closes, he turns. “Anticipate, accept, agree—remember what Cooper said? Lewis, we can use this. We can’t stop Raymond from mounting this operation—the man’s set in his own mind. But this gives us a chance to talk to Kristin again, talk to Scott, get more information from Martino. More importantly, we’ll be at the asylum when the operation is supposed to go down.”

“You want to be at St. Elizabeths for the operation?” Emma’s eyes go wide.

“Don’t you?” He steps back a pace. His cheeks are pink, almost feverish-looking. “The Butcher could slip through the FBI’s fingers just like he did in Annandale. Simon Gutmunsson could be planning to use the upheaval at the asylum to escape, and we know Raymond is going to underestimate him. Don’t we have a responsibility to do something?”

“Yes, sure, but do what? You want to go to the asylum and—”

“I don’t know yet.” Bell shoves a hand through his hair. “I don’t know. But I want to take this chance and run with it.” He straightens, looks at her. “I want to see the Butcher go down. I want to make sure Simon Gutmunsson never gets free. If the only way we’ll be allowed access is through the back door, I’ll take it.”

Emma calms her breathing and her mind. Does she want to treat this as an opportunity? Yes. Yes, she does. “Okay. So we do what Raymond wants and escort Kristin, which gets us inside. And from there we can keep an eye on Simon?”

“Now you’re catching on.” Bell makes an almost-grin that reminds her of Cooper.

Emma realizes he hasn’t hit the button for Lower Ground. “We’re not going to motor pool.”

“Nope. We’re going straight out front.”

“You’re taking the pickup?”

He nods. “It’s got my gun in it.”

Emma swallows. This is it.

Bell checks his watch. “It’s going on fourteen hundred now, and I’ll be at least two hours on the road with Kristin.”

“More like three,” Emma says as they reach the ground floor. “Wait—you’re going to get Kristin? What am I gonna do?”

Bell exits the elevator, walking backward. “Research, groundwork—go to St. Elizabeths and talk to Gutmunsson, find out what’s going on in his brain. See if you can figure out what he’s planning. Talk to Scott, get an idea of how the operation is supposed to play out tonight.”

Emma’s striding to keep up. “Don’t be late.”